12 Interesting Things About Hallmark Actress Brooke Shields

1. Background

Brooke Christa Shields was born in Manhattan, New York on May 31, 1965. Her late mother was Teri Shields, an actress and model. Her late father was Frank Shields, a businessman. Brooke's parents divorced when she was only five months old.

2. Early Modeling and Acting

Brooke is of English, French, German, Irish, Italian, Scottish, and Welsh descent. She was a model when she was only 11 months old. She was in a commercial as an Ivory Soap Baby. At age 3, she was a runway model. By the time she was 11 years old, she had a leading role in her first movie Alice, Sweet Alice in 1976. In 1978, when she was only 13 years old, she played a child prostitute in Pretty Baby. She acted throughout her teenage years including The Blue Lagoon in 1980 and Endless Love in 1981.

3. Youngest Fashion Model

When Shields was 15 years old in 1980, she was the youngest fashion model to ever be on the cover of Vogue. It was also in 1980 that Brooke was a model for Calvin Klein jeans. That controversial ad helped Calvin Klein's sales to spike.

4. Education While Acting Was on Hold

Usually, people get their education first and start careers later after graduation. Brooke did it in reverse. By the time she went to college in 1983, she had already completed numerous commercials as a model and had nine movies credits. She suspended her modeling and acting career to attend Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Romance languages.

5. Return to Acting

After graduation, Brooke was still interested in acting. Therefore, she picked up where she left off and appeared in minor roles in films in the 1990s.

From 1996 to 2000, Brooke starred in the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan for which she won two Golden Globe Awards. From 2008 to 2009, she starred in Lipstick Jungle. In 2017, Brooke had a major role in NBC's 19th Season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

6. Broadway Performances

Brooke's acting talent is not limited to just television. She has appeared in several Broadway musical theater productions.

• Rizzo in the hit musical Grease earned her the Theatre World Award in 1994
• Chicago
• Wonderful Town
• Cabaret
• Morticia Addams in The Addams Family
• Girls Talk Club at The Loews Regency, performing In My Life.

7. Brooke Shields' Hallmark Movies

Brooke was already a seasoned actress by the time she appeared in two episodes of When Calls the Heart in 2016 as well as three installments of Flower Shop Mysteries with Brennan Elliott in the same year.

8. On Magazine Covers

Throughout her career, Brooke Shields was on the covers of popular magazines hundreds of times. She was on 140 covers of Vogue, including the one when she was 14 years old as the youngest fashion model.

9. Author of Books

Shields is the best-selling author of five books, including a book about her postpartum depression. She is also the author of a line of children's books.

10. Personal Life

Brooke and tennis player Andre Agassi Shields had been together since 1993. They were married from 1997 to 1999. Two years after her divorce, Brooke married television writer Chris Henchy in 2001. They have two beautiful daughters together: Rowan Francis Henchy (born May 15, 2003) and Grier Hammond Henchy (born April 18, 2006). The family lives in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City.

11. Other Interesting Things

Brooke Shields says she can still zip up her original Calvin Klein jeans that the world saw her in when she was only 15. Shields is a strong advocate for women’s issues as well as an advocate for keeping the arts alive in schools. She is a spokeswoman for a program that teaches girls to nurture their mental and physical well-being. It is the Tupperware's Chain of Confidence SMART Girls campaign. Shields is a vegan and an animal rights activist

Brooke met the late Michael Jackson when she was 13 years old. They became close friends. On July 7, 2009, she spoke at his memorial service.

Brooke’s paternal grandmother was an Italian princess. When Brooke's mother got pregnant with her, Brooke's father's family paid her mother to terminate the pregnancy. Instead of doing what the family wanted, Brooke's mother kept the money, and her daughter was born.

12. Social Media

Brooke Shields has social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where she posts photos and keeps her fans up-to-date on what's going on in her life.

More Hallmark Stars

Check out Hallmark Actors and Actresses to read about other well-known Hallmark stars.