Her paternal grandmother was Italian noblewoman Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi, who was the daughter of an Italian prince and an American socialite.

According to research by William Addams Reitwiesner, Shields has ancestral links with a number of noble families from Italy, in particular from Genoa and Rome.

Her mother was of English, German, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh descent, while her father had English, French, Irish, and Italian ancestry.

Brooke Christa Shields was born in Manhattan, New York on May 31, 1965, the daughter of actress and model Teri Shields (née Schmon; 1933–2012) and businessman Frank Shields (1941–2003).

She also starred in the NBC sitcoms Suddenly Susan (1996–2000), for which she received two Golden Globe nominations, and Lipstick Jungle (2008–2009). In 2017, Shields returned to NBC with a major recurring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the show's 19th season. Since 2014, Shields has voiced Beverly Goodman in the Adult Swim animated series Mr. Pickles.

In 1983, Shields suspended her career as a model to attend Princeton University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Romance Languages. In the 1990s, Shields returned to acting and appeared in minor roles in films.

Shields garnered widespread notoriety in the role, and she continued to model into her late teenage years and starred in several dramas in the 1980s, including The Blue Lagoon (1980), and Franco Zeffirelli's Endless Love (1981).

Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film Pretty Baby (1978), in which she played a child prostitute in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century.