Screen Actors Guild salutes Shirley Temple

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The Screen Actors Guild Monday announced plans to bestow its highest honor on legendary child star and longtime diplomat Shirley Temple Black.

Black, 77, will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment during the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, which will air live Jan. 29 over the cable channels TNT and TBS, SAG President Melissa Gilbert announced in a news release.

"I can think of no one more deserving of this year's SAG Life Achievement award than Shirley Temple Black," Gilbert said. "Her contributions to the entertainment industry are without precedent; her contributions to the world are nothing short of inspirational."

Gilbert, another successful child star, called Black "an indelible influence on my life."

"She was my idol when I was a girl and remains my idol today," Gilbert added.

Black starred in more than 40 movies, made more than 50 TV appearances and has been active in the U.S. diplomatic corps since 1969.

Among her many activities outside of show business, Black co-founded the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies and in 1972 became one of the first celebrities to publicly speak about her battle with breast cancer and what it was like to undergo a mastectomy.