Brooke Christa Shields was born into show business and has been famous for nearly her entire life. Her actress and model mother, Teri Shields, expressed her desire to help her daughter develop her career when Brooke was only five days old. At 11 months, Brooke was cast in an Ivory Soap commercial, which garnered her the title of “The Most Beautiful Baby in America.” From there, her Hollywood career took off.
Shields’ early career was rife with controversial roles. At the age of 12, she received critical acclaim after playing a child sex worker in Louis Malle's film “Pretty Baby.” At 14, she appeared in the print and television commercial ads for Calvin Klein jeans, with the now-infamous line, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." Also at 14, she starred alongside 19-year-old Christopher Atkins in “The Blue Lagoon.” The film featured explicit scenes, that, while criticized, catapulted Shields to worldwide fame. By the time she was 16, her day rate for modeling was $10,000.
Shields took a break from her career in 1983 to attend Princeton University, where she got her degree in Romance languages. The 1990s saw her return to television to show off her comedic skills as the star in “Suddenly Susan,” which scored her two Golden Globe nominations. She also had appearances on “Friends,” “That 70s Show,” and “Two and a Half Men,” as well as numerous other sitcoms throughout the early and mid-2000s.
Shields is also a passionate mental health advocate and has raised awareness surrounding postpartum depression, after her own struggles. Her book, Down Came The Rain, depicted her experience and was published at a time when few women were talking about the condition. “I just set out to be honest, because I was suffering and I saw other people suffer, and nobody was talking about it, and that angered me,” she told The Guardian in 2021.
Shields, a vegan and animal rights activist, is also the Homeless Ambassador for Women in Need NYC. The organization is the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for New York City's homeless families, especially women and children.