Brooke Shields

Shields was born in Manhattan, New York City, on May 31, 1965,{{cite web | url = http://www.biography.com/people/brooke-shields-9542246 | title = Brooke Shields Biography | publisher = Biography.com / Fyi (A&E Networks) | access-date = November 12, 2014 | archive-date = December 9, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181209135615/https://www.biography.com/people/brooke-shields-9542246 }} the daughter of actress and model Teri Shields (née Schmon) and businessman Francis Alexander Shields. Her mother was of English, German, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh descent,{{cite news |title=Meeting the ancestors |url=http://www.rte.ie/ten/2010/0705/blog_tv_tvwatch.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217201624/http://www.rte.ie/ten/2010/0705/blog_tv_tvwatch.html | archive-date=February 17, 2013 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/life/905W-000-017.html|title=LIFE MAGAZINE – AMERICA FALLS FOR A MILLION DOLLAR BABY – 905W-000-017}} while her father had English, French, Irish, and Italian ancestry.{{cite web|url=http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/general/view.bg?articleid=1237292|title=Kudrow gets to root of family trees|first=Bill|last=Burke|date=March 5, 2010|newspaper=Boston Herald|access-date=March 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307025455/http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/general/view.bg?articleid=1237292|archive-date=March 7, 2010}}

According to research by William Addams Reitwiesner, Shields has ancestral links with a number of noble families from Italy, in particular from Genoa and Rome.{{cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/essays/lesbian.html|title=Lesbian Genealogy}} 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 Italian noblewoman Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi, who was the daughter of an Italian prince and an American socialite. Her great-uncle was the Italian nobleman Alessandro Torlonia, the husband of Infanta Beatriz of Spain. In a 2010 episode of the genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, Shields discovered she is a descendant of Victor Amadeus I of Savoy and his wife Christine of France (a daughter of King Henry IV of France and Maria de' Medici) through the Torlonia dynasty.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RxAaisGlv8 |title=Brooke Shields descends from French Royalty? |language=en |access-date=2024-04-25 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{Cite web |title=Brooke Shields - AncestryProGenealogists |url=https://www.progenealogists.com/individual/brooke-shields#:~:text=Brooke's%20father's%20line%20is%20comprised,line%20of%20working%20class%20Americans. |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.progenealogists.com}}

When Teri announced that she was pregnant, Francis's family paid her a sum to terminate the pregnancy. Teri took the money, but violated the agreement and gave birth to Brooke.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/30/magazine/the-lives-they-lived-2012.html |title=The Lives They Lived |newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 30, 2012 |date=December 28, 2012}} Francis married Teri, but they were divorced when Shields was only five months old.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20645378,00.html#disqus_thread|title=Brooke Shields's Mother, Teri Shields, Dies at 79|magazine=People|date=November 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828205610/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20645378,00.html#disqus_thread |archive-date=August 28, 2016 }} She has two stepbrothers and three half-sisters.{{cite book|last=Shields|first=Brooke|title=Welcome to Your World, Baby|url=https://archive.org/details/welcometoyourwor0000shie|url-access=registration|publisher= HarperCollins|year=2008|page=6}}{{cite web|url=http://www.seeing-stars.com/Churches/StMonicas.shtml |title=St. Monica Church |first=Gary |last=Wayne |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817145240/http://www.seeing-stars.com/Churches/StMonicas.shtml |archive-date=August 17, 2010 }} When Shields was only five days old, her mother openly stated she wanted her to be active in show business, saying: "She's the most beautiful child and I'm going to help her with her career."{{cite book|last=Conner|first=Floyd|title=Hollywood's Most Wanted|page=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodsmostwa0000conn/page/107 107]|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodsmostwa0000conn|url-access=registration|quote=...Her beauty was going to contribute to mankind.|year=2002|publisher=Brassey's|isbn=1-57488-480-8}} Growing up, Shields took piano, ballet, and horse-riding lessons.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/celebrity-interviews/brooke-shields-interview-2 |title=Being Brooke |magazine=Good Housekeeping |first=Jenny |last=Allen |access-date=November 13, 2014 |page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128015257/http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/celebrity-interviews/brooke-shields-interview-2 |archive-date=November 28, 2014 }}

Shields was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.{{cite news|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800014914/bio |title=Brooke Shields |publisher=Yahoo! Movies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628225921/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800014914/bio |archive-date=June 28, 2011 }} For her confirmation at age 10, she took the name Camille, after Camillus de Lellis. While attending high school, she resided in Haworth, New Jersey.Rondinaro, Gene. [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/26/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-haworth.html "If You Think Of Living In; Haworth"], The New York Times, January 26, 1986. Accessed February 19, 2007. Shields has stated that her 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."{{cite book |last=Morehouse |first=Ward III |title=The Waldorf Astoria: America's Gilded Dream |year=1991 |publisher=M. Evans |isbn=978-1-4134-6504-4 |pages=254–255}}

Shields attended the New Lincoln School in New York City until eighth grade.[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20072596,00.html People.com: Brooke Shields] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829011804/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20072596,00.html |date=August 29, 2016 }} Retrieved June 28, 2011{{cite web|url=http://www.celebrityprepschools.com/part5.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040529013314/http://www.celebrityprepschools.com/part5.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 29, 2004|title=celebrityprepschools.com}} She graduated from the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1983.Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2008

