Linda Susan Agar: The Quiet Life of Shirley Temple’s Daughter Away From Hollywood Fame

Linda Susan Agar was born into a family that almost everyone in America seemed to know. Her mother was Shirley Temple, one of the most famous child stars in Hollywood history, while her father, John Agar, became a well-known actor. Yet Linda Susan chose a very different path. Instead of chasing cameras, movie roles, and public attention, she spent most of her adult life away from the spotlight. That contrast is exactly what makes her story so interesting.

Quick Bio of Linda Susan Agar

Linda Susan Agar was born on January 30, 1948, in Santa Monica, California. Historical records and biographies identify her as the only child born during Shirley Temple and John Agar’s marriage.

But being the child of two Hollywood stars did not mean Linda Susan would become a Hollywood star herself.

In fact, her story went in almost the opposite direction.

Who Is Linda Susan Agar?

Linda Susan Agar is best known as the daughter of legendary actress Shirley Temple and actor John Agar.

For people who love old Hollywood, that family connection is important. Shirley Temple was not simply another actress. She became one of the biggest movie stars of the 1930s while she was still a little girl.

John Agar later built his own acting career and appeared in Westerns, war movies, and science-fiction films.

Their daughter entered the world at a time when her parents were followed closely by newspapers and entertainment magazines. Even Linda Susan’s arrival attracted attention.

An old issue of Modern Screen described the huge public interest surrounding her birth and reported that fans sent hundreds of handmade baby items to the family.

Imagine being famous before you could even speak.

That was Linda Susan Agar’s unusual beginning.

Linda Susan Agar’s Early Life

Linda Susan was born in California on January 30, 1948.

Her mother was only 19 years old at the time. Shirley Temple had already experienced more fame than many actors experience in an entire lifetime.

By the time Linda arrived, Shirley was moving from her childhood-star years into adult life.

Linda’s father, John Agar, had married Shirley Temple in 1945. Their marriage was watched closely because Shirley was already an international celebrity.

When Linda was still very young, however, her parents’ marriage began to fall apart.

The situation received a great deal of press coverage because Shirley Temple was so famous.

A 1949 Time report discussing the couple’s separation noted that Shirley wanted custody of their young daughter, Linda Susan.

The divorce was completed in 1950. Linda was only around two years old.

For a child, of course, famous parents are still simply Mom and Dad.

Linda’s childhood therefore had something unusual at its center: the whole country knew about events that would normally stay inside a family.

Her Mother Was the Legendary Shirley Temple

To understand why people remain interested in Linda Susan Agar, it helps to understand just how famous her mother was.

Shirley Temple became a movie star as a child. Her smile, curly hair, singing, and dancing made her one of the most recognizable young performers in film history.

She later left full-time acting behind and entered public service.

Her adult career was impressive in a completely different way. Shirley served as a U.S. representative to the United Nations and later became U.S. ambassador to Ghana and then Czechoslovakia. She also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States.

So Linda did not simply grow up with a famous actress as her mother.

She watched her mother move from Hollywood into diplomacy and public service.

That must have made for a childhood very different from most families.

Linda Susan Agar’s Father, John Agar

Linda’s father, John Agar, also had a Hollywood career.

Before becoming known as an actor, he served in the military. His relationship with Shirley Temple helped bring him into Hollywood, and the pair appeared together in films including Fort Apache and Adventure in Baltimore.

Their marriage did not last.

After the divorce, Shirley Temple became Linda’s primary parent. John Agar later remarried and continued his acting career.

According to biographical information about John Agar, he had limited contact with Linda after the divorce.

That part of Linda’s childhood is important because it helps explain why her later family identity became closely connected with Shirley Temple’s second husband.

Why Was Linda Susan Agar Also Called Susan Black?

This can be confusing when you first read about Linda.

You may see her called:

Linda Susan Agar

Susan Agar

or

Susan Black

They can refer to the same person.

After Shirley Temple divorced John Agar, she married Charles Alden Black in December 1950.

Linda grew up in the Black household, and published biographical sources say she later became known as Susan Black, using her stepfather’s surname.

Think about it simply.

Linda Susan Agar was her birth name. But as her family changed, the name Susan Black also became associated with her.

This is one reason people sometimes have trouble finding clear information about her online.

Shirley Temple and Charles Alden Black Built a New Family

Shirley Temple’s second marriage was very different from her first.

She married Charles Alden Black in 1950, the same year her marriage to John Agar officially ended.

Shirley and Charles remained married for more than five decades, until Charles died in 2005.

Together, they had two children.

Their son, Charles Alden Black Jr., was born in 1952.

Their daughter, Lori Black, was born in 1954.

That meant Linda Susan grew up as the oldest of Shirley Temple’s three children.

Although Charles and Lori were technically Linda’s half-siblings because they had a different biological father, they were part of the same family home.

Old magazine material gives us small glimpses of that family life.

A 1953 magazine feature described Susan and her younger brother Charlie as close playmates and presented Linda as a friendly child who cared about her younger sibling.

