Occupation: Actress, Model
Date of Birth: May 31, 1965
Place of Birth: New York, NY, USA
Sign: Sun in Gemini, Moon in Gemini
Relations: Father: Frank Shields (Revlon executive); mother: Teri Shields (former model, manager); grandfather: Francis X. Shields (tennis champ); half-sister: Marina Shields; ex-husband: Andre Agassi (professional tennis player); fiancé: Chris Henchy (TV writer)
Education: Princeton University
BROOKE SHIELDS WAS born on May 31, 1965 in New York City, and has been in front of the camera since she was 11 months old. With the help of her mother, Terri, she began her modeling career in the Ivory Snow campaign, and was declared "the most beautiful baby in America."
She made her acting debut at age 11 in the suspense drama Alice, Sweet Alice, and within a year was considered a top model. She later gained international recognition as an actress for her portrayal of a child prostitute in Louis Malle's controversial film Pretty Baby, in which she played opposite Keith Carradine.
In 1980, Shields starred in The Blue Lagoon, a remake of the British drama about two children who are shipwrecked on a tropical island and fall in love with each other. Christopher Atkins co-starred as Shields' love in this romantic tale of survival and sexual awakening, which made many people dream of being stranded in such a paradise.
After the release of Endless Love in 1981, Shields took a break from acting, and enrolled in classes at Princeton University. Her BA thesis was entitled From Innocence to Experience in the Work of Louis Malle.
After graduating from Princeton, Shields was cast in a number of box office bombs, and it seemed the only thing working for her were those seductive Calvin Klein Jeans commercials. The child star seemed destined to go the way of Sean Cassidy or Patti Duke, whose careers foundered as they outgrew their initial childish charm.
But Shields has pulled her career from the abyss -- she successfully launched her own sitcom, Suddenly Susan. Shields portrays a copy editor at a fictitious San Francisco magazine called The Gate. Her character leaves her fiancé standing at the altar, and throws herself into the life of a single, successful woman. Her boss then decides to promote her, and he gives her a monthly column in which she can share her new experiences with the magazine's readers.
On the personal level, after marrying tennis ace Andre Agassi for two years in 1997, the pair got divorced. They had no children.
Movies:
1994 The Seventh Floor
1993 Freaked
1992 The Diamond Trap
1992 An American Love
1990 Backstreet Dreams
1989 Speed Zone
1989 Brenda Starr
1988 Young Guns
1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan
1984 Sahara
1984 Wet Gold
1981 Endless Love
1980 The Blue Lagoon
1979 Just You and Me, Kid
1979 Wanda Nevada
1979 Tilt
1978 King of the Gypsies
1978 Pretty Baby
1977 The Prince of Central Park
1977 Holy Terror
1977 Alice, Sweet Alice
TV:
1996 Suddenly Susan
1996 Friends
1995 Legends in Light
1994 Eighth Annual Genesis Awards
1993 I Can Make You Love Me: The Stalking of Laura Black
1980 Men Who Rate a "10"
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
