Brooke Shields Biography

Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress, model and former child star. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film Pretty Baby (1978), in which she played a child prostitute in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. The role garnered Shields widespread notoriety, and she continued to model into her late teenage years and starred in several dramas in the 1980s, including The Blue Lagoon (1980), and Franco Zeffirelli's Endless Love (1981).

In 1983, Shields suspended her career as a model to attend Princeton University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Romance Languages. In the 1990s, Shields returned to acting and appeared in minor roles in films. She starred in the titular role of the sitcom Suddenly Susan, which ran for four seasons between 1996 and 2000. Shields has made appearances in other television shows, including That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle, also starring in the animation film Under Wraps, alongside Matthew Lillard and Drake Bell. She also worked alongside Bell again in the animated films Adventure Planet and A Monsterous Holiday. In August 2017, Brooke Shields was enlisted to assume a major recurring role in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit starting in Season 19 of the long-running dramatic series on the NBC television network.

Early life

Shields was born in Manhattan; she was the daughter of Teri (ne Schmon; 1933-2012) and Frank Shields (1941-2003), a businessman. Through her father's side, she has Italian, French, Irish, and English roots, along with high social position and relations to nobility. According to research by William Addams Reitwiesner published in 1995, Brooke Shields has ancestral links with a number of noble families from Italy, in particular from Genoa and Rome. These are namely (in chronological order of descent from 1355 to 1965) the Gattilusi-Palaiologos-Savoy; Grimaldi; Imperiali; Carafa; Doria; Doria-Pamphili-Landi; Chigi-Albani; and Torlonia dynasties. Her paternal grandmother was the Italian princess Donna Marina Torlonia (Donna Marina was the daughter of an Italian nobleman and an American socialite). Shields' mother was of German, English, Scots-Irish, and Welsh descent. Shields was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.

When Teri announced that she was pregnant, Frank's family paid her a sum to terminate the pregnancy. Teri took the money, but violated the agreement and gave birth to their daughter whom they named Brooke. Frank married Teri, but they were divorced when Brooke was five months old. She has two stepbrothers and three half-sisters.

When Shields was only five-days-old, her mother openly stated she wanted her to be active in show business: "She's the most beautiful child and I'm going to help her with her career." Growing up, Shields took piano, ballet and riding lessons.

For her confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church at age 10, she took the name "Camille". While attending high school, she resided in Haworth, Bergen County, New Jersey, across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan. Shields has stated that her very first encounter with the paparazzi was in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria New York at the age of 12, stating that she "stood like a statue wondering why they were all hired to photograph me", and that she "debuted at the Waldorf".

Education

Shields attended the New Lincoln School until eighth grade. She graduated from The Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1983. She moved to a dorm at Princeton University to pursue her bachelor's degree in French literature, where she graduated in 1987.

At Princeton, she spoke openly about her sexuality and virginity. Shields was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club and the Cap and Gown Club. Her autobiography, On Your Own, was published in 1985. Her 1987 senior thesis was titled "The Initiation: From Innocence to Experience: The Pre-Adolescent/Adolescent Journey in the Films of Louis Malle, Pretty Baby and Lacombe Lucien."

Shortly after Shields graduated from college, her four-year transcript was published in the July 1987 edition of Life Magazine. Based on that transcript, The New York Times published a light-hearted op-ed piece intended to tweak the claim that Princeton produced superior, well-rounded graduates. Noting that Shields "got all As and Bs, and obviously paid attention to her school work," it claimed "she got cheated" because Princeton did not require her to take any classical studies, medieval, modern or American history, nor any course in mathematics, philosophy, economics, political science, world literature or science with laboratory experience. "[I]f that adds up to a liberal arts education from a place like Princeton, there is no longer any danger that our society will ever suffer from elitism in any form," concluded the piece.

Career

Early work

Shields began her career as a model when she was 11 months old in 1966. Her first job was for Ivory Soap, when she was shot by Francesco Scavullo. She continued as a successful child model with model agent Eileen Ford, who, in her Lifetime Network biography, stated that she started her children's division just for Shields. In 1978, when she was 12-years-old, Shields played a child prostitute in the controversial film Pretty Baby. Eileen Ford, founder of the Ford Modeling Agency, said of Brooke Shields: "She is a professional child and unique. She looks like an adult and thinks like one."

In 1980, the 14-year-old Shields was the youngest fashion model ever to appear on the cover of Vogue. Later that same year, Shields appeared in controversial print and TV ads for Calvin Klein jeans. The TV ad included her saying the famous tagline, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." Brooke Shields ads would help catapult Klein's career to super-designer status.