Those tiny details make the family feel much more human.

Behind the Hollywood name were children playing together like children in any other home.

Did Linda Susan Agar Become an Actress?

This is one of the most common questions about her.

The answer is: not in the same way her parents did.

Linda Susan did have a small connection with television.

IMDb lists Susan Agar in connection with Shirley Temple’s Storybook, the television anthology series hosted by her mother.

However, she did not build the kind of major acting career that Shirley Temple or John Agar had.

That difference is important.

Children of famous actors are often expected to follow their parents into entertainment. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they do not.

Linda appears to have chosen the second path.

Rather than making fame the center of her identity, she largely stayed away from Hollywood publicity.

Linda Susan Agar’s Career Away From Hollywood

There is surprisingly little solid public information about Linda Susan Agar’s adult career.

One biographical record describes her as having worked as a freelance writer.

That is interesting because writing is still a creative profession, but it offers something acting often does not: privacy.

An actor may need to appear before millions of people.

A writer can create something meaningful while remaining almost completely outside public view.

Still, detailed records of Linda’s professional work are limited. There does not appear to be a large, well-documented public career under her name.

For that reason, it is better not to exaggerate her achievements or invent job titles that cannot be confirmed.

What we can say with confidence is that she did not become a major public Hollywood personality like her parents.

Linda Susan Agar Chose a Private Life

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Linda Susan Agar is how little she tried to turn her famous family name into personal celebrity.

Her mother had experienced fame from childhood.

Her father worked in movies.

Her family photographs appeared in magazines.

Reporters even wrote about her when she was a baby.

Yet as an adult, Linda Susan remained mostly private.

A Getty Images archive includes photographs of an adult Susan appearing with Shirley Temple, including a photograph of mother and daughter at London Airport in July 1971.

But moments like these are very different from building an entertainment career.

Linda was seen publicly from time to time because of her mother, but she never became the kind of celebrity whose daily life filled magazines.

That may be why people are still curious about her today.

Mystery naturally creates interest.

What Did Linda Say About Shirley Temple as a Mother?

To millions of movie fans, Shirley Temple was the smiling little girl with curls.

To Linda, she was Mom.

That difference matters.

Published reports about Linda’s memories of Shirley describe a woman who cared deeply about family life.

In a later interview quoted by celebrity publications, Susan remembered her mother as devoted to her children and husband. She also recalled ordinary family details, such as Shirley enjoying cooking and inviting people to the house.

Those memories reveal another side of Shirley Temple.

The public knew the movie star and diplomat.

Her children knew the woman at home.

That is one reason Linda Susan Agar’s story is more than a simple celebrity-family biography. Through Linda, people get a small look at Shirley Temple’s private role as a mother.

Linda Susan Agar’s Siblings

Linda Susan has two younger half-siblings through her mother.

Charles Alden Black Jr.

Charles Alden Black Jr. was born on April 28, 1952.

He was Shirley Temple and Charles Alden Black’s first child together.

Like Linda, Charles generally stayed far away from the level of celebrity his mother had experienced.

Lori Black

Lori Black was born on April 9, 1954.

She took a very different path.

Lori became involved in music and is known for playing bass with the rock band Melvins.

This makes Shirley Temple’s three children an interesting group.

Their mother was one of Hollywood’s biggest child stars, yet none of the three simply copied her career.

Each appears to have built a life in a different way.

Linda Susan Agar’s Marriage and Personal Life

This is an area where online information becomes messy.

Some websites make very specific claims about Linda’s husband, children, and later personal life. However, the available sources do not always agree with one another.

One biographical database based partly on historical news records says Linda married Roberto Falaschi on October 8, 1975, in Portola Valley and records a divorce in July 1984.

Other websites give different names for a husband.

Because these claims conflict, it would be wrong to present every online detail as certain.

That is an important rule when reading celebrity biographies: repetition does not automatically make something true.

Linda Susan lived privately, so many details about her adult relationships were never widely documented.

Did Linda Susan Agar Have Children?

Several modern biography websites claim that Linda Susan Agar became a mother.

However, reliable public documentation about her children is limited, and some of the online biographies about her contain conflicting personal details.

Because Linda chose a quiet life, this is one subject where it is better to avoid pretending that every internet claim has been confirmed.

What is clearly documented is Linda’s place in the Temple-Agar-Black family.

She was Shirley Temple’s first child and John Agar’s daughter, and she grew up with Charles Black Jr. and Lori Black as her younger half-siblings.

Is Linda Susan Agar Still Alive?

This question appears frequently online, but it also shows why careful research matters.

Different genealogy and celebrity websites give conflicting information about Linda Susan Agar’s current status. Some describe her as living, while another database contains an unverified death year.

There does not appear to be a strong, widely reported obituary or other authoritative public record confirming her death in the sources reviewed for this article.

So the safest answer is simple:

Her current status should not be stated as certain without stronger public documentation.

