A Quiet Legacy: The Private Story of Linda Susan Agar

Basic Information

Early Years in Hollywood Light

Linda Susan Agar was born into a household where cameras were almost as common as family heirlooms. Her mother, Shirley Temple, was America’s luminous child star whose charm lit up screens in the 1930s, while her father, John Agar, carved out a career in Westerns and science fiction films. Linda arrived on January 30, 1948, just as her parents’ whirlwind romance began to encounter turbulence. In their Santa Monica home, early photos captured a family at once glamorous and fragile, a tableau of fame wrapped around ordinary moments.

The marriage of Shirley Temple and John Agar, celebrated on September 19, 1945, was as public as any Hollywood union of its era; their separation was equally visible. When they divorced on December 5, 1949, Shirley gained custody of Linda, a decision that set the tone for her childhood: stability restored by a mother resolute about home life beyond the press.

Family Ties and Blended Branches

Shirley Temple’s remarriage to Charles Alden Black on December 16, 1950, anchored the family for more than five decades. With Black, Linda grew within a steady household that emphasized privacy, school, and community over celebrity appearances. Two maternal half‑siblings soon joined the family: Charles Alden Black Jr., born April 28, 1952, and Lori Black, born April 9, 1954. Each chose distinctive paths—Charles Jr. toward a discreet professional life, Lori toward music under the moniker Lorax—yet all maintained a preference for low profiles.

On the paternal side, John Agar remarried in 1951 to Loretta Barnett Combs, and Linda is reported to have two half‑brothers, Martin Agar and John G. Agar III. Like much of her extended family, they’ve kept their lives largely out of public view. In some contexts, Linda has been referred to as Susan Black, a reflection of her deep integration into the Black household rather than a formal renaming universally documented.

A Brief Brush with Entertainment

Linda’s public footprint is modest. As Susan Agar, she appeared in a handful of episodes of Shirley Temple’s Storybook, the anthology television series that ran from 1958 through 1961. The roles were brief—more an echo of proximity to the business than a career move. One oft-cited appearance places her in an adaptation like The House of the Seven Gables, the kind of family-friendly production her mother shepherded with care.

But if the stage beckoned, Linda chose not to hear it. After these youthful credits, she stepped away from the camera, steering toward an adult life defined by privacy and close family ties. In a few public reflections decades later, she emphasized the ordinary joys that fame often obscures: dinners together, shared errands, and quiet conversation.

Life Beyond the Spotlight

Marriage and motherhood followed, though details remained deliberately unadorned by publicity. Linda is reported to have married Burton James Tidwell and to have a daughter, Teresa Caltabiano. The family has favored privacy over grand gestures; their milestones are whispered within households rather than announced to headlines.

Linda’s name occasionally surfaces in conflations and misattributions—most notably regarding diplomatic roles. Positions such as U.S. Chief of Protocol and Ambassador to Czechoslovakia belonged to Shirley Temple during her distinguished public service career, not to Linda. Such confusion is a reminder that living in a long shadow requires careful navigation: the world remembers the star’s script but often forgets the supporting connections that sustained it.

Recent Mentions and Public Glimpses

The years 2024 and 2025 have brought little new public information about Linda, and that’s by design. Most mentions are historical or nostalgic: vintage photos, family retrospectives, and videos that revisit Shirley Temple’s legacy. Linda appears within these tributes as a constant presence in her mother’s life rather than as a public figure in her own right. A rare public glimpse came in 2018, when she reflected warmly on her mother and the everyday rhythms they shared—shopping trips, dinners, and laughter—underscoring that, behind celebrity, there was a family that took care to be ordinary.

Erroneous claims of Linda’s death around the year 2000 circulate periodically online, but later mentions have contradicted them. The pattern speaks to the challenges of a private person in a public archive: silence is sometimes misread as absence.

Notable Dates and Family Timeline

The Texture of Privacy

If Shirley Temple’s life was a marquee, Linda’s has been a handwritten note—personal, careful, cherished by those who know it. She represents a kind of counter‑narrative to celebrity culture: the choice to live quietly, to define success as family closeness, to keep one’s milestones off the ticker tape. Her story hums with modesty. The glimmer of childhood fame never became a spotlight; it became a memory, folded into the larger fabric of a blended family that navigated both triumph and strain.

That posture of quiet is itself a statement. In a world that rewards visibility, Linda’s measured distance from public life feels like a deliberate compass point—toward privacy, stability, and the work of being present for loved ones. The Agar–Temple–Black family tree, full of dates and names and storied branches, ultimately frames a simple truth: fame may be bright, but home is the steady light.

FAQ

Who are Linda Susan Agar’s parents?

Shirley Temple and John Agar are her parents, both prominent Hollywood figures of their era.

Why is she sometimes called Susan Black?

The name reflects her close integration into her mother’s household after Shirley married Charles Alden Black.

Did Linda pursue an acting career?

Only briefly; she appeared in a few episodes of Shirley Temple’s Storybook and then stepped away from entertainment.

Is Linda still alive?

Later mentions contradict recurring online claims of a 2000 death, pointing to ongoing privacy rather than public absence.

Who are her siblings?

She has two maternal half‑siblings, Charles Alden Black Jr. and Lori Black, and reportedly two paternal half‑brothers, Martin Agar and John G. Agar III.

Did Linda hold diplomatic positions?

No; those roles belonged to her mother, Shirley Temple, during her post‑acting public service career.

Does Linda have children?

She is reported to have a daughter named Teresa Caltabiano.

What is known about her net worth?

Nothing publicly confirmed; she has kept financial matters private.

What was her most notable public appearance?

Her brief roles in the late‑1950s television series Shirley Temple’s Storybook are the most cited.

How is she mentioned in recent years?

Mostly in nostalgic family retrospectives and historical references tied to Shirley Temple’s legacy.