Shirley did a few movies in the following years, such as "Kathleen" (with MGM), and "Miss Annie Ronney" (in which Shirley received her first *real* screen kiss), neither of these did all that well at the box office, and Shirley seemed happy to go to high school and go out with boys just as any other normal teenager. In 1944 and 1945, Shirley co-starred in a few war movies, "Since You went Away" and "I'll be Seeing You", these were successful, and in 1945, Shirley was a typical teen in the well received "Kiss and Tell". Shirley seemed to be making the transition to adult star. In 1945, Shirley also married her sweetheart, John Agar, it seemed almost like a real life fairy tale. Shirley did a few more starring roles in movies in the years following, but none really met expectations. She also starred in one quite memorable picture with Henry Fonda and her husband John Agar called " Fort Apache". It was at the time of filming that she learned that she was pregnant.

In early 1948, Shirley gave birth to her first child, daughter Linda Susan. Shirley Temple had truly "grown up". Everything seemed so perfect for Shirley, but it wasn't. In 1949, Shirley filed for divorce and revealed that the marriage was not the fairy tale that it seemed. After this, Shirley slipped from the public eye, she never did another movie.