From 1981 to 1983, Shields, her mother, photographer Garry Gross, Playboy Press and the New York City Courts were involved in litigation over the rights to some photographs her mother had signed away to the photographer (when dealing with models who are also minors, a parent or legal guardian must sign such a release form while other agreements are subject to negotiation) which were originally intended to appear in a book titled Sugar and Spice to be published by Playboy Press. The courts ruled in favor of the photographer, but due to a strange twist in New York law, it would have been otherwise had Brooke Shields been considered a child "performer" rather than a model.

By the age of 16, Shields had become one of the most recognizable faces in the United States, because of her dual career as a provocative fashion model and child actress. Time magazine reported in its February 9, 1981 cover story that her day rate as a model was $10,000. In 1983, Shields appeared on the cover of the September issue of Paris Vogue, the October and November issues of American Vogue and the December edition of Italian Vogue. During that period Shields became a regular at New York City's nightclub Studio 54. In 2009, a picture of a naked Brooke Shields taken when she was 10 and included in a work by Richard Prince, Spiritual America, created a row. It was removed from an exhibition at the Tate Modern after a warning from the police.

Film

Shields' first major film role was as a lead actress in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (1978), a movie in which she played a child named Violet who lived in a brothel (in which there were numerous nude scenes). She was only 12-years-old when the film was released, and controversy regarding child pornography arose. This was followed by a slightly less controversial and less notable film, Wanda Nevada (1979).

After two decades of movies, her best known films are still arguably The Blue Lagoon (1980), which included nude scenes between teenage lovers on a tropical island (Shields later testified before a U.S. Congressional inquiry that older body doubles were used in some of them), and Endless Love (1981). The MPAA initially rated Endless Love with an X rating. The film was re-edited to earn an R rating. She won the People's Choice Award in the category of Favorite Young Performer in four consecutive years from 1981 to 1984. In 1998, she played a lesbian, Lily, in The Misadventures of Margaret.

In 2001, Lifetime aired the film What Makes a Family, starring Shields and Cherry Jones in a true story of a lesbian couple who fought the adoption laws of Florida.

Television appearances

Shields began her television career at an early age. In 1980, she was the youngest guest star to ever appear on The Muppet Show, in which she and the Muppets put on their own version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She was also the youngest person to host ABC's Fridays, a Saturday Night Live-like sketch comedy show, in 1981. In one episode of the popular comedy sitcom Friends, Shields played Joey's stalker. This role led directly to her being cast in the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, in which she starred from 1996 until 2000, and which earned a People's Choice Award in the category of Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series for her, in 1997, and two Golden Globe nominations.

In the early 1980s, she starred in the USPHS PSA sponsored by the American Lung Association as an initiative that VIPs should become examples and advocates of non-smoking. In the mid-1980s, Brooke began her support of the USO by touring with Bob Hope.

Shields made a couple of guest appearances on That '70s Show. She played Pam Burkhart, Jackie's (Mila Kunis) mother, who later was briefly involved with Donna's (Laura Prepon) father (played by Don Stark). Shields left That '70s Show when her character was written out. Shields recorded the narration for the Sony/BMG recording of The Runaway Bunny, a concerto for violin, orchestra, and reader, by Glen Roven. It was performed by the Royal Philharmonic and Ittai Shapira.

In the late 2000s, Shields guest-starred on shows like FX's Nip/Tuck and CBS' Two and a Half Men. In 2005, Shields appeared in a season-two episode of HBO's Entourage, entitled "Blue Balls Lagoon." In 2007, she made a guest appearance on Disney's Hannah Montana, playing Susan Stewart, Miley and Jackson's mother, who died in 2004. In 2008, she returned in the primetime drama Lipstick Jungle. The series ended a year later.

In 2010 and 2012, she made guest appearances on The Middle as the mother of a brood of terror-inducing children and the nemesis of Frankie Heck (played by Patricia Heaton). She also appeared as a featured celebrity in NBC's genealogy documentary reality series, Who Do You Think You Are?, where it was revealed that, through her father's ancestry, she is the distant cousin (many generations removed) of King Louis XIV of France, and thus a descendant of both Saint Louis and Henry IV of France.

Starting in 2013, Shields has been an occasional guest co-host in the 9:00 hour of Today on NBC.

Theatre

Shields has appeared in several Broadway theater productions, including the musicals Grease (1994 revival) as Betty Rizzo, the 1998 revival of Cabaret (in 2001), the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town (in 2004-2005) and Chicago. She also performed in Chicago in London's West End. She took over the role of Morticia Addams in the Broadway musical The Addams Family on June 28, 2011.

Personal life

In the June 2009 issue of Health magazine, Shields related that she lost her virginity at age 22 to actor Dean Cain while they were dating at Princeton. She said it would have occurred earlier had she had a better self-image.

