Son of Alexander John Shields and Alice Aloysius Haggerty, husband of Rebecca Williams Tenney, the daughter of Harral S. Tenney, whom he married in 1931, in Connecticut.
Husband of Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi Rebecca Tenney, the daughter of Marino Torlonia and Elsie Moose, whom he married in North Conway, New Hampshire on July 13, 1940.
Husband of Katharine Mortimer Biddle, whom he married on April 27, 1949, in Manhattan, New York.
An outstanding American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s and an actor, appearing in seven films. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. Grandfather of Actress Brooke Shields.
Obituary - Francis X. Shields died suddenly August 9 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He is survived by two sons, Francis A. of Glen Cove and William X. of Southampton and New York; two daughters, Katherine Shields and Marina Shields D'Onofrio, of Rome, Italy. His marriages to the former Rebecca Tenney, Princess Marina Torlonia, and Katherine Mortimer (now Mrs. Richard Blaine of Southampton) ended in divorce. He also daughters. A funeral mass was said last Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Sa Hearts Church on Hill Street followed burial in the. Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton.
Pallbearers were Francis A. Shields, William X. Shields, Joseph Wade, Sidney B. Wood Jr. (Tennis Hall of Famer), Allison Danzig (Tennis Hall of Famer and-dean of tenniswriters for 45years onTheNew York :° Times), Edmund Sheedy of Palm Reach, | Dr. William M. Manger, Harry Hopman ' (20-year captain and. trainer of the- Australian Davis Cup Team};-Frencis- T. Hunter (world; renowned internitional tennis star), Henry Barclay, and Harold Hamilton. Honorary pallbearers were Robert Kerdasha of New York City and Richard (Pancho) Gonzales.
Also - The Meadow Club flag flew at half-mast last Saturday because Francis Xavier was being buried. Frank's heart, as warm and stubborn as any that beat, finally gave out on Tuesday night, August 19, at age 64 after many near misses. Frank's exploits in international tennis assured him a place as one of the giants of his era -indeed of all time. Ranked first in the USA in 1933, he was in the U.S. first five six times and first 10 eight times. He ranked in the world's first 10- five times. - He played on numerous Davis Cup teams and served as U.S. non-playing captain to Australia in 1951.He was enshrined in the abilities far exceeded his exploits, but Frank's training habits, which only his extraordinary constitution could survive, limited an even more stellar performance. The tennis record is there for all to read. What's missing are the events which made Frank a never-to-be-forgotten legend in his time. Only a significant few are recounted here. Frank, a 6'4", totally gifted athlete could palm a basketball in either hand and shoot with the best. Name the sport and he did it effortlessly and-professionally. In the view of everyone who has ever faced or studied Frank's first serve, it is the greatest ever struck. In One "Ripley" demonstration in France, for a $100 prize for the most Hits on a 24-inch square target in a service box corner, Frank hit 56 consecutive first serves on the plate; his Davis Cup teammates George Lott, John Van Ryn, and Sidney Wood amassed under 40 among them. Wherever he played, Frank-was the gallery favorite, with his Gary Cooper looks and irresistible charm. Sam Goldwyn put him under contract, but Frank was too much Frank to make a real movie star. Instead, he talked Goldwyn and Harry Cohn of Columbia into screen testing Errol Flynn (a first-rate tennis player, replete with bowler, cocker spaniel, and umbrella), but with no success. Frank then told Jack Warner he'd better look over Errol mi fast because Goldwyn and Cohn were hot after him. Next scene: Errol got the lead in "Captain Blood" six weeks later. In his first year as an insurance broker for Equitable, Frank led the entire sales force with more than a million in volume. But Frank was forever more giver than "taker. When the New York Boys' Club needed funds for a third building Frank volunteered to obtain a sponsor for a celebrity Pro-Am, the first serious one of its kind, which he organized and developed, with the Palm Beach Co. as sponsors, into an outstanding success at the old Meadowbrook Club. Frank's old friends, Ring Crosby, Bob Hope, and Perry Como each made-the Palm Beach Pro-Am an annual fixture and the Boys' Club got its building built. He sponsored and took Pancho Gonzales under his wing and brought him into national tennis honors two years before Pancho, inevitably, would have made it alone No athlete in modem, memory has evoked more admiration, envy, wonderment, adulation, and sheer disbelief, on and off the court, than Frank Shields. He is surely the only man, before, or since, who landed in Paris for the French Championship and, following an overextended celebration of an early round victory, found himself aboard the S.S. Paris at Cherbourg, enroute home to the USA, with only a dinner jacket for luggage. The overworked word, charisma, came much later than my unforgettable, beloved friend, Frank, but if ever such a term was formed to fit a man that man was Shields. -SIDNEY B. WOODJR.