File:Brooke Shields - Daily News (1977).jpg

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 photographed by Francesco Scavullo. She continued as a successful child model with model agent Eileen Ford, who, in her Lifetime biography, stated that she started her children's division just for Shields. Ford said of her: "She is a professional child and unique. She looks like an adult and thinks like one."{{cite book |last=Handel |first=Gerald |title=Childhood socialization|page=37|year=2006|publisher=Aldine Transaction |isbn=0-202-30641-0}}

After appearing in the 1974 TV adaptation of Arthur Miller's play After the Fall, Shields made her feature film debut in the New Jersey-shot horror film Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), portraying a young girl who is murdered during her first communion. She was cast in the part after director Alfred Sole had seen her in a print advertisement for Vogue magazine.{{Cite book |last=Edwards |first=Matthew |title=Twisted Visions: Interviews with Cult Horror Filmmakers |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-476-66376-0 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina|page=30}} The film was later re-released in 1981, capitalizing on Shields's rising fame at the time.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34596030/the_indianapolis_star/|title=Looking for Brooke Better look fast|work=The Indianapolis Star|last=Rose|first=Rita|date=March 10, 1981|page=13|via=Newspapers.com}} Next, Shields worked with director Woody Allen in his 1977 film Annie Hall, but her role was cut out of the final edit of the film.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11279436/Brooke-Shields-I-stuck-up-for-mum-but-now-I-want-a-say.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11279436/Brooke-Shields-I-stuck-up-for-mum-but-now-I-want-a-say.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Brooke Shields: 'I stuck up for mum, but now I want a say'|last1=Walden|first1=Celia|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=December 8, 2014|access-date=June 10, 2019}}{{cbignore}}

Shields and her mother Teri appeared on the cover of the September 26, 1977 issue of New York Magazine, in a cover story about her modeling career. The main headline on the cover read: "Meet Teri and Brooke Shields" while the subtitle read:

Brooke is twelve. She poses nude. Teri is her mother. She thinks it's swell.{{cite web |title=BROOKE SHIELDS Cover + 'Pretty Baby' Story NEW YORK MAGAZINE Sept. 26,1977 |url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/brooke-shields-cover-baby-story-york-1934685118 |publisher=WorthPoint |access-date=23 October 2023}}{{cite web |title=New York Magazine (September 26, 1977) |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CqqaXcmJZCP/?img_index=1 |website=Instagram |access-date=23 October 2023}}

Although the September 26, 1977 issue was listed in a 2008 collection of classic covers on the New York Magazine website for its 40th anniversary, unlike the other listed issues, there is no link to the cover story about Shields' career as a nude model.{{cite web |title=Cover to Cover |url=https://nymag.com/anniversary/40th/50745/ |website=nymag.com |date=September 26, 2008 |publisher=New York Magazine |access-date=23 October 2023}}

The 11-year-old Shields was cast as the lead in French director Louis Malle's Pretty Baby (1978), in which she played a child named Violet who lived in a brothel, the daughter of a prostitute played by Susan Sarandon. There were numerous nude scenes in the film, including those in which Shields appeared naked. Her appearance in the film spurred significant controversy, as public worry regarding child sexual abuse had begun to rise at the time of its release.{{cite web|first=Kristen|last=McMurran|url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-pretty-brooke-vol-9-no-21/|title=Pretty Brooke|website=People|date=May 29, 1978}}{{cite web|first=Vincent|last=Canby|author-link=Vincent Canby|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?&res=EE05E7DF173EE573BC4D53DFB2668383669EDE|title=Critic's Pick: Pretty Baby|website=The New York Times|date=April 5, 1978}}{{cite news|first=Roger|last=Ebert|author-link=Roger Ebert|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/pretty-baby|title=Pretty Baby|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|via=RogerEbert.com|date=June 1, 1978}} Gossip columnist Rona Barrett called the film "child pornography", and director Malle was described as a "combination of Humbert Humbert and Roman Polanski". Her scenes in the nude also caused the film to be banned in Argentina,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDqsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA807 |title=Censorship: A World Encyclopedia |page=807 |date=2015-05-22 |access-date=2016-01-11|isbn=9781136798641 |last1=Jones |first1=Derek |publisher=Routledge}} South Africa,{{Cite web|url=http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0024.html|title=The Kubrick Site: Censorship of Kubrick's Films in South Africa|website=www.visual-memory.co.uk}} and the Canadian provinces of Ontario{{Citation

| last =

| first =

| author-link =

| last2 =

| first2 =

| title = Sex theme film banned stars girl, 12

| newspaper = Toronto Star

| pages = 2

| date = April 8, 1978

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star/133408978/

| access-date = }}{{Citation

| last =

| first =

| author-link =

| last2 =

| first2 =

| title = Ontario film censors reject 'Pretty Baby'

| newspaper = Ottawa Citizen

| pages = 10

| date = April 10, 1978

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen/133409378/

| access-date = }} and Saskatchewan.{{Citation

| last =

| first =

| author-link =

| last2 =

| first2 =

| title = Film ban to be appealed

| newspaper = The Star-Phoenix

| pages = 3

| date = April 29, 1978

| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-phoenix/133409595/

| access-date = }} The film's ban in Ontario was lifted in 1995.{{Cite book |last=Sirove |first=Taryn |title=Ruling Out Art: Media Art Meets Law in Ontario's Censor Wars |publisher=UBC Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-7748-3711-8 |location=Vancouver, British Columbia}}{{rp|39}}

