ACTOR
Brooke Shields
74 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (74)
- #001
Brooke Shields's appearance on Friends (1994) became the show's highest-rated episode, drawing 52.9 million viewers. NBC executives were so impressed that they gave Shields her own sitcom, Suddenly Susan (1996), which ran for four successful seasons.
- #002
She was the youngest guest star ever to appear on The Muppet Show (1976). Brooke appeared in the show's final season at the age of 15.
- #003
At just 14 years old, she measured 5 feet 10 inches.
- #004
She graduated from Princeton in June 1987 with a bachelor's degree in French Literature and a minor in Italian, though she says she spent most of her time doing pottery to relax.
- #005
Her great-grandmother Mary Elsie Moore was the sister of Glenn Close's grandfather.
- #006
She was offered the role of Allison Reynolds in The Breakfast Club (1985) but turned it down. The role went to Ally Sheedy.
- #007
Blondie's 1978 album "Parallel Lines" includes a song written about Brooke Shields titled "Pretty Baby."
- #008
While filming The Blue Lagoon (1980), she had to glue her hair to her breasts so that nothing would be visible.
- #009
She took jazz dance lessons for years and showcased her skills in the opening sequence and several episodes of Suddenly Susan (1996).
- #010
She was named one of the most attractive women of all time by Harper's Bazaar magazine. Others on the list included Coco Chanel, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Nicole Kidman (2004).
- #011
Since May 1977, the longest she has gone without appearing on the cover of a US or international magazine is seven consecutive months.
- #012
Between 1980 and 1985, she appeared on more than 300 magazine covers internationally.
- #013
By the age of 16, she had already appeared on the covers of all the major fashion magazines: Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Seventeen and Vogue.
- #014
She was paid 1 million dollars in 1981 to endorse Wella Balsam shampoo.
- #015
She was a cheerleader in high school and college.
- #016
She turned down the roles of "Emily" in Wild Orchid (1989) and Catherine's girlfriend "Roxy" in Basic Instinct (1992) because the producers could not assure her that the parts would not require nudity.
- #017
Brooke Shields auditioned for the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman (1990), but the part went to Julia Roberts, who became a major star with the film.
- #018
Brooke Shields's ancestry includes Irish, German, roughly one-eighth Italian, and also European royalty, English, Scottish and more distant Scottish roots (Irish, Welsh, Spanish, French and Dutch). On the series Who Do You Think You Are? (2010), she discovered that her Italian roots trace back to France and that she is a direct relative of Henry IV.
- #019
Brooke Shields's marriage to Andre Agassi was annulled so that she could remarry in the Catholic Church.
- #020
Penny Marshall offered Brooke Shields the female lead in A League of Their Own (1992), but negotiations between Marshall and Shields fell apart after the 1988 writers' strike. Debra Winger was brought in instead, and ultimately Geena Davis took the role.
- #021
Brooke Shields's first daughter with Chris Henchy, Rowan Francis Henchy, was born on May 15, 2003, at a hospital in Manhattan, New York. Her second daughter, Grier Hammond Henchy, was born on April 18, 2006, in Los Angeles. Grier shares the exact same birth date as Suri Cruise.
- #022
Brooke Shields was named one of the year's most intriguing people by People magazine in 1978, 1980 and 1996.
- #023
Brooke Shields is mentioned in the end credits of Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), which read: "Jeff Spicoli saved Brooke Shields from drowning. He blew the reward money hiring Van Halen to play at his birthday party."
- #024
Brooke Shields's paternal grandmother was Marina Torlonia (1916-1960), daughter of the 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, an Italian aristocrat, and through her Brooke can claim descent from, among others, King Henry IV of France, Lucrezia Borgia and Prince Honoré I of Monaco. Marina's brother, the 5th Prince Alessandro (1911-1986), married Infanta Beatriz of Spain (1909-2002), aunt of King Juan Carlos de Borbón of Spain. Their granddaughter Sibilla Sandra Weiller (born June 12, 1968), Brooke's second cousin, married Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (born 1963) in 1994; he was the younger brother of the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
- #025
According to her autobiographical book "On Your Own" (1985), Brooke Shields beat out Marilu Henner, Debra Winger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Preston, Helen Hunt, Bridget Fonda, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Rita Wilson, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, Carrie Fisher, Ally Sheedy, Rosanna Arquette, Jodie Foster, Mariel Hemingway, Anjelica Huston and Melanie Griffith for the role in The Blue Lagoon (1980).
- #026
Brooke Shields turned down the Kelly McGillis role in The Accused (1988), the Andie MacDowell role in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) and the Melanie Griffith role in Working Girl (1988).
- #027
Brooke Shields formed a lasting friendship with Michael Jackson, whom she met in 1978. Jackson invited her as his date to Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky's 1991 wedding.
- #028
In an interview, Brooke Shields revealed that she lost her virginity at the age of 22 and regretted waiting so long, attributing her inability to lose it earlier to not understanding herself better.
- #029
Brooke Shields began her career in a TV commercial for Ivory soap.
- #030
Brooke Shields played Susan Sarandon's daughter in two separate films: King of the Gypsies (1978) and Pretty Baby (1978).
- #031
Brooke Shields attended and graduated from Dwight Englewood High School in Englewood, New Jersey, alongside actress Mira Sorvino. Until the eighth grade she attended the all-girls Lenox School.