(Francis X. Shields / Marina Torlonia in the New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940, Certificate Number 21396; Francis X Shields / Katherine M. Biddle in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, License Number 10229; Francis Xavier Shields in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Southampton press. volume, August 28, 1975, Pages 2 & 8; Catholic Cemeteries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Inc. Burial Database)
Husband of Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi Rebecca Tenney, the daughter of Marino Torlonia and Elsie Moose, whom he married in North Conway, New Hampshire on July 13, 1940.
Husband of Katharine Mortimer Biddle, whom he married on April 27, 1949, in Manhattan, New York.
An outstanding American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s and an actor, appearing in seven films. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. Grandfather of Actress Brooke Shields.
Obituary - Francis X. Shields died suddenly August 9 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He is survived by two sons, Francis A. of Glen Cove and William X. of Southampton and New York; two daughters, Katherine Shields and Marina Shields D'Onofrio, of Rome, Italy. His marriages to the former Rebecca Tenney, Princess Marina Torlonia, and Katherine Mortimer (now Mrs. Richard Blaine of Southampton) ended in divorce. He also daughters. A funeral mass was said last Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Sa Hearts Church on Hill Street followed burial in the. Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton.
Pallbearers were Francis A. Shields, William X. Shields, Joseph Wade, Sidney B. Wood Jr. (Tennis Hall of Famer), Allison Danzig (Tennis Hall of Famer and-dean of tenniswriters for 45years onTheNew York :° Times), Edmund Sheedy of Palm Reach, | Dr. William M. Manger, Harry Hopman ' (20-year captain and. trainer of the- Australian Davis Cup Team};-Frencis- T. Hunter (world; renowned internitional tennis star), Henry Barclay, and Harold Hamilton. Honorary pallbearers were Robert Kerdasha of New York City and Richard (Pancho) Gonzales.
Also - The Meadow Club flag flew at half-mast last Saturday because Francis Xavier was being buried. Frank's heart, as warm and stubborn as any that beat, finally gave out on Tuesday night, August 19, at age 64 after many near misses. Frank's exploits in international tennis assured him a place as one of the giants of his era -indeed of all time. Ranked first in the USA in 1933, he was in the U.S. first five six times and first 10 eight times. He ranked in the world's first 10- five times. - He played on numerous Davis Cup teams and served as U.S. non-playing captain to Australia in 1951.He was enshrined in the abilities far exceeded his exploits, but Frank's training habits, which only his extraordinary constitution could survive, limited an even more stellar performance. The tennis record is there for all to read. What's missing are the events which made Frank a never-to-be-forgotten legend in his time. Only a significant few are recounted here. Frank, a 6'4", totally gifted athlete could palm a basketball in either hand and shoot with the best. Name the sport and he did it effortlessly and-professionally. In the view of everyone who has ever faced or studied Frank's first serve, it is the greatest ever struck. In One "Ripley" demonstration in France, for a $100 prize for the most Hits on a 24-inch square target in a service box corner, Frank hit 56 consecutive first serves on the plate; his Davis Cup teammates George Lott, John Van Ryn, and Sidney Wood amassed under 40 among them. Wherever he played, Frank-was the gallery favorite, with his Gary Cooper looks and irresistible charm. Sam Goldwyn put him under contract, but Frank was too much Frank to make a real movie star. Instead, he talked Goldwyn and Harry Cohn of Columbia into screen testing Errol Flynn (a first-rate