She graced the cover of the May 29, 1978 issue of People, which bore the headline "Brooke Shields, 12, stirs furor over child porn in films."{{cite web |last1=Piazza |first1=Bianca |title="Kiddie Porn" or Art? Inside the Controversy of 1978's 'Pretty Baby' |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/kiddie-porn-or-art-inside-the-controversy-of-1978s-pretty-baby/ar-AA19t6Bu |website=Distractify |access-date=15 October 2023}}

She or her body double also appeared in a dorsal nude scene in the 1979 release Just You and Me, Kid, which co-starred George Burns. In the movie, Shields also appeared in a scene where she apparently is naked, covered only by a deflated car tire inner tube while lying in the trunk of Burns' vintage automobile.{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=Just You and Me Kid |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/just-you-and-me-kid-1979 |website=rogerebert.com |publisher=Roger Ebert |access-date=15 October 2023}} Shields also was portrayed as nude in a third scene where she was being held hostage.{{cite web |title=Just You and Me, Kid (1979) Parents Guide |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079384/parentalguide |website=imdb.com |publisher=Internet Movie Database |access-date=15 October 2023}} For her work in the movie, she was paid a fee of $250,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|250000|1978|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}} dollars), plus six percent of the profits.{{cite web |title=Just You and Me, Kid |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56825-JUST-YOU-AND-ME-KID |website=AFI Catalog |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=15 October 2023}}

Just You and Me, Kid received poor reviews. Critic Roger Ebert, in his Chicago Sun-Times newspaper review, gave the film two out of four stars, calling the film "a charming disappointment." On his Sneak Previews TV show with Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel, both Ebert and Siskel gave the film a thumbs down. Siskel said, "Brooke Shields is not very interesting when she's on the screen," and called her a model "who just can't act."{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger and Gene Siskel |title=Siskel & Ebert Review - Just You and Me Kid, The Frisco Kid, Golden Girl, The Villain, Breaking Away |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5D2InzQWjk |website=That Old TV |date=April 15, 2021 |publisher=Sneak Previews |access-date=15 October 2023}} Siskel's newspaper review further stated that her part in the film had "no substance, and she is incapable of appearing fresh. It's a stilted, nervous performance from a teen-ager who has not had a single acting lesson and could use a dozen."{{Citation

| last = Siskel

| first = Gene

| author-link = Gene Siskel

| title = 'Just You and Me' should have been just George Burns

| newspaper = Chicago Tribune

| pages = 12, section 3

| date = July 18, 1979

| url = https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-gene-siskel-movie-review/43601932/

| access-date = July 9, 2024}}

Other movies Shields appeared in, in the wake of Pretty Baby, were Wanda Nevada and Tilt, both of which were released in 1979.

In 1980, 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/calvin200804?currentPage=7|title=Calvin to the Core|first=Ingrid|last=Sischy|author-link=Ingrid Sischy|website=Vanity Fair |date=March 11, 2008}}[http://www.style.com/beauty/icon/121407 Style.com Brooke Shields] Brooke Shields ads would help catapult Klein's career to superstar status.{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Ann C.|title=Delights, desires and dilemmas: essays on women and the media|page=xii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MD2mUa5dxYsC&pg=PR12|year=1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-275-96156-7}}

File:Brooke Shields in 1986.JPEG

She next appeared as a lead in The Blue Lagoon (1980), which included nude scenes between teenage lovers stranded on a tropical island (Shields later testified before a U.S. Congressional inquiry that older body doubles were used in some of them). The same year, 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.

Her next major film role was in Franco Zeffirelli's drama Endless Love (1981). The MPAA initially rated Endless Love with an X rating. The film was re-edited to earn an R rating. For her performance in the film, she received her first Razzie Award nomination for worst actress.

She won the People's Choice Award in the category of Favorite Young Performer in four consecutive years from 1981 to 1984. During this same period, 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.{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=George |title=Health, Education and Youth: A Review of Research and Development |page=189 |year=1984 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0-905273-54-0}}

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 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|10000|1981|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}). 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.{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/fashion/models/bshields/brookeshields/|title=Brooke Shields – Fashion Model – Profile on New York Magazine|work=New York Magazine|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=April 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422075659/https://nymag.com/fashion/models/bshields/brookeshields/}} During that period Shields became a regular at New York City's nightclub Studio 54.{{cite interview|last=Shields|first=Brooke|subject-link=Brooke Shields |interviewer=Jimmy Fallon|work=Late Night with Jimmy Fallon|publisher=NBC|location=New York City|date=February 7, 2011|access-date= July 21, 2011|url=http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/brooke-shields-part-1-2711/1287260/|title=Brooke Shields – Part 1}}

In the mid-1980s, Shields began her support of the USO by touring with Bob Hope.[http://www.uso.org/uso-entertainment-history.aspx USO History] Retrieved February 11, 2011

