Francis Alexander Shields Jr. (May 16, 1941 – April 25, 2003) was an American businessman and an executive at

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charle ...

in New York City. He was the father of actress

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress. A child model starting at the age of 11 months, Shields gained widespread notoriety at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby (1978 film), Pretty Baby ...

Early life

Shields was born in New York City. He was the eldest son of Francis Xavier Alexander Sr., a top-ranking American tennis player and

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

winner, and Italian Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi. After his parents' divorce, his father married Katharine Mortimer in 1949. He attended the Buckley School in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

. He attended in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. While at Penn, he captained the crew that rowed in the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

in 1962 and was a member of

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

Career

Shields began his career with Wall Street brokerage Loeb Rhoades. He then worked in sales and marketing for cosmetics firms

and Estee Lauder. He also worked for Handy Associates, an executive recruiting firm in New York City. He formed his own real estate firm, Frank Shields Associates, in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

in 1989.

Personal life

In 1964, Shields married Maria Theresia "Teri" Schmon. They had a daughter, Brooke Christa Shields in 1965. They divorced when their daughter was five months old. In 1970, he married Diana "Didi" Lippert, former wife of Thomas Gore Auchincloss (son of Hugh D. Auchincloss). They had three daughters: Marina Torlonia Shields, Olympia Torlonia Shields, and Christina Torlonia Shields. An avid hunter and fisherman, Shields spent much of his free time at Canoe Creek, at a camp he owned in rural west Florida. He was a longtime member of The Brook, The Bath and Tennis Club in

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York, in Nassau County, on Long Island. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowel ...

, and The Racquet and Tennis Club. In 1980, Shields founded the Power Ten, a New York nonprofit organization supporting youth rowing and making contributions to the U.S. National rowing team and U.S. Olympic rowing team through the National Rowing Foundation and Row New York. In 2003, Shields died in Palm Beach, of a "protracted illness" at the age of 61. After his death, the National Rowing Foundation offered the Frank Shields Fellowships.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Francis Xavier Alexander Junior 1941 births 2003 deaths House of Torlonia American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from New York City St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni