Frank Shields

For the Australian film and TV director, see Frank Shields (director).

Frank Shields

Full name	Francis Xavier Alexander Shields, Sr.
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1909-11-18)November 18, 1909 New York, USA
Died	New York, USA
Turned pro	1926 (amateur tour)
Retired	1955
Plays	Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1964 (member page)
Singles
Career record	{{#property:P564}}
Highest ranking	No. 5 (1930, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open	4R (1933)
Wimbledon	F (1931)
US Open	F (1930)
Doubles
Career record	{{#property:P555}}
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon	SF (1931)
US Open	F (1933)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
US Open	F (1930)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (1932)

Francis Xavier Alexander ("Frank") Shields, Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an amateur American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s.

Tennis career

Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked eight times in the U.S. Top Ten, reaching No. 1 in 1933, and No. 2 in 1930. He was ranked World No. 5 in 1930 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph. Shields defaulted to Sidney Wood in the singles final of Wimbledon in 1931 due to an ankle injury he had sustained in winning his semi-final match against France's "Musketeer" Jean Borotra, and this was the only time in the history of a Grand-Slam event singles final that the event was won by default.

Davis Cup

He competed for the Davis Cup in 1931, 1932, and 1934, winning 19 of 25 matches. He was left off the team for his erratic playing in 1933. Shields was the non-playing captain in 1951, when the team won four matches.

Shields had his issues both with interactions with other players, and with alcohol. In the late 1930s, Shields was known for making fun of the US tennis star Bryan Grant, the smallest American to win an international championship, saying "the little shaver" was hiding behind the net. Once a drunk Shields held Grant upside down, outside a hotel window.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1930	U.S. Championships	Grass	John Doeg	8–10, 6–1, 4–6, 14–16
Runner-up	1931	Wimbledon	Grass	Sidney Wood	walkover

Doubles (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1933	U.S. Championships	Grass	Frank Parker	George Lott Lester Stoefen	13–11, 7–9, 7–9, 3–6

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1930	U.S. Championships	Grass	Marjorie Morrill	Edith Cross Wilmer Allison	4–6, 4–6

Marriages

His first wife was Rebecca Tenney (1910–2005). They were married in 1932 and divorced in 1940, on the grounds of his "habitual intemperance and cruelty." In 1947, she married lawyer Donald Agnew.

His second wife, whom he married in 1940 and later divorced, was Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (1916-1960), a daughter of Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi and the American heiress Mary Elsie Moore (1888–1941), and a sister of Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi, the husband of the Spanish Infanta Beatriz de Borbón. Shields had two children by Marina Torlonia: son Francis Xavier Alexander, Jr. (the father of actress-model Brooke Shields), and daughter Cristiana Marina Shields. After their divorce, Marina Shields married Edward Slater.

His third wife, whom he married in 1949, and also later divorced, was Katharine Mortimer (1923-2003), a daughter of financier Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Sr., and the former wife of Oliver Cadwell Biddle. By his third marriage he had three children, Katharine Shields, William Xavier Orin Hunt Shields, and Alston Shields. He also had a stepdaughter, Christine Mortimer Biddle.

Later life

In his later years he was frequently drunk, at which times he became destructive and bullying with his strength. After two heart attacks and a stroke, he died at 65 of a third heart attack, in a Manhattan taxi. He was the grandfather of Brooke Shields, Morgan Christina Shields, and Holton Joseph Shields.

Acting career

Shields appeared in the following films:

• Murder in the Fleet – 1935 as "Lieutenant Arnold"
• I Live My Life – 1935 as "outer office secretary"
• Come and Get It – 1936 – as "Tony Schwerke"
• Affairs of Cappy Ricks – 1937 – as "Waldo Bottomley, Jr."
• Hoosier Schoolboy – 1937 – as "Jack Matthews. Jr."
• Dead End – 1937 – as "well-dressed man"
• The Goldwyn Follies – 1938 – as "assistant director"

International Tennis Hall of Fame

Shields was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1964.

Career highlights

• Cincinnati Singles Champion, 1930
• US Open Singles finalist, 1930
• US Open Mixed doubles finalist, 1930
• Wimbledon Singles finalist, 1931
• US Open Doubles finalist, 1933
• United States Davis Cup team member 1931–32, 1934

External links

• Frank Shields at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Frank Shields at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Frank Shields at the Davis Cup