From 1981 to 1983, Shields, her mother, photographer Garry Gross, and Playboy Press were involved in litigation in the New York City Courts over the rights to photographs her mother had signed away to Gross (when dealing with models who are minors, a parent or legal guardian must sign such a release form while other agreements are subject to negotiation). Gross was the photographer of a controversial set of nude images taken in 1975 of a then ten-year-old Brooke Shields with the consent of her mother, Teri Shields, for the Playboy Press publication Sugar 'n' Spice. The images portray Shields nude, standing and sitting in a bathtub, wearing makeup and covered in oil. The courts ruled in favor of the photographer due to a strange twist in New York law. The ruling would have been decided otherwise if Shields had been considered a child "performer" rather than a model.{{cite book|last=Siegel|first=Paul|title=Communication Law in America|pages=193–194|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hhqXPqqjOsC&pg=PA193|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-7425-5387-3}}

In 1983, in the wake of the legal battle over ownership of the photos, artist Richard Prince photographed one of Gross' photos of the 10-year-old Shields standing naked in a bathtub. Prince had found the picture in a copy of Gross' self-published book Little Women onto Ektachrome slide film, then blew it up to 8x10 inch print. Put in a gold frame, a Prince reproduction of the Gross photo was the sole work displayed in his first "Spiritual America" exhibition at store-front art gallery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.{{cite web |title=Lot 19. PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION RICHARD PRINCE (B. 1949) Spiritual America |url=https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5792590 |website=christies.com |publisher=Christie's |access-date=16 October 2023}}

Later, when a Prince print of Shields was included in his 2009 Spiritual America exhibit at the Tate Modern, it created a stir. It was removed from an exhibition after a warning from the police.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/30/brooke-shields-naked-tate-modern | title=Tate Modern removes naked Brooke Shields picture after police visit | first1=Charlotte | last1=Higgins | author-link1=Charlotte Higgins | first2=Vikram | last2=Dodd | work=The Guardian | date=September 30, 2009}}

Prince created a numbered series of 10 prints (and two artists proofs) measuring 20 inches by 24 inches (50.8 cm. x 60.9 cm.) of his reproduction of the Gross/Shields photo. In May 2014, copy #10 of Prince's reproduction of the Gross photo was auctioned off by Christie's, fetching a price of $3,973,000. The realized price was within Christie's pre-auction estimate of $3.4–4.5 million.

In 2005, the 40-year-old Shields let Prince photograph her wearing a bikini in the same pose as the childhood nude photo, in front of a motorcycle.{{cite web |last1=Farrington |first1=Julia |title=NEWS Spiritual America 2014 |url=https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2015/07/case-study-spiritual-america-2014/ |website=www.indexoncensorship.org |date=July 21, 2015 |publisher=Index on Censorship |access-date=23 October 2023}}

Shields played a romantic lead in Sahara (1983) for a fee variously reported as $1 million or $1.5 million. Her mother Teri Shields was executive producer of the picture, with a fee of $25,000.{{cite magazine | url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-brooke-bobs-up-in-israel-vol-19-no-8/ | title=Brooke Bobs Up in Israel | first=Kristin | last=McMurran | magazine=People | date=February 28, 1983}} The movie was a critical and financial failure, released only in the Western United States after poor previews and grossing $1.2 million against a budget of $15 million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|15000000|1982|r=-6}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}).AT THE MOVIES. New York Times 21 May 1982: C.8.INC.

GOLD; Sneed. Chicago Tribune. 4 July 1982: b1.

For Sahara, Shields earned the distinction of being the only actress ever to win the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. At the 1984 Razzies, she was nominated for both the Worst Actress Award and Worst Supporting Actor, as "Brooke Shields (with a moustache)".[http://www.razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=24 Razzie Awards: 1984 Archive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228144258/http://www.razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=24 |date=2009-02-28 }}

After making a minor appearance in The Muppets Take Manhattan, Shields took a career hiatus to focus on her academic studies. She enrolled at Princeton University in the fall of 1983 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French literature in 1987.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/brooke_shields|title=Brooke Shields – PEOPLE.com}} She was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club and the Cap and Gown Club. Her autobiography, On Your Own, was published in 1985.Shields, Brooke (1985) On Your Own New York: Villard Books pp. 220 {{ISBN|0-394-54460-9}} OCLC [http://worldcat.org/oclc/11915327 11915327] 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."{{Cite thesis|last=Shields|first=Brooke Christa|date=1987|title=The Initiation: From Innocence to Experience: The Pre-Adolescent/Adolescent Journey in the Films of Louis Malle, "Pretty Baby" and "Lacombe Lucien"|url=http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01qr46r1433}}

File:Brooke Shields 1991Jan.jpg tour on January 1, 1991]]

