Ms. Montogomery reportedly got the inspiration for the character after reading a newspaper article about a Canadian couple who were greatly expecting to adopt a boy orphan but received Anne instead.
According to the story, Anne is a young orphan who is sent to live with an elderly bachelor named Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla. Her parents, Walter and Bertha Shirley, died of typhoid fever. Anne was orphaned as a newborn. The setting is the fictional town of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, around the turn of the 20th Century. The young Anne is described as red-haired and freckled with a wild imagination and intelligent vocabulary. Her creative intellect are usually the center of many of the adventures she encounters.
Many sequels came about after the success of Anne of Green Gables. They follow Anne as she matures into a young woman. The life of Anne is told in the following bibliography:
Anne Shirley (April 17, 1918 - July 4, 1993) was also the name of an American actress, born Dawn Evelyn Paris, who began acting under the name of Dawn O'Day. In 1934 she starred as the character of Anne Shirley in the movie production of Anne of Green Gables, and took that character's name as her stage name.
She began acting at the age of five, and had a highly successful child star career, starring in such films as Tom Mix's Riders of the Purple Sage, So Big, Three on a Match and Rasputin and the Empress. After taking the name of Anne Shirley, she starred in Steamboat 'Round the Bend, Make Way for a Lady and Stella Dallas, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Later roles were in such movies as Anne of Windy Poplars, The Devil and Daniel Webster and Murder, My Sweet. The latter was her last film, for she retired in 1944 after completing it.
Anne Shirley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Blvd.