Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Teri Shields Has Died

Teri Shields, who began promoting her daughter, Brooke, as a child model and actress when she was an infant and allowed her to be cast as a child prostitute in the 1978 film “Pretty Baby,” has died. She was 79.

27 comments:

Sarah said...

Well that sounded unflattering, although from a mother's perspective I get the discomfort.

Bit dams said...

^^the truth is harsh. brooke seems to have turned out pretty well.

remember a few years ago when some celeb rag checked her out of her care home and took her to lunch. anyone remember that? they wanted gossip about brooke.

Jessica said...

If you ever heard Kathy Griffin talk about Brooke's mom, you would realize that it is amazing that Brooke turned out the way she did. Terri was a loud-mouth alcoholic, made a huge embarassing scene at Brooke's wedding and would have been disowned by 99% of anyone else on the planet. But Brooke took care of her and found the nursing home Terri died in, paid for it all, and pretty much paid so that she wanted for nothing.

Basil said...

Not the best obit there. She certainly was the originalmom/manager.

Laura said...

I was going to say the same thing as Jessica. As soon as I read this I thought about the things Kathy Griffin had said about her.

Roman Holiday said...

It is bad luck to speak ill of the dead........

mikey said...

Somehow it worked for them; Brooke turned out ok and has taken care of her mother for many, many years. I hope they both are at peace.

hollywood dime said...

that was pretty rough. it may true, but the way it is written is pretty shitty and insensitive. teri had alzheimer's and was probably at the beginning stages of the disease when she had the "episode" at the wedding that kathy spoke of. my heart goes out to brooke, losing a parent is difficult to say the least.

SueRH said...

She was actually a very bad alcoholic. She ended up living a long time despite that.

CrazyCatLady said...

She had Alzheimers didn't she?

Unknown said...

I'm sorry for Brooke, everything I've heard about her is that she is a kind, professional upbeat woman. She has my sympathy today. It sucks growing up with a difficult (abusive?) parent.

Anonymous said...

Rest In Peace. We all have our problems. May we all be forgiven and loved. This is what I wrote AFTER at first writing " good riddance, she was a monster". I'm glad that I rethought my post. Hopefully she's in God's arms now and being healed.

Patty said...

Wasn't there nudity for Brooke in Pretty Baby? Wasn't she like 12 then?

auntliddy said...

My sympathies uo Brooke. Yes, Teri was a loose cannon, a drunk as well. Had dementia in last part of her life. Very unhappy woman, hope shes at peace now.

hothotheat said...

I hope Brooke made peace with her before she died. It's hard to deal with the death of a parent. It's overwhelmingly difficult to deal with the death of a parent who abused you before you get the answers you need.

Cheryl said...

Over the years I've known a lot of people who know Brooke from school (Dwight Englewood, Princeton) One of her roommates from college said that Terri would call Brooke while she was drunk and scream and rant at her on a regular basis.

I'm glad that she was able to make peace with her and take care of her needs. Brooke turned out ok I think.

DewieTheBear said...

In spite of the odds, Brooke is one of the rare success stories of a child star transitioning to a healthy adult (star or not). That she tended to her mother - a pioneer "momager" with many documented challenges in her own life - in her mother's declining years speaks volumes as to the character that was instilled in Brooke.

Kathleen said...

Teri Shields was a very imperfect parent, maybe abusive and probably an alcoholic. Still, I always heard that in spite of exploiting Brooke she did in many ways and on set fiercely protect her kid. She wasn't Dina Lohan.

MISCH said...

Teri Shields was a monster....Brooke amazes me, how she turned out sane is a miracle ...
Teri also blew a pile of Brooke's money...

Mango said...

Like Jessica said above, Terri was *very* drunk at Brooke's lavish, elegant wedding. Someone (and I think it was the groom's mother) inquired if Terri wanted anything, and IIRC, Terri said something along the lines of, "Get out of my way, you CUNT!"



Anothergrayhare said...

I think Brooke's dad was her main influence was he not? I like her, she seems well grounded and happy. A rarity amongst child stars, so someone did something right.

HudsonJoe said...

I can remember reading a joint profile of Terri and Brooke in New York Magazine when Pretty Baby opened. It was clear that far back Terri was a troubled person and at best borderline abusive parent.

By all appearances Brooke has grown up a bright, talented, well balanced, considerate person despite what must have been a difficult childhood.

Brooke, no guilt you have taken good care of your mother; perhaps better than she took of you as a child.

Scallywag said...

Adult children of alcoholics tend to exhibit similar attributes. Get along. Don't make waves. Don't give the parent (or other authority figures) reasons to go off on you. Be the caregiver whenever necessary and keep things calm.

Terri was awful in many ways but she did protect Brooke from the predators that you know had to be circling that girl constantly. That doesn't excuse her other behavior but a lot of the stage parents of today could take a lesson and protect their girls from what happens in many of the blinds we read here.

Brenda L said...

Sort of off topic - when Brooke had that TV show - remember when one of the actors committed suicide and Brooke and Andre Agassi split up in what seemed liked days after. Ted Casablanca implied some heavy stuff was going on there....does anyone have a clue what really happened?

car54 said...

If she had alzheimers, her passing is a blessing, what a horrible disease.

Brooke has been a great daughter and I hope she is at peace with her mother's passing.

JoElla said...

Brenda if I remember, Andre was just as controlling as Teri, and Brooke was realizing she was unhappy. I think Kathy Griffen (sp?) said how the mood of the set would change and become very tense when Andre came to the set.

The actor who committed suicide was very close to Brooke and when he took his own life, it really made Brooke evalueate her own life.

Anonymous said...

Godspeed Teri.....

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