Shields played the eponymous lead in the 1989 movie Brenda Starr, which had been shot in 1986 for an intended 1987 release but was held up for years over legal problems due to the rights to the comic strip and demands from Shields' mother that she receive top-billing in the picture, which co-starred Timothy Dalton. When the film was finally released in 1993, it was roasted by critics and bombed at the box office.{{cite magazine |date= May 1, 1992 |last=Gleiberman |first=Owen |author-link= Owen Gleiberman |url= https://ew.com/article/1992/05/01/brenda-starr-2/ |magazine= Entertainment Weekly |title=Movie Review: Brenda Starr}}{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/19/movies/review-film-shields-as-intrepid-reporter.html |work= The New York Times |first=Janet |last=Maslin |author-link= Janet Maslin |title= Review/Film; Shields As Intrepid Reporter |date= April 19, 1992}}{{cite web |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A138798 |access-date=December 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613232143/http://austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A138798 |archive-date=June 13, 2006 |title=Film Listings: Brenda Starr |first=Pamela |last=Bruce |work=The Austin Chronicle}}

Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Brenda Starr (citywide) arrives after some five years of legal disputes over distribution rights. It would have been an act of kindness for all concerned, including the paying customer, to have left it on the shelf where it belongs."{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Kevin |title=Brenda Starr |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-15-ca-39-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 15, 1992 |access-date=15 October 2023}}

Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, gave the film a negative review, writing, "There's been so much negative insider buzz about Brooke's 'Brenda' that you might be harboring a hope that the damned thing turned out all right. Get over it. Brenda Starr is not as bad as the also-rans that Hollywood traditionally dumps on us before Labor Day... it's a heap worse."{{cite magazine |date= April 15, 1992 |last=Travers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Travers |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/brenda-starr-118253/ |title=Brenda Starr |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date= September 8, 2019}}

Entertainment Weekly would later place the film on its list of "21 Worst Comic-Book Movies Ever".{{cite magazine |date= April 29, 2009 |author= EW Staff|title= 21 Worst Comic-Book Movies |url= https://ew.com/gallery/21-worst-comic-book-movies-0/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

In 1993, Shields made a guest appearance in a fourth-season episode of The Simpsons, called "The Front".{{cite episode|title=The Front|series=The Simpsons|series-link=The Simpsons|network=Fox|air-date=April 15, 1993|season=4|number=19}} The following year, she starred as Rizzo in the 1994 Broadway revival of Grease.

In a 1996 episode of the popular comedy sitcom Friends, Shields played Joey Tribbiani's stalker. This role led directly to her being cast in the title role of 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.

File:Brooke Shields Cannes.jpg]]

In 1998, she played a lesbian, Lily, in The Misadventures of Margaret.{{cite web|title=Quote, Unquote|website=The Advocate|date=December 23, 1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT11}}

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.{{cite book|title=The Advocate|pages=28–30|date=January 31, 2001|quote='I really believe that if you are against gays and lesbians adopting and you watch this movie,' you will never feel that way again, promises executive producer Craig Zadan.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28 |publisher=Here}} For four months, beginning July 2001, Shields portrayed Sally Bowles in the long-running Broadway revival of Cabaret.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/personlistpage/person-list|title=Person List|website=Playbill}}

In 2004, Shields made several recurring guest appearances on That '70s Show playing Pam Burkhart, Jackie's (Mila Kunis) mother, who later was briefly involved with Donna's (Laura Prepon) father (Don Stark). Shields left That '70s Show when her character was written out.

In September 2004, she replaced Donna Murphy in the role of Ruth Sherwood in the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town until the show closed four months later. Her performance was widely praised.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/brooke-shields-is-foxy-roxie-hart-in-broadways-chicago-sept-9-com-127909|title=Brooke Shields Is Foxy Roxie Hart in Broadway's Chicago Sept. 9|first=Andrew|last=Gans|date=September 9, 2005|website=Playbill}} Ben Brantley of The New York Times praised the "goofy sweetness" she brought to her interpretation of the role, but wrote that she fell short of Donna Murphy's "perfection."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/theater/reviews/brooke-shields-as-a-naif-who-cant-get-a-date.html|title=Brooke Shields as a Naif Who Can't Get a Date|first=Ben|last=Brantley|author-link=Ben Brantley|date=October 18, 2004|work=The New York Times}} In April 2005, Shields played Roxie Hart in a long-running production of Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End. Later the same year, she reprised the role in the Broadway revival, from September 9 to October 30.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/chicago-4804|title=Chicago – Broadway Musical – 1996 Revival - IBDB|website=IBDB}} This made her the first performer to have starred in Chicago, Cabaret, and Grease on Broadway, three long-running revivals noted for "stunt casting" of celebrities not known for musical theatre.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/theater/newsandfeatures/a-triple-crown.html|title=A Triple Crown|first=Eric|last=Grode|date=August 14, 2005|work=The New York Times}}

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.

