Brooke Shields

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Birth Name: Brooke Christa Shields

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 31, 1965

Ethnicity: Irish, German, near one eighth Italian, European Royal, English, Scottish, with distant Scots-Irish, Welsh, Spanish, French, and Dutch

Brooke Shields is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films Pretty Baby, The Blue Lagoon, and Endless Love, among others.

Brooke is the daughter of Theresia “Teri” (Schmon) and Francis Alexander “Frank” Shields, a businessperson and executive. Brooke is married to television writer Chris Henchy, with whom she has two children.

Her paternal grandfather was of Irish descent. Her paternal grandmother, who was born in Italy, had Italian, as well as European Royal, English, Scottish, a small amount of German, and distant Spanish, French, and Dutch, ancestry. Her mother had German, as well as English, Scots-Irish, and Welsh, ancestry.

On the television show Who Do You Think You Are?, 2010, Brooke explored her paternal grandmother’s remote French ancestry.

Brooke is a second cousin, once removed, of actress Glenn Close. Brooke’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Charles Arthur Moore and Mary L. Campbell (the parents of Mary Elsie Moore), were also Glenn’s maternal great-grandparents.

Brooke’s paternal grandfather was Frank Shields (Francis Xavier Alexander Shields, the son of Alexander John Shields and Alice A. Haggerty). Frank was born in New York, New York, and was a top-ranking amateur tennis player, and an actor. He was of Irish descent. Brooke’s great-grandfather Alexander was the son of Alexander John Shields and Ellen Maria Holtan, both of whom were the children of Irish parents. Alice was born in Pennsylvania, to Irish parents, Dennis Haggerty, from County Donegal, and Margaret Gallagher.

Brooke’s paternal grandmother was Donna Marina Torlonia, dei Principi di Civitella-Cesi (the daughter of Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, and of Mary Elsie Moore). Brooke’s grandmother Donna Marina, an aristocrat, was born in Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia, Rome, Lazio, Italy, and was an Italian princess. She was also known as Marina Torlonia Shields and Marina Torlonia Slater. Brooke’s great-grandfather Don Marino Torlonia was Italian, and also had one eighth German, and distant Spanish and French, descent; he was the son of Don Guido/Giulio Torlonia, 2nd Duke di Poli e di Guadagnolo, and of Donna Teresa Chigi della Rovere-Albani. He descended from many noble and aristocratic families, including the House of Medici, House of Este, House of Gonzaga, and House of Montefeltro. Brooke’s great-grandmother Mary was born in Brooklyn, New York, and had English, Scottish, and remote Dutch, descent, the daughter of Charles Arthur Moore and Mary L. Campbell.

Brooke’s maternal grandfather was John W. Schmon (the daughter of John Schmon and Bertha Walker). Brooke’s grandfather John was born in New Jersey. Brooke’s great-grandfather John was the son of Robert Schmon and Barbara Meyer.

Brooke’s maternal grandmother was Theresa A. Dollinger (the daughter of John Daniel Dollinger and Ida E. McCarl). Theresa was born in New Jersey. John was born in Pennsylvania, the son of German parents, Joseph Dollinger and Theresa/Theresia (apparently Murphy). Ida likely was the daughter of Frank McCarl and Mary Brower.

Sources: Genealogies of Brooke Shields – http://famouskin.com
https://www.geni.com

Brooke’s maternal great-grandfather, John Daniel Dollinger, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Brooke’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Theresa/Theresia Dollinger, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

33 Responses

  1. cwm85 says:

    I’ve never thought she was as pretty or hot as people have made her to be…

  2. ann says:

    If we trace her ancestry to many centuries ago, she has almost every European royal blood. Ancestors are from the Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Byzantium, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium. http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Brooke_Shields_(1965)
    http://www.lagenealogy.net/Pages/shieldsBrooke.aspx

  3. Fatmonkey says:

    The thing about the celebrities descended from royalties is that they actually “sum” the ethnicities of all the people in the past who had a royalty. E.g. among the ancestors of Brooke Shields are the medieval monarchs of Bohemia (present day Czech Republic), Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Byzantium, Bulgaria, Denmark, and more… I guess the reason why Brooke’s full ancestry list is never put is because it would be deemed too long, but still her current ancestry list is far from sufficient.

    • follers says:

      Almost everybody in Europe is descended from royalty if you go back far enough. That is why I think it becomes meaningless as you go back through the centuries.

      • Fatmonkey says:

        I think the royal descent can hardly be applied to “entire” Europe, if by “Europe” you mean both the West and the East (and by “East” the countries such as Russia, Serbia (my native country and ethnicity), Bulgaria, Poland, etc.). I am familiar with statements that a large percent of people in Great Britain, and somewhat less in Germany, France and Benelux countries are of remote royal descent, but that’s because the royal ancestors of all those people were Westerners (Lady Joan Beaufort, Henry II of England, Edward III of England, Louis VI of France, to name but a few trademark ‘patriarch monarchs’).

        Some medieval Russian, Bulgarian, or Serbian monarch might also have had side-offspring which spread across their territories – I don’t know. It’s just that the royal descent of East Europeans had never been researched and proved, whereas the royal descent of our Western counterparts has.

        I do know, on the other hand, that one of the ancestors of Edward III of England (reputed to be the ancestor of at least 80% population in Great Britain) was a Serbian prince, Uroš Vukanović (Urosh Vukanovich, in anglicized version). That said, 80% of Britons have partly Serbian ancestry. But, as you stated, the trace is so sparse and remote that it doesn’t make much sense to make it official.

        • follers says:

          Those are good points, and probably true about Eastern Europe (although you never know).

          Any English family tree I see that goes back to before 1500, almost immediately goes back to foreign-born ancestors and/or to kings and the like. It’s universal.

      • andrew says:

        “Almost everybody in Europe is descended from royalty if you go back far enough”: everybody?

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