tennis player, replete with bowler, cocker spaniel, and umbrella), but with no success. Frank then told Jack Warner he'd better look over Errol mi fast because Goldwyn and Cohn were hot after him. Next scene: Errol got the lead in "Captain Blood" six weeks later. In his first year as an insurance broker for Equitable, Frank led the entire sales force with more than a million in volume. But Frank was forever more giver than "taker. When the New York Boys' Club needed funds for a third building Frank volunteered to obtain a sponsor for a celebrity Pro-Am, the first serious one of its kind, which he organized and developed, with the Palm Beach Co. as sponsors, into an outstanding success at the old Meadowbrook Club. Frank's old friends, Ring Crosby, Bob Hope, and Perry Como each made-the Palm Beach Pro-Am an annual fixture and the Boys' Club got its building built. He sponsored and took Pancho Gonzales under his wing and brought him into national tennis honors two years before Pancho, inevitably, would have made it alone No athlete in modem, memory has evoked more admiration, envy, wonderment, adulation, and sheer disbelief, on and off the court, than Frank Shields. He is surely the only man, before, or since, who landed in Paris for the French Championship and, following an overextended celebration of an early round victory, found himself aboard the S.S. Paris at Cherbourg, enroute home to the USA, with only a dinner jacket for luggage. The overworked word, charisma, came much later than my unforgettable, beloved friend, Frank, but if ever such a term was formed to fit a man that man was Shields. -SIDNEY B. WOODJR.
(Francis X. Shields / Marina Torlonia in the New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940, Certificate Number 21396; Francis X Shields / Katherine M. Biddle in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, License Number 10229; Francis Xavier Shields in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Southampton press. volume, August 28, 1975, Pages 2 & 8; Catholic Cemeteries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Inc. Burial Database)
Son of Alexander John Shields and Alice Aloysius Haggerty, husband of Rebecca Williams Tenney, the daughter of Harral S. Tenney, whom he married in 1931, in Connecticut.
Husband of Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi Rebecca Tenney, the daughter of Marino Torlonia and Elsie Moose, whom he married in North Conway, New Hampshire on July 13, 1940.
Husband of Katharine Mortimer Biddle, whom he married on April 27, 1949, in Manhattan, New York.
An outstanding American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s and an actor, appearing in seven films. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. Grandfather of Actress Brooke Shields.
Obituary - Francis X. Shields died suddenly August 9 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He is survived by two sons, Francis A. of Glen Cove and William X. of Southampton and New York; two daughters, Katherine Shields and Marina Shields D'Onofrio, of Rome, Italy. His marriages to the former Rebecca Tenney, Princess Marina Torlonia, and Katherine Mortimer (now Mrs. Richard Blaine of Southampton) ended in divorce. He also daughters. A funeral mass was said last Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Sa Hearts Church on Hill Street followed burial in the. Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton.
Pallbearers were Francis A. Shields, William X. Shields, Joseph Wade, Sidney B. Wood Jr. (Tennis Hall of Famer), Allison Danzig (Tennis Hall of Famer and-dean of tenniswriters for 45years onTheNew York :° Times), Edmund Sheedy of Palm Reach, | Dr. William M. Manger, Harry Hopman ' (20-year captain and. trainer of the- Australian Davis Cup Team};-Frencis- T. Hunter (world; renowned internitional tennis star), Henry Barclay, and Harold Hamilton. Honorary pallbearers were Robert Kerdasha of New York City and Richard (Pancho) Gonzales.