File:Brooke Shields (2008) cropped.JPG

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

Starting in 2010, she made guest appearances on The Middle as the mother of a brood of terror-inducing children and the nemesis of Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton).{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2009/12/22/Brooke-Shields-to-appear-on-The-Middle/UPI-97821261498808|title=Brooke Shields to appear on 'The Middle'}}[http://www.tvgrapevine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5968:the-middle-a-double-whammie&catid=129:the-middle "The Middle: A Double Whammie"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102015443/http://tvgrapevine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5968%3Athe-middle-a-double-whammie&catid=129%3Athe-middle |date=January 2, 2010 }} December 30, 2009, TV Grapevine 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.[http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/bios/brookeS.shtml Bio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406025900/http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/bios/brookeS.shtml |date=April 6, 2010 }} Who Do You Think You Are, NBC web site

Shields took over the role of Morticia Addams in the Broadway musical The Addams Family beginning on June 28, 2011.{{cite web|first=Olivia|last=Allen|url=http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/Brooke-Shields-plays-Morticia-in-Broadways-musical-comedy-The-Addams-Family---Photo/8222341|title=Brooke Shields plays Morticia in Broadway's musical comedy The Addams Family|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723000321/http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/Brooke-Shields-plays-Morticia-in-Broadways-musical-comedy-The-Addams-Family---Photo/8222341 |archive-date=July 23, 2012|website=ontheredcarpet.com|date=June 29, 2011}}

Starting in 2013, Shields has been an occasional guest co-host in the 9:00 hour of Today on NBC. She also recurred during Season Nineteen of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sheila Porter, the maternal grandmother of Olivia Benson's (Mariska Hargitay) adopted son, Noah Porter.{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1691229/law--order-svu-season-19-is-adding-brooke-shields-for-a-big-role|title=Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Is Adding Brooke Shields For A Big Role|first=Laura|last=Hurley|work=CinemaBlend|date=August 11, 2017|access-date=August 11, 2017}}

Shields is the subject of the 2023 documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, directed by Lana Wilson, who also directed the Taylor Swift documentary, Miss Americana. The two-part series, which aired on Hulu on 3 April 2023, is "A look at actor, model and icon Brooke Shields as she transforms from a sexualized young girl to a woman discovering her power."{{cite magazine|first=Chloe|last=Malle|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/brooke-shields-pretty-baby-documentary-interview|title='This Movie Is the True Meaning of Catharsis': Brooke Shields on Looking Back—And Starting Over|magazine=Vogue|date=March 30, 2023}}

In 2024, Shields was elected the president of the Actors' Equity Association{{cite web | last=Paulson | first=Michael | title=Brooke Shields Elected President of Labor Union Actors' Equity | website=The New York Times | date=May 24, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/theater/brooke-shields-president-actors-equity.html | access-date=May 24, 2024}} and starred in the Netflix film Mother of the Bride opposite Miranda Cosgrove.{{Cite web |last=Lang |first=Brent |date=February 28, 2023 |title=Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt Starring in Netflix Rom-Com 'Mother of the Bride' (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/brooke-shields-miranda-cosgrove-benjamin-bratt-netflix-rom-com-mother-of-the-bride-1235538284/ |website=Variety}}

Shields is the author of three books. In 2006, she penned the book Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, in 2015 she published There Was a Little Girl about the relationship she had with her mother, who suffered from alcoholism throughout Shields's life, and in 2025 she published Brooke Shields is not Allowed to Get Old about aging as a woman.{{Cite book |last=Shields |first=Brooke |title=There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-698-18623-1 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |location=New York City, New York |oclc=893077877}}{{Cite book |last=Shields |first=Brooke |title=Down Came the Rain |date=2005 |publisher=Hyperion |isbn=1-4013-0189-4 |location=New York |oclc=57209110}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-14 |title=Brooke Shields Book Bombshells: Tom Cruise, Bradley Cooper, Surgery, Aging and More |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/1412134/brooke-shields-brooke-shields-is-not-allowed-to-get-old-book-bombshells |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=E! Online}}

In 2022, she launched a podcast called Now What? focusing on how people respond to adversity.{{Cite news |last=Petski |first=Denise |date=September 16, 2022|title=Brooke Shields Set To Launch 'Now What?' Podcast |language=en-US |url=https://deadline.com/2022/09/brooke-shields-launch-now-what-podcast-1235120543/|work=Deadline Hollywood|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230501002855/https://deadline.com/2022/09/brooke-shields-launch-now-what-podcast-1235120543/|archive-date=May 1, 2023|url-status=live}}

File:Chris Henchy and Brooke Shields on RealTVfilms.jpg in 2010]]

As a child, Shields lived with her mother on Manhattan's Upper East Side.{{cite news |last1=Thurman |first1=Judith |title=Brooke Shields's House in New York City |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/brooke-shields-new-york-city-townhouse-article |access-date=23 March 2019 |journal=Architectural Digest |date=July 29, 2017}} In 1990, she purchased a ranch near Big Timber, Montana.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/21/style/stars-stake-a-piece-of-big-sky-country.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 21, 1990|last=Robbins|first=Jim|title=Stars Stake a Piece Of Big Sky Country|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230430231639/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/21/style/stars-stake-a-piece-of-big-sky-country.html|archive-date=April 30, 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-11-29-9204180862-story.html|url-status=live|work=Chicago Tribune|date=November 29, 1992|title=Celebrity Land Rush on in Montana|last=Woestendiek|first=John|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230729151303/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-11-29-9204180862-story.html|archive-date=July 29, 2023}} She also maintained a home in Los Angeles, which she purchased in 1998 and sold in 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2022/03/09/brooke-shields-sells-her-longtime-los-angeles-home-for-74-million/?sh=7b04c1323dc5|work=Forbes|date=March 9, 2022|title=Brooke Shields Sells Her Long-Time Los Angeles Home For $7.4 Million|url-status=live|last=Richardson|first=Brenda|archive-date=April 30, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230430231829/https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/2022/03/09/brooke-shields-sells-her-longtime-los-angeles-home-for-74-million/?sh=27f60cb33dc5}}

