Velvet's Cherry: Elizabeth Taylor and virginal English girlhood

The child actress was a familiar staple of the Hollywood studio system by the 1940s. In the 1930s, Shirley Temple set the gold standard for the appeal of child stars to film audiences, becoming the first child star to be declared the industry's number one box office draw, a position she held for almost half a decade. Naturally, other studios tried to emulate Fox's success with Temple. Judy Garland and Jane Withers were among the child performers who garnered box office attention in the 1930s. However, Temple's popularity with audiences was not replicated on a comparable scale until adolescent coloratura Deanna Durbin made a deep impression in Three Smart Girls in 1936, initiating her financial boon to Universal over the next twelve years.