That may sound less exciting than making a bold claim, but accurate information is always better than a confident guess.

How Old Would Linda Susan Agar Be in 2026?

Linda Susan Agar was born on January 30, 1948.

That means she would be 78 years old in 2026, based on her documented birth date.

Again, that calculation tells us her age based on the birth record. It should not be treated by itself as proof of her current living status.

Why Are People Still Searching for Linda Susan Agar?

There is a simple reason.

Shirley Temple remains one of the most famous child stars in entertainment history.

People watch her old movies and then naturally become curious about what happened later in her life.

Did she get married?

Did she have children?

What happened to those children?

That curiosity leads directly to Linda Susan Agar.

Linda is especially interesting because she did almost the opposite of what people might expect from a celebrity child.

She had access to an extremely famous Hollywood name, yet she did not spend her life trying to become more famous.

There is something refreshing about that.

A Childhood Surrounded by Fame, but an Adult Life Without It

Linda’s story gives us an interesting lesson about celebrity families.

Being born near fame does not mean a person must choose fame.

Think about Linda’s childhood.

Her mother had already been watched by millions before Linda was even born.

Newspapers reported on her parents.

Photographers documented family moments.

Magazine readers wanted to know about baby Linda.

Her parents’ divorce became public news.

Even ordinary family events could attract outside attention.

A person who grows up with that experience may understand the cost of fame better than most of us ever could.

So Linda’s later privacy may not be surprising at all.

It may simply have been the life she preferred.

Linda Susan Agar and Shirley Temple’s Legacy

Linda Susan Agar does not need a long film career to have a place in Hollywood history.

She is directly connected to an important part of Shirley Temple’s adult story.

Shirley was famous long before becoming a mother, but family later became an important part of her life.

Her first child marked a new chapter.

Linda Susan Agar was that child.

Old photographs of Shirley holding baby Linda are especially meaningful today because they show a person the public had watched grow up on screen becoming a young mother herself.

The little movie star had grown up.

She now had a little girl of her own.

That gives Linda’s birth an unusual place in the story of classic Hollywood.

What Makes Linda Susan Agar’s Story Different?

Many celebrity-family stories are filled with movies, scandals, awards, luxury homes, social media posts, and public relationships.

Linda Susan Agar’s story is quieter.

And that is exactly what makes it stand out.

She was born famous without choosing fame.

She grew up in a household linked to Hollywood history.

Her mother became both a film legend and an American diplomat.

Her father had a long acting career.

Yet Linda herself largely stepped away from public attention.

Sometimes a quiet life can be just as interesting as a famous one.

Final Thoughts

Linda Susan Agar will always be connected to one of Hollywood’s most unforgettable names, but her own story is not simply a copy of Shirley Temple’s.

Born in 1948 to Shirley Temple and John Agar, Linda entered the world surrounded by attention. Her parents separated while she was very young, and she later grew up in the family Shirley built with Charles Alden Black.

She had two younger half-siblings, appeared briefly in connection with her mother’s television work, and was later described as a freelance writer. Most importantly, she chose an adult life that remained largely outside the public eye.

That privacy means some questions about Linda Susan Agar cannot be answered with certainty. Instead of filling those spaces with internet rumors, it is better to focus on what reliable historical records actually tell us.

And what they tell us is interesting enough: Linda Susan Agar was born at the center of Hollywood fame but appears to have preferred a much quieter life.

FAQs About Linda Susan Agar

Who is Linda Susan Agar?

Linda Susan Agar is the daughter of famous actress Shirley Temple and actor John Agar. She was born in Santa Monica, California, on January 30, 1948.

Is Linda Susan Agar Shirley Temple’s daughter?

Yes. Linda Susan Agar was Shirley Temple’s first child and her only child with her first husband, John Agar.

Who was Linda Susan Agar’s father?

Her biological father was American actor John Agar.

Why is Linda Susan Agar also called Susan Black?

After Shirley Temple married Charles Alden Black, Linda became known in some records as Susan Black, using her stepfather’s surname.

Does Linda Susan Agar have siblings?

Yes. Through her mother’s marriage to Charles Alden Black, she has two younger half-siblings: Charles Alden Black Jr. and Lori Black.

Did Linda Susan Agar become an actress?

She had a small television connection and is credited as Susan Agar in Shirley Temple’s Storybook, but she did not build a major acting career like her parents.

What did Linda Susan Agar do for a living?

One biographical source describes her as a freelance writer. Detailed information about her professional life is limited because she stayed largely outside the public eye.

How old is Linda Susan Agar?

Linda was born on January 30, 1948, so based on that birth date she would be 78 years old in 2026.

Is Linda Susan Agar still alive?

Reliable public sources reviewed for this article do not provide enough consistent evidence to state her current status with certainty. Some online databases give conflicting information.

Why is Linda Susan Agar famous?

She is mainly known because she is the first daughter of Shirley Temple and the daughter of actor John Agar. Her decision to live privately has also kept people curious about her life.

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