In the 1990s, Shields promoted physical fitness as an extension of femininity, maintaining that femininity and athletics are compatible.{{cite book|last=Jeynes|first=William|title=American educational history: school, society and the common good |page=270|year=2007|publisher=SAGE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FL2WYw0ve-0C&pg=PA270|isbn=978-1-4129-1421-5|quote=Several female athletes demonstrated that femininity and athleticism were consistent.}}

Despite coming out against the fur industry in 1989,{{cite news|title=Activists Aim to Skin the Fur Industry|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-30-mn-3137-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Robert W.|last=Gibson|date=April 30, 1989}} Shields later went on to create her own mink fur coat at Kopenhagen Fur.{{cite web|title=Brooke Shields' Inner Child Dreams Of Fur|date=October 14, 2015|url=http://www.styleite.com/media/brooke-shields-fur/|access-date=July 31, 2013|archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215034608/http://www.styleite.com/media/brooke-shields-fur/}} She dated actor Dean Cain while studying at Princeton University.{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/lost-virginity-to-superman-brooke-shields-reveals-shocking-secret-in-new-documentary-101680606061056.html | title='Lost virginity to Superman' Brooke Shields reveals shocking secret in new documentary | first=Paurush | last=Omar | date=April 4, 2023 | work=Hindustan Times}}

Shields has been married twice. In 1993, she began a relationship with Andre Agassi; the couple married in 1997 and divorced in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20128036,00.html|title=Cover Story: Double Fault – Vol. 51 No. 15|date=April 26, 1999|access-date=October 5, 2009|archive-date=September 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918085353/https://people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20128036,00.html}}

In 1999, she met television writer Chris Henchy through common friends. The pair wed in 2001.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110122010653/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/7748616/page/2/ "Brooke Shields battles postpartum depression"]. MSNBC. May 7, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2010. They have two daughters,{{rp|63}} Rowan Francis Henchy, born May 15, 2003, and Grier Hammond Henchy, born April 18, 2006. As of 2012, they were living in Greenwich Village, New York City.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/brooke-shields-new-york-city-townhouse-article |title=An Exclusive Look at Brooke Shields's Manhattan Home |magazine=Architectural Digest |date=March 2012 |first=Judith |last=Thurman |access-date=May 11, 2023 }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Postpartum-Depression |title=Postpartum Depression |date=May 4, 2005 |publisher=The Oprah Winfrey Show |access-date=December 30, 2012}}{{cite web|last=Mann|first=Denise|title=Out of the Blue: Brooke Shields discusses her painful struggle with postpartum depression|url=http://www.webmd.com/depression/postpartum-depression/features/brooke-shields-depression-struggle|work=WebMD|access-date=July 27, 2013}} Her book, Down Came the Rain, discusses her experience, contributing to a greater public awareness of postpartum depression.{{cite book|last=Rosenfield |first= Adrian I.|title=New Research on Postpartum Depression|page=64|year=2006 |publisher=Nova Publishers|isbn=1-60021-284-0|quote=Several popular books have been published in recent years... These include personal accounts... by... Brooke Shields.}}

In May 2005, actor Tom Cruise{{mdash}}a Scientologist whose beliefs frown upon psychiatry{{mdash}}condemned Shields, both personally and professionally, for 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 remarks on antidepressants were "irresponsible" and "dangerous". She also argued that he should "stick to fighting aliens" (a reference to Cruise's 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." Shields responded to a further attack by Cruise with an op-ed titled "War of Words", published in The New York Times on July 1, 2005, in which she made an individual case for the medication and stated: "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."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/01/opinion/01shields.html|work=The New York Times|title=War of Words|first=Brooke|last=Shields|date=July 1, 2005|access-date=April 27, 2010}} On August 31, 2006, according to USA Today,{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-09-02-shields-cruise_x.htm|work=USA Today|title=Shields: Cruise apology was 'heartfelt'|date=September 2, 2006|access-date=April 27, 2010}} Cruise apologized in person to Shields for the incident; she accepted the apology, saying it was "heartfelt". That November, she and her husband attended Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes.

On July 7, 2009, Shields spoke at the memorial service for Michael Jackson.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/50269,news,billion-global-viewers-watch-michael-jackson-memorial-service-on-tv|title=Billion watch Jackson send-off on TV|first=Jack|last=Bremer|website=The First Post|date=July 8, 2009|access-date=July 8, 2009|archive-date=July 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711042813/http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/50269,news,billion-global-viewers-watch-michael-jackson-memorial-service-on-tv|url-status=dead}} She stated in that speech that she first met Jackson when she was 13 years old, and the two instantly became friends.{{cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/06/ap6623221.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710020242/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/06/ap6623221.html|archive-date=July 10, 2009|title=Brooke Shields talks about 'asexual' Jackson|website=Forbes|agency=Associated Press|date=July 6, 2009}} Shields said:

