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Brooke Shields
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Brooke Christa Camille Shields (born May 31, 1965 in New York City) is an American actress and supermodel. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon as well as tv shows such as Suddenly Susan and Lipstick Jungle.
lds' career as a model began in 1966, at age 11 months. Her first job was for Ivory Soap, shot by Francesco Scavullo.
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Encyclopedia
Brooke Christa Camille Shields (born May 31, 1965 in New York City) is an American actress and supermodel. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon as well as tv shows such as Suddenly Susan and Lipstick Jungle.
Biography
Career
Modeling career
Shields' career as a model began in 1966, at age 11 months. Her first job was for Ivory Soap, 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 Brooke. In early 1980 (at age 14 years), Shields was the youngest fashion model ever to 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. 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 years, 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.
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. 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 lovers 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.
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') prevented her from getting roles opposite shorter male actors.
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. She has also starred in episodes of Hannah Montana as Miley Stewart's mother. She is currently playing Wendy Healy in the television series Lipstick Jungle on NBC.
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.
Personal life
Shields was born in New York City into a well-known American society family with links to Italian nobility. Her paternal grandmother was Princess Marina Torlonia (1916-1960), daughter of the Italian 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, an Italian aristocrat, and through him Brooke can claim descent from Henry IV, King of France, Lucrezia Borgia (and thus Pope Alexander VI), Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Honore I, Prince of Monaco, among others. Marina's brother, 5th Prince Alessandro (1911-1986) married the Infanta Beatriz of Spain (1909-2002), an aunt of King of Spain Juan Carlos de Borbón. Their granddaughter Sibilla Sandra Weiller (b. 12 Jun 1968), Brooke's second cousin, married in 1994 Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, a younger brother of the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg. She is also the descendent of Charlemagne,Holy Roman Emperor and King of Italy ;William the Conqueror, King of England; Hugh Capet, King of France ;Ferdinand the Great, King of Castile and Leon; and D. Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal.
Her father was Francis Alexander Shields, and her mother is Teri Shields (née Maria Theresa 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. She graduated in 1983 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). Through her grandmother she is related to several Italian noble families (most notably Borgia, Medici, d'Este and di Savoia). The paternal grandmother of Shields' great-grandfather, Don Marino Torlonia (the fourth prince of Civitella-Cesi), was Princess Donna Anna Sforza-Cesarini, a descendant of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and patron of Leonardo da Vinci. Torlonia's maternal grandmother was Princess Donna Leopoldina Doria-Pamphilli-Landi, the granddaughter of Leopoldina of Savoy, a princess of the royal family of Piedmont and Sardinia, which later became the Royal Family of Italy. The descendant of many popes, Torlonia inherited the administration of the Banca Torlonia, which worked the finances of the Vatican and several other investments. He was one of the richest noblemen in Italy around the beginning of the twentieth century, and introduced the first motor car in Rome. 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.
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), John F. Kennedy Jr., Michael Bolton, Prince Albert II of Monaco, George Michael and Michael Jackson.
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.
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.
In May 2005, Tom Cruise, a Scientologist whose beliefs frown 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 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, 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.
Now, mother of two daughters, Shields is juggling between taking care of a family and her acting career. Her character on the NBC television series Lipstick Jungle is Wendy Healy, a woman who is also juggling her movie-career, a family and two kids. But, sleep-deprivation aside, Shields has managed to snatch moments of simply being a mother. "Now it's my children's worlds. They're not going to remember Mom was tired. They're going to remember I did the weather chart or story time at school. So you just do it. And you're tired. It's the mundane stuff that's important," Shields says in a Cookie interview. On being a parent, Shields says she prides herself on teaching her daughters good manners and only hopes that her children will have high self-esteem. Shields 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.
Filmography
External links
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