Jimmy Shields

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Jimmy Shields (1905 - 1974) was an interior designer and actor who lived openly as a homosexual man with former movie idol William Haines from 1926 until his death. In 1933 studio head Louis B. Mayer pressured Haines to end his relationship with Shields. Haines chose Shields and Mayer terminated his contract.

Shields and Haines began a successful career as interior designers and antique dealers in Manhattan Beach, California. Among their early clients were friends such as Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, and Marion Davies. Their lives were disrupted in 1936 when members of the White Legion wearing hoods to hide their faces, dragged them from their home and beat them because a neighbor had accused the two of propositioning his son. Ultimately Shields and Haines chose not to report the incident to the police. After moving to Malibu their business prospered until their retirement in the early 1970s. Their many clients, in addition to hundreds of Hollywood celebrities, included Ronald and Nancy Reagan while Reagan was governor of California, and Walter Annenberg while he was the U.S. Ambassador to England.

Shields and Haines remained together for the rest of their lives despite numerous infidelities. Joan Crawford (a lifelong friend) described them as "the happiest married couple in Hollywood". Haines died from lung cancer at the age of 73. Soon afterward, Shields, who suffered from what may have been Alzheimer's Disease put on Haines' pajamas, took an overdose of pills, and died. They were interred side by side in the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery.