Fascinating Facts About Brooke Shields

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Actor and model Brooke Shields gained the attention of the masses during the 80s when she started her career as a child actor. Propelled into the biz by her momager mother, Shields starred front and center in controversial films like "Pretty Baby" and "The Blue Lagoon" while quickly becoming a generation's It girl and a fashion icon. Shields spent her teens being the world's most popular gal before moving on to other endeavors like college, advocation, and writing. In the 90s and 2000s, Shields returned to television, starring on the small screen, this time finding her voice in comedic work and proving her powerful acting range.

Unlike so many child stars of yesteryear, Shields has possessed an uncanny ability to stay relevant in the entertainment industry. From the eyebrow-raising roles of her youth to her countless cameos on hit television shows like "That 70's Show," "The Simpsons," and "Two and a Half Men," to starring on Broadway in epic works like "Grease" and "Cabaret," the world has always seemed to create a space for Shields to shine.

This beautiful, bold, and brilliant mother of two has done nothing short of wowing the world with everything she takes on. Brooke Shields is the picture of grace, ambition, and endurance. 

Brooke Shields grew up the only child of her mother, Teri Shields. Teri, a middle-class New Jersey woman, found herself pregnant by the affluent Francis Shields. When father Frank learned of the pregnancy, he offered Teri money to make the situation disappear. In Brooke's memoir, "There was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me," she that wrote her mother had been offered cash for an abortion. Teri agreed, then used the money to buy a piece of antique furniture. When her father discovered this, he proposed to Teri. Brooke's parents remained wed for five months before divorcing, setting Brooke on a path to growing up in a single-parent home.

Growing up with Teri seemed both a gift and a curse. Brooke knew she was loved intensely and was fiercely protected, but also knew that life with Teri came with an air of instability and responsibility. Brooke told The Guardian that from a very young age, she knew her looks and talent kept the gravy train going and perhaps even kept her mother alive. Then there was her mother's drinking, which Brooke has written about and discussed at length. In her biography, Brooke revealed that Teri drank for most of Brooke's life, and her addictions impacted Brooke's self-esteem. "My unhappiness was rooted in my mother's inability to stop drinking. My sense of worthlessness stemmed from feeling insecure as to who I was and inadequate in getting my mother to stop drinking."  

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Brooke Shields' youth is dotted with high-profile pals and also high-profile romances. In her revealing book, "There was a Little Girl," she explained how her mother, Teri Shields, encouraged Brooke to date other stars. "She loved that I had briefly dated John Travolta, Jimmy McNichol, Leif Garrett, Scott Baio, and John Kennedy. They were all on the Teen Beat magazines and stars in their own right." While mother Teri fully supported Brooke's teenage romances, chastity was essential and expected of the actor. Brooke wrote in her memoir (via People), that at 22 she lost her virginity to Dean Cain while the pair were both studying at Princeton. Shortly after doing the deed, the pair split.

Brooke went on to wed tennis great Andre Agassi, meeting him in 1993 and marrying him in 1997. She opened up about her first husband in her memoir (via People), explaining how he helped her break free from the tangled web that was her relationship with her mother. "The whole relationship with him was so necessary; he gave me my first taste of freedom from my mom. He swept me away. You'd say something, and it would happen." While the relationship had its high points, there were enough lows for the two to call it quits after only two years of marriage.

Shields did finally find her true love and life partner in Chris Henchy. The pair wed in 2001, and over 20 years and two daughters later, still remain one of Hollywood's golden couples, per Closer Weekly.

Brooke Shields and her husband, Chris Henchy, struggled to have kids. They endured a miscarriage and seven rounds of IVF before finally becoming parents to their first daughter. Shields might have been ready for motherhood, but she couldn't have been prepared for the crippling postpartum depression that came along with it. In 2009, she spoke of her depression at the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (via People). "I finally had a healthy, beautiful baby girl, and I couldn't look at her. I couldn't hold her, and I couldn't sing to her, and I couldn't smile at her ... All I wanted to do was disappear and die." 

Sadly the road back to a healthy mental space was a long one for the esteemed actor, but her experience led her to advocate for others in similar situations. In her interview with WRAL News' Amanda Lamb, Shields explained her desire to help others stemmed from a need to educate those struggling with postpartum depression. Hence, they never have to feel weak or wrong while working to destigmatize the disease in general. 

Today Shields is free from her depression, thanks to medication, therapy resources, and support. Shields paid homage to her resilient nature, telling Life magazine, that everything she has gone through has shown her more of who she always was. Someone who thrives in the face of adversity, perseveres, leaves the bad behind, and carries the good forward.

Many entertainers have taken their experiences and put them to paper in the form of memoirs. Brooke Shields has written two incredibly intimate and revealing books about her life. She wrote "There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me" to chronicle her childhood with her mother, Teri Shields. Shields wanted to tell her and her mother's story from her perspective following her mother's passing. In her book, Shields laid out the components of their mother-daughter relationship the public wasn't privy to.

Shields also wrote "Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression," which took readers through her emotionally raw, frightening ordeal battling a scary disease that affects nearly 20 percent of all new mothers. Aside from her two works that heavily focused on Shields' own life experiences, she also created a children's book entitled "Welcome to Your World, Baby." This work deviated from her other two in both genre and perspective, as it was written through the eyes of her daughter Rowan in her younger years as the family welcomed a second baby into the fold. Shields revealed in a Reuters interview that the children's book was far more challenging to create compared to her other two books. "When you're dealing with a children's book, so much has to be said in the drawings, and then whatever's left, the most important part has to be preserved for the one or two lines. It's just easier for me to be verbose."

Brooke Shields has lived her life as a bonafide bombshell, and she isn't about to stop now! Plenty of the former child actor's priorities have shifted over the decades, yet one that remains the same is her focus on health and wellness. Shields revealed in a Today interview that following knee surgery, she aimed to work her small muscle groups. Shields found that bigger wasn't necessarily better and preventative exercise was the key to remaining fit at this stage of life. She took what she was learning to Instagram, posting educational, motivational at-home workouts for fans of all ages under a section entitled "At Home Workouts."

Shields has been around the block enough times to know that fads fade, and the key to maintaining fitness is realizing there is no big secret or magic trick to trimming. "Balancing seems to be the biggest tip. It's so boring, yet it's true. It gets real simple; there's no pill," the actor revealed to Healthy Living. Shields also makes sure to get plenty of rest, drinks tons of water, meditates, and lives her life in moderation and forgiveness, per CelebWell. 

She is the picture of balance and grace, but admits to a few guilty pleasures. Shields told 80 Degrees Today that she counts her SoulCycle bike as one of her most coveted items and, per Buzzfeed, risotto, her favorite beer, Duvel, and a good tequila all make her list of indulgences.

Brooke Shields is always on the hunt for a new endeavor to pour her talent into. She has done big screen, little screen, drama, comedy, authorship, advocacy, fitness, and more, and while it seems little is left to conquer, Shields has found a pocket in the universe still needing her magic touch. The actor created a lifestyle website called Beginning is Now, focusing on embracing the moment and releasing the fear of the unknown.

Shields admitted to the New York Post that this project felt intimidating at times; after all, Shields is playing a real-life leading role as the brand's boss lady, but reminds herself, "Every time I start to get nervous, I remember that the entire message of 'Beginning Is Now' is what I'm feeling right now. Jumping off a cliff and not letting fear of failure stop me." Hold our hand Ms. Shields and we will jump off that cliff right with you.

Shields dares to be different with her brand, explaining, "This isn't just yoga mats and vitamins and a mantra. It's not just about diet and exercise or fitting into some size clothing. It's about overall health, finding things that make you happy. Sometimes just staying up late drinking tequila with a friend is healing. I'm not going to do it every night, but I think the well-roundedness of that is what we tried to focus on, rather than that we have this product or that product."