Also - The Meadow Club flag flew at half-mast last Saturday because Francis Xavier was being buried. Frank's heart, as warm and stubborn as any that beat, finally gave out on Tuesday night, August 19, at age 64 after many near misses. Frank's exploits in international tennis assured him a place as one of the giants of his era -indeed of all time. Ranked first in the USA in 1933, he was in the U.S. first five six times and first 10 eight times. He ranked in the world's first 10- five times. - He played on numerous Davis Cup teams and served as U.S. non-playing captain to Australia in 1951.He was enshrined in the abilities far exceeded his exploits, but Frank's training habits, which only his extraordinary constitution could survive, limited an even more stellar performance. The tennis record is there for all to read. What's missing are the events which made Frank a never-to-be-forgotten legend in his time. Only a significant few are recounted here. Frank, a 6'4", totally gifted athlete could palm a basketball in either hand and shoot with the best. Name the sport and he did it effortlessly and-professionally. In the view of everyone who has ever faced or studied Frank's first serve, it is the greatest ever struck. In One "Ripley" demonstration in France, for a $100 prize for the most Hits on a 24-inch square target in a service box corner, Frank hit 56 consecutive first serves on the plate; his Davis Cup teammates George Lott, John Van Ryn, and Sidney Wood amassed under 40 among them. Wherever he played, Frank-was the gallery favorite, with his Gary Cooper looks and irresistible charm. Sam Goldwyn put him under contract, but Frank was too much Frank to make a real movie star. Instead, he talked Goldwyn and Harry Cohn of Columbia into screen testing Errol Flynn (a first-rate tennis player, replete with bowler, cocker spaniel, and umbrella), but with no success. Frank then told Jack Warner he'd better look over Errol mi fast because Goldwyn and Cohn were hot after him. Next scene: Errol got the lead in "Captain Blood" six weeks later. In his first year as an insurance broker for Equitable, Frank led the entire sales force with more than a million in volume. But Frank was forever more giver than "taker. When the New York Boys' Club needed funds for a third building Frank volunteered to obtain a sponsor for a celebrity Pro-Am, the first serious one of its kind, which he organized and developed, with the Palm Beach Co. as sponsors, into an outstanding success at the old Meadowbrook Club. Frank's old friends, Ring Crosby, Bob Hope, and Perry Como each made-the Palm Beach Pro-Am an annual fixture and the Boys' Club got its building built. He sponsored and took Pancho Gonzales under his wing and brought him into national tennis honors two years before Pancho, inevitably, would have made it alone No athlete in modem, memory has evoked more admiration, envy, wonderment, adulation, and sheer disbelief, on and off the court, than Frank Shields. He is surely the only man, before, or since, who landed in Paris for the French Championship and, following an overextended celebration of an early round victory, found himself aboard the S.S. Paris at Cherbourg, enroute home to the USA, with only a dinner jacket for luggage. The overworked word, charisma, came much later than my unforgettable, beloved friend, Frank, but if ever such a term was formed to fit a man that man was Shields. -SIDNEY B. WOODJR.
(Francis X. Shields / Marina Torlonia in the New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940, Certificate Number 21396; Francis X Shields / Katherine M. Biddle in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, License Number 10229; Francis Xavier Shields in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Southampton press. volume, August 28, 1975, Pages 2 & 8; Catholic Cemeteries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Inc. Burial Database)
Husband of Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi Rebecca Tenney, the daughter of Marino Torlonia and Elsie Moose, whom he married in North Conway, New Hampshire on July 13, 1940.
Husband of Katharine Mortimer Biddle, whom he married on April 27, 1949, in Manhattan, New York.
An outstanding American tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s and an actor, appearing in seven films. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. Grandfather of Actress Brooke Shields.
Obituary - Francis X. Shields died suddenly August 9 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. He is survived by two sons, Francis A. of Glen Cove and William X. of Southampton and New York; two daughters, Katherine Shields and Marina Shields D'Onofrio, of Rome, Italy. His marriages to the former Rebecca Tenney, Princess Marina Torlonia, and Katherine Mortimer (now Mrs. Richard Blaine of Southampton) ended in divorce. He also daughters. A funeral mass was said last Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Sa Hearts Church on Hill Street followed burial in the. Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton.
