Shirley Temple Actually Hated Drinking The Beverage Named After Her

Growing up, my parents took my brother and me out for a nice dinner every New Year's Eve. We'd get dressed up and head to a restaurant that performed table-side salad and baked potato services. It was all very chic to an elementary-aged kid. Without question, I'd always order a Shirley Temple because it felt special, and those occasions called for something celebratory. I have to admit, I felt a little crushed when I found out that the real Shirley Temple, who the famous mocktail was named after, disliked her namesake drink.

The Shirley Temple, which combines ginger ale (or lemon-lime soda), grenadine syrup, and a neon red maraschino cherry garnish, was created in the 1930s, when Temple was a ringlet-donning, dimple-bearing child star. The story goes that it was developed by a bartender for her when she and her parents were out to dinner — several different restaurants claim to have invented the drink. 

But Shirley Temple Black (who changed her name after her marriage to Charles Black in 1950) confirmed it was first made at Los Angeles' Brown Derby Restaurant, and she said, "I had nothing to do with it" (via NPR). She also declared her disdain for the beverage during an NPR interview, calling it a "saccharine, icky drink" that she downright hated. It's unknown whether the legendary Hollywood icon ever enjoyed the drink at all, even as a child.

A couple of years after Shirley Temple Black vocalized her aversion to the Shirley Temple, a company called Soda Pop Kids moved to bottle its own version of the sweet drink. Once Black got wind of the idea, she filed a lawsuit against its introduction and ultimately won. In 1988, she told the New York Times, "I will fight like a tigress. All a celebrity has is their name." In her lifetime, she filed (and won) two separate suits against companies seeking to capitalize on her name.

Black died in 2014 at 85 years old, and we'll never know if she would have been willing to taste other drinks that were inspired by the syrupy sweet beverage named after her in the 1930s. The dirty Shirley is definitely no drink for kids, as it is basically a classic Shirley Temple with added vodka. A Shirley spritz combines vodka, grenadine, ginger ale, Lillet Rosé, and Champagne — the additions give it a touch of glamor and Hollywood vibes, in my opinion. There is no doubt Black would have taken issue with 7UP releasing a Shirley Temple soda in 2024. And, based on her past victories and fierce protection of her name, the child actor turned United States ambassador would likely have tried to keep the soda giant from doing so.