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, and he is 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.
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Spouse(s)
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1964; div. 1966)​
      Diana Lippert
      ​
      (m. 1970)​
      Children4, including Brooke
      Parent(s)
      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).[1][2] 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) Francis Alexander, 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.[4]

      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.[5]

      Personal life

      In 1964, Shields married Maria Theresia "Teri" Schmon. In 1966, they divorced when their only child together was then five months old:[6]

      In 1970, he married Diana "Didi" Lippert, former wife of Thomas Gore Auchincloss, a farmer in Eagle Bridge, New York[8] (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.[9] and Diana Luise Auchincloss (born 1964).[10] Together with Didi, Shields had three daughters:[11][12]

      An avid hunter and fisherman, Shields spent much of his free time at the camp he owned in rural west Florida, Canoe Creek.[5]

      Death and legacy

      In 2003, Shields died in Palm Beach, Florida, of a "protracted illness" at the age of 61.[5]

      After Shields death in 2003, the National Rowing Foundation offered the Frank Shields Fellowships.[4]

      References
      1. "Engangement: Marina Torlonia Shields, Thomas William Purcell". Newspapers.com. Palm Beach Daily News. 14 September 1997. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
      2. "PRINCESS DIES IN CRASH: Marina Torlonia Slater Killed in Accident in Italy". The New York Times. September 16, 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
      3. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. April 17, 2003. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
      4. "Frank Shields Fellowships". National Rowing Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
      5. "Francis A. Shields Obituary (2003)". Legacy.com. The Palm Beach Post. April 28, 2003. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
      6. "Brooke Shields's Mother, Teri Shields, Dies at 79". People. November 6, 2012.
      7. Thurman, Judith (2012). "An Exclusive Look At Brook Shield's Manhattan Home". Architectural Digest. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
      8. "Ella Davila Wed to T. G. Auchincloss Jr". The New York Times. May 29, 1988. p. 45. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      9. "Schoen, Luise Bernstorff". The New York Times. October 5, 2005. p. Section B, Page 10. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      10. Staff (September 18, 1994). "WEDDINGS; D. L. Auchincloss, C. G. Cunningham". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
      11. Shields, B (2008). Welcome to Your World, Baby. HarperCollins. p. 6.
      12. Churches of the Stars: St. Monica's Church parishioners
      13. 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. Mr. Purcell, who was formerly the co-CIO of Viking Global Investors—and who is apparently in the midst of a sabbatical—and Ms. Shields Purcell, half-sister of Brooke Shields
      14. "Getting Hitched in High Society". People. No. Vol. 49 No. 24. June 22, 1998. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
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