Brooke Shields

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Brooke Shields

Born Brooke Christa Camille Shields
May 31, 1965 (1965-05-31) (age 43)
New York City, New York, USA
Years active 1974 ─ present
Spouse(s) Andre Agassi (1997–1999)
Chris Henchy (2001–present)

Brooke Christa Camille Shields[1] (born May 31, 1965)[2] is an American actress and supermodel.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

[edit] Modeling career

Shields' career as a model began in the mid 1960s as an infant. Her first job was for Ivory soap shot by Francesco Scavullo. She continued as a successful child model, with model agent Eileen Ford, in her Lifetime Network biography, stating that she started her children's division just for Brooke. In early 1980 (at age 14), Shields was the youngest fashion model to ever appear on the cover of the top fashion publication Vogue magazine. Later that same year, Shields appeared in controversial print and TV ads for Calvin Klein jeans[3]. The TV ad included her saying the famous tagline, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

By the age of 16, Shields had become one of the most recognizable faces in the world because of her dual career as a provocative fashion model and controversial 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.

[edit] Film career

Shields' first major film role was her 1978 appearance in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, a movie in which she played a child living in a brothel (and in which there were numerous nude scenes). Because she was only 12 when the film was released, and possibly 11 when it was filmed, questions were raised about child pornography.[citation needed] This was followed by a slightly less controversial, but also less notable film, Wanda Nevada (1979).

After two decades of movies, her best-known films are still arguably The Blue Lagoon (1980), which included a number of nude scenes between teenage cousins on a deserted island (Shields later testified before a U.S. Congressional inquiry that older body doubles were used in some of them), and Endless Love (1981). She won the People's Choice Award in the category of Favorite Young Performer in four consecutive years from 1981 to 1984.

[edit] Career stalling

Shields put her film career on hold to attend Princeton University from 1983 to 1987, graduating with a degree in French literature. Her 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." It was here at Princeton where she spoke openly about her sexuality and virginity. During her tenure at Princeton, Shields was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club and the Cap and Gown Club.

Shields' career stalled at various times, and she has told interviewers that her height (6'0") prevented her from getting roles opposite shorter male actors.

[edit] Television appearances

Shields has appeared in a number of television shows, the most successful being the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan, in which she starred from 1996 until 2000 and which earned her a People's Choice Award in the category of Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series in 1997 and two Golden Globe nominations.

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. She also appeared in one episode of the popular comedy sitcom Friends playing Joey's stalker. 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. Earlier in 1980, Shields 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 In Wonderland.

[edit] On-stage productions

Shields has appeared in many on-stage productions, mostly musical revivals, including Grease, Cabaret, Wonderful Town and Chicago on Broadway; she also performed in Chicago in London's West End.

[edit] Personal life

Shields was born in New York City[4] into a well-known American society family with links to Italian nobility.[5] Her father was Francis Alexander Shields, and her mother was Teri Shields (née Maria Theresia Schmonn). Shields adopted her middle name, Camille, for her Confirmation at age 10. Shields' parents divorced when she was a child, and her father later married Diana Lippert Auchincloss, the former wife of Thomas Gore Auchincloss (a half-brother of Gore Vidal and a stepbrother of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis). The actress has three half-sisters: Marina (who married Thomas William Purcell), Olympia, and Christina Shields. She also has two stepsiblings, Diana Luise Auchincloss and Thomas Gore Auchincloss Jr. She attended the all-girl Lenox School[6]. She graduated from Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey.

Her paternal grandparents were Francis Xavier Shields, a tennis star of Irish descent, and his second wife, the Italian princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi, a half-Italian, half-American socialite who was a sister of Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi, the husband of Infanta Beatriz of Spain (an aunt of King Juan Carlos I of Spain). Shields is a second cousin once removed of the actress Glenn Close. Shields's great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore (wife of Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince di Civitella-Cesi) was Close's great-aunt, a sister of Close's maternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Moore.

Into the mid-1980s, Shields was a resident of Haworth, New Jersey.[7]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Shields' romantic relationships were the subject of many tabloid articles. Among the celebrities she dated were Ted McGinley (her high school prom escort), Dean Cain (her Princeton roommate)[1], John F. Kennedy Jr., Michael Bolton, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Michael Jackson (his date to the 1984 Grammy Awards).

Shields was married from April 19, 1997, to April 9, 1999, to professional tennis player Andre Agassi; their marriage was annulled. Since April 4, 2001, she has been married to television writer Chris Henchy. They have two daughters: Rowan Frances (b. May 15, 2003) and Grier Hammond (b. April 18, 2006).