Pallbearers were Francis A. Shields, William X. Shields, Joseph Wade, Sidney B. Wood Jr. (Tennis Hall of Famer), Allison Danzig (Tennis Hall of Famer and-dean of tenniswriters for 45years onTheNew York :° Times), Edmund Sheedy of Palm Reach, | Dr. William M. Manger, Harry Hopman ' (20-year captain and. trainer of the- Australian Davis Cup Team};-Frencis- T. Hunter (world; renowned internitional tennis star), Henry Barclay, and Harold Hamilton. Honorary pallbearers were Robert Kerdasha of New York City and Richard (Pancho) Gonzales.
Also - The Meadow Club flag flew at half-mast last Saturday because Francis Xavier was being buried. Frank's heart, as warm and stubborn as any that beat, finally gave out on Tuesday night, August 19, at age 64 after many near misses. Frank's exploits in international tennis assured him a place as one of the giants of his era -indeed of all time. Ranked first in the USA in 1933, he was in the U.S. first five six times and first 10 eight times. He ranked in the world's first 10- five times. - He played on numerous Davis Cup teams and served as U.S. non-playing captain to Australia in 1951.He was enshrined in the abilities far exceeded his exploits, but Frank's training habits, which only his extraordinary constitution could survive, limited an even more stellar performance. The tennis record is there for all to read. What's missing are the events which made Frank a never-to-be-forgotten legend in his time. Only a significant few are recounted here. Frank, a 6'4", totally gifted athlete could palm a basketball in either hand and shoot with the best. Name the sport and he did it effortlessly and-professionally. In the view of everyone who has ever faced or studied Frank's first serve, it is the greatest ever struck. In One "Ripley" demonstration in France, for a $100 prize for the most Hits on a 24-inch square target in a service box corner, Frank hit 56 consecutive first serves on the plate; his Davis Cup teammates George Lott, John Van Ryn, and Sidney Wood amassed under 40 among them. Wherever he played, Frank-was the gallery favorite, with his Gary Cooper looks and irresistible charm. Sam Goldwyn put him under contract, but Frank was too much Frank to make a real movie star. Instead, he talked Goldwyn and Harry Cohn of Columbia into screen testing Errol Flynn (a first-rate tennis player, replete with bowler, cocker spaniel, and umbrella), but with no success. Frank then told Jack Warner he'd better look over Errol mi fast because Goldwyn and Cohn were hot after him. Next scene: Errol got the lead in "Captain Blood" six weeks later. In his first year as an insurance broker for Equitable, Frank led the entire sales force with more than a million in volume. But Frank was forever more giver than "taker. When the New York Boys' Club needed funds for a third building Frank volunteered to obtain a sponsor for a celebrity Pro-Am, the first serious one of its kind, which he organized and developed, with the Palm Beach Co. as sponsors, into an outstanding success at the old Meadowbrook Club. Frank's old friends, Ring Crosby, Bob Hope, and Perry Como each made-the Palm Beach Pro-Am an annual fixture and the Boys' Club got its building built. He sponsored and took Pancho Gonzales under his wing and brought him into national tennis honors two years before Pancho, inevitably, would have made it alone No athlete in modem, memory has evoked more admiration, envy, wonderment, adulation, and sheer disbelief, on and off the court, than Frank Shields. He is surely the only man, before, or since, who landed in Paris for the French Championship and, following an overextended celebration of an early round victory, found himself aboard the S.S. Paris at Cherbourg, enroute home to the USA, with only a dinner jacket for luggage. The overworked word, charisma, came much later than my unforgettable, beloved friend, Frank, but if ever such a term was formed to fit a man that man was Shields. -SIDNEY B. WOODJR.
(Francis X. Shields / Marina Torlonia in the New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940, Certificate Number 21396; Francis X Shields / Katherine M. Biddle in the New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018, License Number 10229; Francis Xavier Shields in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Southampton press. volume, August 28, 1975, Pages 2 & 8; Catholic Cemeteries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Inc. Burial Database)
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