Brooke Shields is a Hollywood actress, model, and icon of the 1970s and 1980s who rose to fame through controversial roles in the films Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon. Brooke successfully built a brilliant modelling career, becoming highly sought after by top magazines and fashion designers. Read more about the life of this remarkable woman on manhattanski.com.
Early Life
Brooke Shields was born on May 31, 1965, in New York to Frank and Teri Shields. Her father’s parents were vehemently opposed to him marrying Teri. Frank came from an educated, cultured family whose roots traced back to French and Italian nobility. Teri, however, was the daughter of people with little means and had unsuccessfully tried her hand at acting and modelling. When Frank’s parents learned that Teri was pregnant, they offered the young woman a large sum of money to get an abortion and break up with their son. Teri took the money but failed to keep her promise. Frank eventually married her, but the marriage lasted only a few months. Brooke’s parents divorced when she was just five months old. Despite everything, Brooke maintained a close relationship with her father throughout his life. After the divorce, Teri vowed that her daughter would become world-famous and dedicated a monumental effort to making that happen.
A Model from the Cradle
Shields first appeared on television screens at 11 months old, starring alongside her mother in advertisements for baby products. Brooke’s debut was in a commercial for Ivory Snow soap, shot by the legendary photographer Francesco Scavullo. Agent Eileen Ford began representing Brooke in 1975, and according to Ford herself, she founded the children’s division of her eponymous agency after signing the young model.
Due to constant filming, Brooke never had a proper childhood. Her mother, obsessed with the idea of her daughter having perfect looks, forbade her even from touching sweets. Teri closely controlled Brooke’s career and image. The girl’s day was scheduled down to the minute. After photoshoots, she would attend lessons in horseback riding, piano, and dancing. Returning home, Brooke had to care for her mother, who struggled with alcohol addiction and became unbearable when binge-drinking. She often verbally abused and hit her daughter, leading the girl to develop numerous insecurities.
In her teenage years, Shields graced the covers of various magazines, once again thanks to her mother, who agreed to any shoot involving Brooke just to draw attention to her. At the age of 10, Garry Gross invited Brooke to an erotic photoshoot for Playboy magazine. In the pictures, the girl posed nude, which did not bother her mother in the slightest.
Teri managed to achieve her goal; her daughter became unrivalled in the fashion industry. Shields became the most recognisable face in America, quickly transforming from a sweet girl into a highly sexualised model. By age 14, she was featured in Vogue, and a year later, her portfolio included shoots for major glossy magazines. In 1981, Time magazine reported that Brooke’s daily rate reached $10,000. The girl, with her signature thick eyebrows, cascading brown hair, and refined features, seemed to be everywhere, from shampoo commercials to high fashion. In 1980, fashion designer Calvin Klein hired Brooke for a notoriously sexual television and print advertising campaign for his new line of tight-fitting jeans.
Brooke Shields’ Films
In 1978, a role in Louis Malle’s film Pretty Baby propelled Shields to the height of cultural attention. At the time, the girl was only 11 years old. In the movie, she played the daughter of a prostitute. This film won an award at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or. However, critics gave it negative reviews, calling it child pornography and labelling Shields “the new Lilith.” Soon after, Pretty Baby was banned in some parts of Canada and Australia.
At 14, Brooke Shields starred in The Blue Lagoon with Christopher Atkins. The movie tells the story of two cousins raised together in the Victorian era who are shipwrecked on a tropical South Pacific island. Without social structures and customs, they freely discover physical and emotional changes as they grow up. The nude scenes, performed by a body double, sparked outrage over the film’s alleged indecency and caused another scandal. Nevertheless, audiences embraced the movie, which grossed nearly $48 million in the US in 1980.
In 1981, Franco Zeffirelli cast Shields in his film Endless Love, a romantic drama about teenage sex and parental disapproval. The film’s sexual scene caused much controversy surrounding Brooke and her mother, who was accused of exploiting her daughter for profit. Critics also brought up the nude photographs of the 10-year-old Brooke from the photoshoot organised by the Ford Model Agency. It turned out that Teri had sold the rights to her daughter’s nude photos to photographer Gross for a mere $450. He soon passed the images on to Playboy Press. In the early 1980s, Brooke attempted to legally ban the use of these photos, claiming a violation of her right to privacy. Ultimately, the New York State Court of Appeals sided with Gross.
Finding Herself, Awards, and Books
Tired of her modeling career and acting, Brooke Shields enrolled at Princeton University. She graduated on June 9, 1987. In one of her interviews, the actress confessed that she finally found herself at the institution. There, she learned to think for herself, began standing up to her overbearing mother, and discovered a love for comedy and dancing. In a 2022 interview with Glamour, Brooke stated that she graduated with honours, earning a degree in Romance Languages.
Throughout her acting career, Brooke has appeared in over 100 television series and films, as well as several Broadway musicals. Despite the controversial reviews, her early film work won the hearts of millions of fans, evidenced by the five People’s Choice Awards she received. From 1981 to 1984, Shields won the “Favourite Young Motion Picture Actress” award four times in a row. The actress received her fifth People’s Choice Award in 1997 for her leading role in the sitcom Suddenly Susan. The series ran from 1996 to 2000. For her performance, Shields was also nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.
Brooke Shields is known not only as a model and actress but also as an author. In 2005, her book Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression was released, in which she discussed her struggles with infertility and the severe postpartum depression that followed the birth of her daughter, Rowan. The book also revealed that she took antidepressants for a period. In 2015, Brooke published another book, There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me. In it, she wrote about the complex relationship with her alcoholic mother.
Brooke Shields’ Personal Life
The actress’s first husband was Andre Agassi; they married in 1997. However, the marriage lasted only two years. In 2001, Brooke married Chris Henchy, a television writer, director, and producer. The couple has two daughters, Rowan and Grier.
In 2021, Brooke Shields founded Beginning Is Now, an apparel brand and online platform focused on women over 40. Brooke has become an example for many as a self-assured woman who is comfortable with her figure and her age.