Brooke Shields’ ‘miraculous’ 60th birthday: Child star who survived the industry is now a symbol of female empowerment

Before even making her big-screen debut as a leading lady, back in February 1978, High Times magazine was already portraying Brooke Shields (New York, 60) as “a sensual blend of American virgin and budding vixen.” Her mother, Teri, an alcoholic former model who also served as her agent, only reinforced this view in interviews, asserting that she was “the forbidden fruit, the all-in-one, the sexy and the innocent.” Even Barbara Walters, a legend of television journalism, allowed herself to interrogate Shields in front of millions of viewers regarding her virginity or her body measurements. Before that, Shields had already posed nude for Playboy, in a series of supposedly “artistic” photographs in which she appeared made-up and covered in oil in a bathtub.

She also starred in Pretty Baby, a feature film in which she played a prostitute involving several nude scenes. She wasn’t yet 12 years old. “She’s sparking a stir about child pornography in film,” People magazine argued on the occasion of the premiere. “I became the most famous virgin in the world,” the actress herself would later recall in an interview with Glamour published on October 10, 2022.

The celebrated actress, hailed in 2023 by Time magazine as “the face of the 1980s,” celebrated her 60th birthday on May 31. A symbol of child exploitation in Hollywood, a paradigmatic example of the lengths to which the industry will go when it comes to turning a minor into a fetish, a commodity, and an object of morbid curiosity and desire, without regard for her age, consent, or the emotional consequences that early exposure could cause. “It’s a miracle I survived,” said the New Yorker, a broken toy before reaching adulthood who took refuge at the prestigious Princeton University — she graduated with honors in romance languages — to recover some of the childhood stolen from her since she appeared in a soap commercial at 11 months old. When she wanted to return to the film industry, and as she recounted in a biographical documentary — titled Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields and released in 2023 — she was raped by a producer. She didn’t scream or struggle. “A ‘no’ would have been enough, but I just thought, ‘stay alive, and then you’re gone.’ I just shut up and waited.”

Hollywood didn’t welcome with open arms the return of “America’s sweetheart,” a moniker earned thanks to films like The Blue Lagoon (1980) and Endless Love (1981), or advertising campaigns as scandalous as the 1980 Calvin Klein jeans campaign, in which the 15-year-old shocked the country with a now-legendary slogan: “You want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” Her salary at the time was around $10,000 a day, but neither her friendship with Michael Jackson and George Michael, nor her status as Andy Warhol’s muse, nor her precocious appearance on the cover of Vogue, assured her a place in the new Hollywood of the 1990s. The transition to adulthood was more than complicated. Was she an actress? Was she a model? No casting director could find a place for her and she had to take refuge on Broadway and in a modestly successful television series, Suddenly Susan (1996), to retain some of her past relevance.

At the same time, Shields maintained a tumultuous relationship with tennis player Andre Agassi, another star also shaped by a tyrannical parent. They married in 1997 and divorced two years later, with the bad boy of tennis spiraling into a self-destructive cycle due to his methamphetamine addiction. The same year they separated, the actress began dating producer and screenwriter Chris Henchy. They have been married for more than two decades and share two daughters, Rowan and Grier. The youngest, 19, is already following in her mother’s footsteps as a model and is the face of brands like Tommy Hilfiger.

Although far from the A-list in the Los Angeles hills, Shields is enjoying one of the most rewarding moments of her career. Last year, she starred in an unexpected ratings triumph with Mother of the Bride, a romantic comedy that became one of Netflix’s biggest hits, and she has two more films pending release. However, she is more eager to reconcile her roles as a writer, activist, and entrepreneur. Recovering the voice that was denied her in her early days, she has published half a dozen books and gives lectures on the keys to female empowerment and how to confront the stigmas of aging. “I feel more confident now than ever. I’m more comfortable in my own skin and have stopped comparing myself to ideals or worrying about expectations. But I must admit that, even with this newfound sense of contentment, I have to remind myself — sometimes daily — that I am good enough,” she reflected in her memoir, Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman (Flatiron Books), published on January 14.

The resilience she now displays began to be forged during that stolen childhood. “The system had never once come to help me, so I just had to get stronger on my own,” she confessed to The New York Times on April 3, 2023. Recognized as a beauty icon even in later life, she has returned to the spotlight for Calvin Klein four decades after the controversial campaign, and for Skims, Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand. Last year, Shields also launched Commence, a line of hair care products designed for women over 40.

As if her schedule wasn’t packed enough, she was elected that same year as president of the Screen Actors Guild of America, which has more than 50,000 members. “I view unions as parents. When your voice isn’t loud enough or heard enough, they can step up and speak for you. I’ve been a member since I was a kid, and my mom used to say, ‘If I can’t help you, we’ll go to the union, and they will,’” Shields said in an interview with The Washington Post on September 2, 2024. She is a survivor who has turned her scars into a force for change.

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