In the 1990s, Shields promoted physical fitness as an extension of femininity, maintaining that femininity and athletics are compatible. Although she was not the only woman doing so, Shields had what was required to promote women's athletics.

Shields is also a well-known vegan and an animal rights activist. However, despite coming out against the fur industry in 1989, Shields later went on to create her own mink fur coat at Kopenhagen Fur. She came under the scrutiny of animal rights organizations such as PETA for this visit, which prompted media attention.

Shields has been married twice. From 1997 to 1999, she was married to professional tennis player Andre Agassi; the couple had been together since 1993. Following her divorce from Agassi, she married television writer Chris Henchy in 2001, after they had met through mutual friends in 1999. The couple has two daughters and reside in Manhattan, New York City. She is a spokeswoman for Tupperware's Chain of Confidence SMART Girls campaign, a program that teaches girls to nurture their mental and physical well-being.

Postpartum depression

Between April and May 2005, Shields spoke to magazines (such as Guideposts) and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to publicize her battle with postpartum depression, an experience that included depression, thoughts of suicide, an inability to respond to her baby's needs and delayed maternal bonding. The illness may have been triggered by a traumatic childbirth, the death of her father three weeks earlier, stress from in vitro fertilization, a miscarriage and a family history of depression, as well as the hormones and life changes which were brought on by childbirth. Her book, Down Came the Rain, discusses her experience, contributing to a greater public awareness of postpartum depression.

In May 2005, Tom Cruise, an actor and scientologist whose beliefs frown upon psychiatry, condemned Brooke, both personally and professionally, for both using and speaking in favor of the antidepressant drug Paxil. As Cruise said, "Here is a woman and I care about Brooke Shields, because I think she is an incredibly talented woman, you look at [and think], where has her career gone?" Shields responded that Cruise's statements about anti-depressants were "irresponsible" and "dangerous." She said that he should "stick to fighting aliens" (a reference to Cruise's starring role in War of the Worlds as well as some of the more esoteric aspects of Scientology doctrine and teachings), "and let mothers decide the best way to treat postpartum depression." The actress responded to a further attack by Cruise in an essay "War of Words" published in The New York Times on July 1, 2005, in which she made an individual case for the medication and said, "In a strange way, it was comforting to me when my obstetrician told me that my feelings of extreme despair and my suicidal thoughts were directly tied to a biochemical shift in my body. Once we admit that postpartum is a serious medical condition, then the treatment becomes more available and socially acceptable. With a doctor's care, I have since tapered off the medication but, without it, I wouldn't have become the loving parent I am today." On August 31, 2006, according to USAToday.com, Cruise privately apologized to Shields for the incident. Shields accepted Cruise's apology, which she said was "heartfelt." Three months later in November 2006, she and her husband attended the wedding of Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Relationship with Michael Jackson

On July 7, 2009, Shields spoke at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. She stated in that speech that she first met Jackson when she was 13 years old, and the two instantly became friends. Shields said:

In her eulogy, she shared anecdotes, including an occasion in which she was his date for one of Elizabeth Taylor's weddings, and the pair sneaked into Taylor's room to get the first look at her dress, only to discover Taylor asleep in the bed. Shields gave a tearful speech, referring to the many memories she and Jackson shared and briefly joked about his famous sequin glove. She also mentioned Jackson's favorite song "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin, which was later sung in the memorial service by Jermaine Jackson.

New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote that "it was a little peculiar hearing Brooke Shields's weepy testimony about her deep friendship with Jackson given the fact that she told reporters that the last time she saw him was at Elizabeth Taylor's eighth wedding in 1991." Jackson stated in his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey that he was dating Shields at the time. Shields has stated that Jackson asked her to marry him numerous times and to adopt a child together.

In a conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in 2001, Jackson said of Shields:

