LOS ANGELES: Actress Shirley Temple Black, who rose to fame as a Hollywood child star, has died at the age of 85, US media said on Tuesday.

ABC News and CNN, citing her agent, said she died on Monday night in her California home of natural causes, surrounded by her family and caregivers.

She is survived by her three children Lori, Charlie and Linda.

She starred in more than 40 movies, most of them before the age of 12.

Later in life, she battled breast cancer.

She also served as US ambassador to Ghana and the then Czechoslovakia, as well as the US representative to the United Nations.

“We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife of fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black,” a statement by her publicist said, according to CNN.