Shirley Temple had such a legendary run in Hollywood that even her stand-in, Marilyn Granas, became an icon in her own right. The Hollywood Reporter paid tribute to Granas on December 26, 2025, after highlighting her death at 98. The report says her nephew, film historian Arthur Grant, confirmed she had dementia. The news of her death was shared by Granas’ family, who revealed in a short and simple obituary that she passed on October 21, 2025.
A YouTube video created by one of Temple and Granas’ fans, which was posted on an account called Shirley’s Army, contains a voice-over of the star discussing her life.
In the picture below, Granas is on the left, posing with Temple’s granddaughter and great-granddaughters. She was preceded in death by Temple, who died in 2014.
Marilyn Granas Called Shirley Temple Her ‘Best Friend’
Temple and Granas worked together on some of Old Hollywood’s most unforgettable films, including 1934’s “Baby Take a Bow,” and 1935’s “Curly Top.”
“I was Shirley Temple’s first stand-in back in the early ’30s. The first picture I worked on with her was ‘Bake Take a Bow,'” she said in an interview prior to her death. Granas went on to explain her first encounter with Temple was when the young starlet was brought into her dance class so she could learn a dance the class already knew. Granas then described the life-changing moment when she was selected as Temple’s stand-in. “They had everybody stand up, and they looked at me and had me stand beside Shirley. We were exactly the same size,” she recalled.
GettySoon after being hired, Granas was mentioned in a newspaper article alongside Temple’s name. The article read in part, “That little Shirley Temple, Hollywood’s latest sensation, has reached the status of a star, is indicated by the fact that she has a stand-in, like the grownup luminaries of the screen.” The article featured a photo of Granas and Temple side-by-side.
Granas so described in the interview how she found an on-set playmate in Temple, saying, “Shirley and I were best friends. We invented all kinds of games. And of course, when the sets weren’t being used, we’d go and play house in these wonderful places.”
Granas noted she was one of the few children Temple’s watchful mother approved her to play with.
Marilyn Granas Discussed Carving Out Her Own Identity
Granas said there came a time when she wanted to shed the label of “Shirley Temple’s stand-in,” and lied to a reporter from the school newspaper when she was asked if she was the girl in the newspaper featured alongside Temple. “That must be some other Marilyn Granas,” she says she told them. The talent explained, “I didn’t wanna be known as Shirley Temple’s stand-in. I wanted to be Marilyn Granas. Me.” She went on to become an assistant casting director for NBC.
