Francis Alexander Shields

Francis Alexander Shields Jr. (May 16, 1941 – April 25, 2003) was an American businessman and an executive at Revlon in New York City, best known as the father of actress Brooke Shields.

Francis Alexander Shields
Born(1941-05-16)May 16, 1941
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 25, 2003(2003-04-25) (aged 61)
Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Education
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)
    ​
    (
    m. 1964; div. 1966)
      Diana Lippert
      (
      m. 1970)
      Children4, including Brooke
      Parent(s)
      • Francis Xavier Shields
      • Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi
      Relatives

      Early life and education

      Shields was born in New York City, the eldest son of Francis Xavier Alexander Sr. (1909–1975), a top-ranking American tennis player, and Italian Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (1916–1960). His mother's family is descended from several Italian princely families (most notably Borgia, Medici, d'Este, di Savoia). Shields' uncle was Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi, the husband of the Spanish Infanta Beatriz de Borbón y Battenberg, meaning Shields and King Juan Carlos of Spain share cousins in the Torlonia-de Borbón family. Together, his parents had two children:[1] (1) Francis, and (2) Marina Shields (born 1943)[2]

      After his parents' divorce, his father married Katharine Mortimer in 1949. Mortimer had a previous child, Christine Mortimer Biddle, from her first marriage to Oliver Cadwell Biddle (of the Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Before their eventual divorce, Shields and Mortimer had three children together: Alston Shields, William Xavier Orin Hunt Shields, and Katharine Shields, all half-siblings to Frank Shields.[3]

      He attended the Buckley School in Manhattan and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, before graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, where he captained the crew that rowed in the Henley Royal Regatta in 1962 and was a member of St. Anthony Hall. An avid sportsman, Shields never lost his love of rowing and founded the Power Ten New York, an organization dedicated to the sport, in 1980.[1]

      Career

      Shields started his career on Wall Street, working for Loeb Rhoades, after which he moved into sales and marketing for Revlon, Estee Lauder and Handy Associates, an executive recruit firm in New York City. In 1989, Shields and his family moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he formed his own real estate firm, Frank Shields Associates.[4]

      Personal life

      In 1964, Shields married Maria Theresia "Teri" Schmon. In 1966, they divorced when their only child together was then five months old:[5]

      In 1970, he married Diana "Didi" Lippert, former wife of Thomas Gore Auchincloss, a farmer in Eagle Bridge, New York[7] (the son of Hugh D. Auchincloss, brother of Nina Gore Auchincloss, half-brother of Gore Vidal, and a stepbrother of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), with whom she had Thomas Gore Auchincloss, Jr.[8] and Diana Luise Auchincloss (born 1964).[9] Together with Didi, Shields had three daughters:[10][11]

      An avid hunter and fisherman, Shields spent much of his free time at the camp he owned in rural west Florida, Canoe Creek.[4]

      In 2003, Shields died in Palm Beach, Florida, of prostate cancer at the age of 61.[4]

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      References
      1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2005-12-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
      2. Staff (September 16, 1960). "PRINCESS DIES IN CRASH". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
      3. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. April 17, 2003. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
      4. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/palmbeachpost/obituary.aspx?n=Francis-Shields&pid=1541846
      5. "Brooke Shields's Mother, Teri Shields, Dies at 79". People. November 6, 2012.
      6. Thurman, Judith (2012). "AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT BROOKE SHIELDS'S MANHATTAN HOME". Architectural Digest. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
      7. Staff (May 29, 1988). "Ella Davila Wed to T. G. Auchincloss Jr". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      8. Staff (October 5, 2005). "SCHOEN, LUISE BERNSTORFF". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      9. Staff (September 18, 1994). "WEDDINGS; D. L. Auchincloss, C. G. Cunningham". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      10. Shields, B (2008). Welcome to Your World, Baby. HarperCollins. p. 6.
      11. Churches of the Stars: St. Monica's Church parishioners
      12. Pomorski, Chris (October 21, 2014). "Rolling Back Prices: Two Duplexes Trade at Park Ave. Co-op, Just $7 M. a Pop". Real Estate Observer. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      13. Staff (June 22, 1998). "Getting Hitched in High Society". People. No. Vol. 49 No. 24. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

      Francis Alexander Shields at Find a Grave

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