- #032
Brooke Shields became engaged to her boyfriend, writer/producer Chris Henchy, on July 15, 2000, while on vacation in Mexico.
- #033
In 1982, Brooke Shields attended her Dwight Englewood High School senior prom with Ted McGinley, who was seven years older than her.
- #034
Brooke Shields was so popular among young girls that her own Brooke Shields doll could be bought worldwide. Her 1982 doll was labeled "The World's Most Glamorous Teen."
- #035
Brooke Shields screen-tested for the role of Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and for the lead in Audrey Rose (1977).
- #036
Brooke Shields's favorite classic film stars are Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and John Wayne. Her favorite contemporary actor is Tom Hanks.
- #037
Nude photographs of Brooke Shields taken by photographer Garry Gross when Shields was 10 years old were exhibited at the American Fine Arts Gallery in Manhattan on September 10, 1998. The actress sued Gross in 1981, tearfully stating that the photographs embarrassed her, but a 1983 court ruling granted Gross permission to exhibit them.
- #038
Brooke Shields was among those who attended Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's wedding.
- #039
Brooke Shields was the first choice for the role of Supergirl, but Helen Slater took on the role of the Girl of Steel.
- #040
Brooke Shields is the spokesperson for Tupperware's Chain of Confidence SMART Girls campaign, a program that teaches girls to improve their mental and physical health.
- #041
Brooke Shields was considered for the role of Andie Walsh in Pretty in Pink (1986), but she turned it down because she was attending Princeton at the time.
- #042
Brooke Shields was named the Face of the '80s by Time magazine.
- #043
Brooke Shields was named by the British magazine Harpers & Queen as one of the 100 most beautiful women of the 20th century. Others on the list included Gloria Swanson, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren, Josephine Baker and Catherine Deneuve (2005).
- #044
Brooke Shields was offered the role of Cherry in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983), but she turned the project down. Diane Lane took on the role.
- #045
Brooke Shields has a romantic connection with Liam Neeson, John Kennedy Jr. and John Travolta.
- #046
Brooke Shields was friends with musician Chuck Berry in the 1970s and with actor Scott Baio in the 1980s.
- #047
During the opening of the broadcast of the 65th Annual Tony Awards in June 2011, Brooke Shields flubbed famous lines and had to read from a card.
- #048
Brooke Shields is good friends with Christopher Atkins, Jessica Simpson and Dean Cain.
- #049
The weak sentence structure in the book "On Your Own" was the subject of an article William Safire wrote in The New York Times.
- #050
TV Guide magazine named Brooke Shields the best TV guest star of 2006 for her performances in Nip/Tuck (2003) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). Other names on the list included Forest Whitaker, Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour and David Morse.
- #051
At age 14, Brooke Shields was the youngest guest star to appear on The Muppet Show (1976).
- #052
In 1983, Brooke Shields was chosen as the "most beautiful celebrity" by readers of the high-circulation Turkish newspaper Milliyet.
- #053
People Magazine named Brooke Shields one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1996 and 2000.
- #054
Harper's Bazaar named Brooke Shields one of the ten most beautiful women in America in 1981 and 1988.
- #055
Brooke Shields was offered the role of Deborah Gelly in Sergio Leone's final film, Once Upon a Time in America (1984), but she did not get the part after a writers' strike delayed the project.
- #056
Brooke Shields was nominated to the 2013 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Arts and Entertainment category.
- #057
Brooke Shields has three stepsisters, Marina, Cristiana and Olympia, as well as stepbrothers and a stepsister named Diana.
- #058
Brooke Shields ranked 22nd on Kanal 5's "World's Greatest Supermodel" list.
- #059
Brooke Shields was the first choice for the lead role in Supergirl (1984), but producer Ilya Salkind wanted an unknown actress.
- #060
Brooke Shields and her Lipstick Jungle (2008) co-star Kim Raver both attended the same elementary school.
- #061
Brooke Shields was the youngest guest star on Fridays, appearing on 15 May 1981, two weeks and two days before she turned 16.
- #062
People Magazine named Brooke Shields one of the 100 most beautiful people in the world in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
- #063
Brooke Shields is a longtime friend of Anna Strasberg.
- #064
Brooke Shields was already modelling in diapers at 11 months old.
- #065
In September 2013, Brooke Shields was included in Vanity Fair's 74th Annual International Best-Dressed Poll.
- #066
Brooke Shields is a passionate collector of fine watches and owns pieces from respected brands such as Rolex, Cartier, Piaget and Bulgari.
- #067
A pre-cancerous spot was found on Brooke Shields's face on 22 May 2009.
- #068
Brooke Shields was nominated to the 2025 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts and Entertainment category.
- #069
Brooke Shields was inducted into the Hair Fan's Hall of Fame in 2014.
- #070
Brooke Shields appeared as one of the children in the flashback school scene in Annie Hall (1977), but her footage was cut from the finished film.
- #071
Brooke Shields is the former sister-in-law of Phillip Agassi and Tami Agassi and the former daughter-in-law of Mike Agassi.
- #072
Brooke Shields is a cousin of Alessandro Lecquio.
- #073
Brooke Shields was born at 13:45 EST.
- #074
Brooke Shields's lawyer is Gerald Lefcourt and her publicist is Jill Fritzo.
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