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Alice, Sweet Alice	Karen Spages
1978	Pretty Baby	Violet
1978	King of the Gypsies	Tita
1979	Tilt	Tilt
1979	Wanda Nevada	Wanda Nevada
1979	Just You and Me, Kid	Kate
1980	The Blue Lagoon	Emmeline Lestrange
1981	Endless Love	Jade Butterfield
1983	Sahara	Dale
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Customer
1989	Speed Zone	Stewardess
1989	Brenda Starr	Brenda Starr
1990	Backstreet Dreams	Stevie
1992	Running Wild	Christine Shaye
1993	Freaked	Skye Daley
1994	The Postgraduate	Fantasy Wife
1994	The Seventh Floor	Kate Fletcher
1996	Freeway	Mimi Wolverton
1998	The Misadventures of Margaret	Lily
1999	The Weekend	Nina
1999	Black and White	Sam Donager
1999	The Bachelor	Buckley Hale-Windsor
1999	The Disenchanted Forest	Herself
2000	After Sex	Kate
2004	Our Italian Husband	Charlene Taylor
2004	The Easter Egg Adventure	Horrible Harriet Hare	Voice
2005	Bob the Butler	Anne Jamieson
2007	National Lampoon's Bag Boy	Mrs. Hart
2008	Justice League: The New Frontier	Carol Ferris	Voice; Direct-to-DVD release
2008	The Midnight Meat Train	Susan Hoff
2008	Unstable Fables: Goldilocks & 3 Bears Show	Ruby Bear	Voice
2009	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Susan Stewart	Uncredited
2010	Furry Vengeance	Tammy Sanders
2010	The Other Guys	Herself
2011	Chalet Girl	Caroline
2011	The Greening of Whitney Brown	Joan Brown
2013	The Hot Flashes	Beth Humphrey
2013	A Monsterous Holiday	Betsy	Voice
2014	Under Wraps	Jean	Voice
2014	Adventure Planet		Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	After the Fall	Quentin's Daughter	Television movie
1977	The Prince of Central Park	Kristin	Television movie
1982	The Doctors	Elizabeth Harrington	Unknown episodes
1984	Wet Gold	Laura	Television movie
1984	Blondes vs. Brunettes	Herself	ABC television special
1988	The Diamond Trap	Tara Holden	Television movie
1992	Quantum Leap	Vanessa Foster	Episode: "Leaping of the Shrew"
1993	I Can Make You Love Me	Laura Black	Television movie
1993	The Simpsons	Herself (voice)	Episode: "The Front"
1993	Tales from the Crypt	Norma	Episode: "Came the Dawn"
1994	An American Love	Greta	Television movie
1995	Nothing Lasts Forever	Dr. Beth Taft	Television movie
1996	Friends	Erika Ford	Episode: "The One After the Superbowl: Part 1"
1996-2000	Suddenly Susan	Susan Keane	93 episodes, producer
1998	The Almost Perfect Bank Robbery	Cyndee Lafrance	Television movie
2001	What Makes a Family	Janine Nielssen	Television movie
2001	Just Shoot Me!	Erlene Noodleman	Episode: "Erlene and Boo"
2003	Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids	Miss Spider	Television movie
2003	Gary the Rat	Cassandra Harrison (voice)	Episode: "Future Ex-Wife"
2004	Gone, But Not Forgotten	Betsy Tannenbaum	Television movie
2004	I'm with Her	Ivy Tyler	Episode: "Poison Ivy"
2004	That '70s Show	Pamela Burkhart	7 episodes
2005	New Car Smell	April	Television movie
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Kelly Sloane-Raines	Episode: "Siren Call"
2006	Nip/Tuck	Faith Wolper	3 episodes
2007	Two and a Half Men	Danielle Stewert	Episode: "That's Summer Sausage, Not Salami"
2007	The Batman	Julie (voice)	Episode: "Riddler's Revenge"
2007-2009	Hannah Montana	Susan Stewart	3 episodes
2008	Widows	Shirley Heller	Television movie
2008-2009	Lipstick Jungle	Wendy Healy	20 episodes
2010, 2012, 2014-2016	The Middle	Rita Glossner	5 episodes
2010	Who Do You Think You Are?	Herself	Episode: "Brooke Shields"
2010	The Boy Who Cried Werewolf	Madame Varcolac	Television movie
2011	Chalet Girl	Caroline	Television movie
2013	Army Wives	Col. Kat Young	5 episodes
2013	Super Fun Night	Alison Lockridge	Episode: "Go with Glorg"
2014-2016	Creative Galaxy	Seraphina (voice)	8 episodes
2014	The Michael J. Fox Show	Deborah	2 episodes
2014-present	Mr. Pickles	Mrs. Goodman (voice)	19 episodes
2016	Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's The Word	Abby Knight	Television movie
2016	Flower Shop Mystery: Snipped in the Bud	Abby Knight	Television movie
2016	Flower Shop Mystery: Dearly Depotted	Abby Knight	Television movie
2016	Scream Queens	Dr. Scarlett Lovin	Episode: "Lovin the D"
2016	When Calls the Heart	Charlotte Thornton	2 Episodes
2017	Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special	Herself	Variety special

Awards and nominations

Golden Globe Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1996	Suddenly Susan	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy
1997

Golden Raspberry Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1980	The Blue Lagoon	Worst Actress
1981	Endless Love
1983	Sahara
		Worst Supporting Actor
1989	Speed Zone	Worst Supporting Actress

Satellite Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
1997	Suddenly Susan	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy
1998

Published works