Celebrity News

Brooke Shields’ mom, Teri, dies in Manhattan

Teri Shields, the woman who launched Brooke Shields to stardom, has died at age 79.

She passed away last week in Manhattan following a long illness related to dementia, a spokesperson for the actress said on Monday.

The controversial “momager” often faced criticism for her handling of Brooke’s early career. It was Terri who guided her infant daughter to her first soap advertisement and later allowed her to play provocative roles in the 1978 film “Pretty Baby” and in the R-rated film “The Blue Lagoon” at 14.

Brooke also ignited a media storm when she starred in a sexually provocative Calvin Klein jeans campaign, in which she famously said, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.”

In 1995, Brooke dropped her hard-driving stage mother as her manager. Teri reportedly did not approve of her daughter’s romance with professional tennis player Andre Agassi, whom Brooke later married and divorced.

“We talk every day, but I have to draw a line,” Shields told Life magazine about her decision to drop her mom as manager. “Or I get pulled back in.”

Teri has defended her actions over the years, saying that detractors were simply jealous.

In 2009, Teri was diagnosed with dementia and Brooke moved her mother into a nursing home. Teri and Brooke reconciled in recent years as Brooke has been spotted visiting her mother’s nursing home.

Theresa Anna Lillian Schmon was born on Aug. 11, 1933, in Newark. She worked as a hairstylist, a makeup artist for Lord & Taylor and a model, according to a statement from Brooke. She married Francis Alexander Shields in 1964, and Brooke was born the next year.