Brooke Shields Reacts to Mom Teri Shields' Death: “She Was an Enormous Part of My Life”

Actress' mother passed away last week after a lengthy battle with dementia.

Brooke Shields' mother may not have been herself in recent years, but that didn't change the bond between them.

"My mother was an enormous part of my life and of who I am today," Shields said of her mom, Teri Shields, who died last week at 79 after an extended battle with dementia.

"I loved her, laughed with her, and respected her," the actress continued. "And although she had her share of struggles, she was my mom."

Angelina Jolie loses mother Marcheline Bertrand to cancer

A rep for the "Blue Lagoon" star confirmed to E! News today that Teri "passed away peacefully" in New York on Oct. 31.

Before Teri became her daughter's full-time manager when Brooke first entered showbiz as a child, the New Jersey native was herself a model for Lord &Taylor department store, as well as a makeup artist, hair stylist and a hostess at the famed Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village.

She married Brooke's father, Francis Alexander Shields, in 1964, but they divorced when their daughter was 5 months old. Francis died in 2003.

--Reporting by Holly Passalaqua

Celebrity mothers and daughters

Copyright E! Online
Contact Us