Honorary Ambassador of Peace for the Harvey Ball Foundation along with Jackie Chan, A. V. T. Shankardass, Jerry Lewis, Prince Albert of Monaco, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Phil Collins, Jimmy Buffett, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Heather Mills, Yoko Ono, Patch Adams, Sergei Khrushchev and Winnie Mandela.

[edit] Postpartum depression

In the spring of 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 brought on by childbirth. Her book, Down Came the Rain, discusses her experience.[8]

In May 2005, Tom Cruise, a Scientologist whose beliefs frowns upon psychiatry, condemned Shields both personally and professionally, particularly 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 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 exotic 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."[9] On August 31, 2006, according to USAToday.com,[10] Cruise privately apologized to Shields for the incident, and Shields accepted, saying it was "heartfelt." Three months later, she and her husband attended the wedding of Cruise and Katie Holmes in November 2006.

Since writing her book, Shields has guest-starred on shows like FX's Nip/Tuck and CBS' Two and a Half Men. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on Disney's Hannah Montana playing Susan Stewart, Miley and Jackson's mother. In 2008, she returned in the primetime drama Lipstick Jungle.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1974 After the Fall Quentin's Daughter TV
1976 Alice, Sweet Alice Karen Spages aka Communion or Holy Terror
1977 The Prince of Central Park Kristin TV
1978 Pretty Baby Violet
King of the Gypsies Tita
1979 An Almost Perfect Affair uncredited
Tilt Brenda Louise Davenport
Wanda Nevada Wanda Nevada
Just You and Me, Kid Kate
1980 The Blue Lagoon Emmeline
The Muppet Show (Season 5) Herself TV
1981 Endless Love Jade Butterfield
1982 The Doctors Elizabeth Harrington TV
1983 Sahara Dale
1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan Customer in Pete's
Wet Gold Laura TV
1988 The Diamond Trap Tara Holden TV
1989 Speed Zone! Stewardess/Herself aka Cannonball Fever
Brenda Starr Brenda Starr
1990 Backstreet Dreams Stevie
1992 Running Wild Christine Shaye aka Born Wild
1993 Freaked Skye Daley
I Can Make You Love Me Laura Black TV
1994 An American Love Greta TV
The Seventh Floor Kate Fletcher
1995 Nothing Lasts Forever Dr. Beth Taft TV
1996 Freeway Mimi Wolverton
Suddenly Susan (1996-2000) Susan Keane TV
1997 Scratch the Surface Herself
1998 The Almost Perfect Bank Robbery Cyndee Lafrance TV
Junket Whore Herself
The Misadventures of Margaret Lily
1999 The Weekend Nina
Black and White Sam Donager
The Bachelor Buckley Hale-Windsor
2000 After Sex Kate
Massholes Herself
2001 What Makes a Family Janine Nielssen TV
2002 Widows Shirley Heller TV mini-series
2003 Mayor of the Sunset Strip Herself
Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids voice of Miss Spider TV
2004 Gone But Not Forgotten Betsy Tannenbaum TV aka Phillip Margolin's Gone But Not Forgotten
Our Italian Husband Charlene Taylor
The Easter Egg Adventure voice of Horrible Harriet Hare
2005 Bob the Butler Anne Jamieson
New Car Smell April TV
The Outsider Herself
2007 Hannah Montana Susan Stewart "I Am Hannah, Hear Me Croak" (Episode 5 , Season 2)
"The Way We Almost Weren't" (Episode 21 , Season 2)
National Lampoon's Bag Boy Mrs. Hart
2008 Justice League: The New Frontier Carol Ferris (direct-to-DVD release)
Lipstick Jungle Wendy TV series (2008- present)
Midnight Meat Train Susan Hoff
2009 Unstable Fables: The Goldilocks and 3 Bears Show Mama Bear voice in computer-animated film [11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brooke Shields - Biography
  2. ^ Brooke Shields Biography - Biography.com
  3. ^ Brooke Shields's Calvin Kline Ads
  4. ^ Brooke Shields Biography - Biography.com
  5. ^ Her ancestry is traced in William Addams Reitwiesner (1995). The Lesbian ancestors of Prince Rainier of Monaco, Dr. Otto von Habsburg, Brooke Shields, and the Marquis de Sade. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  6. ^ Celebrity Prep Schools
  7. ^ Rondinaro, Gene. "IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN; HAWORTH", The New York Times, January 26, 1986. Accessed February 19, 2007.
  8. ^ Shields, Brooke (2005). Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. Hyperion. ISBN 1-4013-0189-4
  9. ^ War of Words - New York Times
  10. ^ Shields: Cruise apology was 'heartfelt' - USATODAY.com
  11. ^ "Tortoise vs. Hare" Coming This Fall. March 6, 2008

[edit] External links