{{blockquote|Thinking back to when we met and the many times that we spent together and whenever we were out together, there would be a caption of some kind, and the caption usually said something like 'an odd couple' or 'an unlikely pair,' but to us it was the most natural and easiest of friendships... Michael always knew he could count on me to support him or be his date and that we would have fun no matter where we were. We had a bond... Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids having fun.{{cite web|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/zhl1df/brooke-shields-remembers-her-friend-at-michael-jackson-memorial |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817021756/https://www.mtv.com/news/zhl1df/brooke-shields-remembers-her-friend-at-michael-jackson-memorial |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 17, 2022 |title=Brooke Shields Remembers Her Friend At Michael Jackson Memorial|website=MTV|date=July 7, 2009|access-date=October 21, 2023}}}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/07/michael-jackson-memorial-moments |title=Michael Jackson memorial: moments to remember|first=Helen|last=Pidd|newspaper=The Guardian|date=July 7, 2009}}

Jackson stated in his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey that he was dating Shields at the time.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329105240/http://www.allmichaeljackson.com/interviews/oprahinterview.html| archive-date=March 29, 2018 |url=http://www.allmichaeljackson.com/interviews/oprahinterview.html |title=Michael Jackson Interview with Oprah Winfrey |url-status=usurped|website=All Michael Jackson web site}} Shields has stated that Jackson asked her to marry him numerous times and to adopt a child together.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/29126877/michael_jackson_remembered_brooke_shields_on_king_of_pops_pure_soul | title=Michael Jackson Remembered: Brooke Shields on King of Pop's Pure Soul |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=July 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715131625/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/29126877/michael_jackson_remembered_brooke_shields_on_king_of_pops_pure_soul | archive-date=July 15, 2009}}

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

{{blockquote|That was one of the loves of my life. I think she loved me as much as I loved her, you know? We dated a lot. We, we went out a lot. Her pictures were all over my wall, my mirror, everything. And I went to the Academy Awards with Diana Ross and this girl walks up to me and says 'Hi, I'm Brooke Shields.' Then she goes, 'Are you going to the after-party?' I go, 'Yeah.' 'Good, I'll see you at the party.' I'm going, 'Oh my God, does she know she's all over my room?' So we go to the after-party. She comes up to me she goes, 'Will you dance with me?' I went, 'Yes. I will dance with you.' Man, we exchanged numbers and I was up all night, singing, spinning around my room, just so happy. It was great.{{cite web|first=Meredith|last=Vieira|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32987303|title=Children 'saved me,' Michael Jackson said – Taped talks between King of Pop, spiritual adviser released for first time|website=Dateline NBC|date=September 25, 2008}}}}

Shortly after Shields graduated from Princeton University, 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, or 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."{{cite news|last=Koppett |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Koppett |title=At Princeton, They Call it an Education |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/15/opinion/at-princeton-they-call-it-an-education.html |date=August 15, 1987 |work=The New York Times}}

The article was indicative of the intense media scrutiny faced by Shields after the release of the 1978 film Pretty Baby, in which she, as a child actor, was filmed nude and in sexual situations. In a March 2023 Vogue profile of Shields, Chloe Malle, the daughter of the film's director, discussed the film as well as the January 2023 documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields that it inspired:

The media loved her, but they also pilloried her. Like Framing Britney Spears, the documentary clarifies—with the benefit of time and perspective—the role of the media as the relentless villain in Shields's story. Reporters' lack of tenderness toward a preteen girl and demands that she answer for the way that she was sexualized onscreen are perhaps the most gasp-inducing parts of the film. "They're shocking," agrees Shields, recalling an interview with Barbara Walters in which the journalist asked Shields to stand up and compare her measurements to Walters's own. "I felt more objectified and abused by [that]," says Shields. "The irony is I didn't have that discomfort or shame in the one nude scene in Pretty Baby."{{cite web |last1=Malle |first1=Chloe |title='This Movie Is the True Meaning of Catharsis': Brooke Shields on Looking Back—And Starting Over |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/brooke-shields-pretty-baby-documentary-interview |website=Vogue |date=March 30, 2023 |access-date=15 October 2023}}

{{Main|Brooke Shields filmography}}

• {{cite book|title=The Brooke Book |first=Brooke |last=Shields |publisher=Pocket Books |date=1978 |isbn=978-0-671-79018-9 }}
• {{cite book |title=On Your Own |first=Brooke |last=Shields |date=1985 |publisher=Villard |isbn=978-0-394-54460-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/onyourown00shie }}
• {{cite book|title=Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression |first=Brooke |last=Shields |date=2006 |publisher=Hyperion |isbn=978-1-61553-007-6 }}
• {{cite book|title=It's the Best Day Ever, Dad! |first1=Brooke |last1=Shields |publisher=Middle Grade |date=2009 |isbn= 978-0-06-172445-9 |others=Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld }}
• {{cite book|title=There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me |first=Brooke |last=Shields |date=2014 |publisher=Dutton Adult |isbn=978-0-525-95484-2}}

{{Reflist}}

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• [https://www.webmd.com/depression/postpartum-depression/features/brooke-shields-depression-struggle WebMD article on Brooke Shields and Postpartum Depression] (2005)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bl92avzgzA Brooke Shields on The Barbara Walters Summer Special] (1981)

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