# How Would You Classify Brooke Shields? B-List or C? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047 "2014-11-19T04:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/21 "2014-11-19T20:42:00Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Am I correct in assuming you were a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s? If so, I was wondering if among your peers, Brooke seemed to appeal much more to adolescent girls as a style and fashion icon than to adolescent boys as a sex symbol. Granted, YMMV, but in the early 80s if you asked any of the teenaged boys where I lived what female celebrity they lusted after the most, they would’ve said Bo Derek, Christie Brinkley (or some another model from the SI Swimsuit Issue), the POTM from that particular month, and maybe a couple others before mentioning Brooke Shields. She was considered too tall, too flat, and a bit too stuck up by a lot of boys. Well, we loved all those models too but I remember the whole reason a teenaged boy wanted to see Blue Lagoon was to get a gander at Brooks naked boobies, NOT because it was a great movie. (Which it was.) So yeah, at least in my corner of the world, Brooke was a mega sexpot. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/22 "2014-11-19T20:48:23Z")
Don’t forget _Endless Love_, she was nekkid in that too. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/23 "2014-11-19T21:36:00Z")
If you haven’t seen her as Rita Glossner in [The Middle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKRogu-r5SA), you might be surprised that she’s pretty good at comedy. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/24 "2014-11-19T21:40:47Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Am I correct in assuming you were a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s? If so, I was wondering if among your peers, Brooke seemed to appeal much more to adolescent girls as a style and fashion icon than to adolescent boys as a sex symbol. Granted, YMMV, but in the early 80s if you asked any of the teenaged boys where I lived what female celebrity they lusted after the most, they would’ve said Bo Derek, Christie Brinkley (or some another model from the SI Swimsuit Issue), the POTM from that particular month, and maybe a couple others before mentioning Brooke Shields. She was considered too tall, too flat, and a bit too stuck up by a lot of boys. I agree, generally. I don’t know if she was “too” anything, just that she was not as attractive as she was famous. I must say I felt sort of a kinship with her, being the same height, eyes and hair the same color, same eyebrows, born just a week or so apart, growing up on opposite banks of the Hudson. The kind of kinship I never felt with Todd Bridges. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/25 "2014-11-19T22:31:41Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Don’t forget _Endless Love_, she was nekkid in that too. Wasn’t that her body double (like she had in the **Blue Lagoon** )? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/26 "2014-11-19T22:58:41Z")
C list. In fact, when I saw that she’d penned an autobiography, I thought, “Wow. Other than her mom, who’d care?” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/27 "2014-11-19T23:01:23Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > C list. > > In fact, when I saw that she’d penned an autobiography, I thought, “Wow. Other than her mom, who’d care?” rrrow! Hiss! ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/28 "2014-11-19T23:05:57Z")
A list to me. She still works all the time (had a regular role on _Army Wives_ in 2013 in addition to her work on _The Middle_ and _The Michael J. Fox show_, and is instantly recognizable by both name and appearance, at least to my generation. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/29 "2014-11-19T23:52:45Z")
I think of her as A-list. ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/30 "2014-11-20T00:44:23Z")
I’d say she was an A-lister in her early days, then a B-lister up to now. She was a successful model when she was a kid, and starred in several fairly well know and controversial movies, and as she became an adult, was still cast in a few movies here and there, but also still did some modeling. Her name and face well very well know. She was never considered a great actress, but she never put on like she was either. She was well enough known , and definitely good enough looking, that she did well in non-major roles. I think she then did a few guest appearances on some TV shows and people realized she had a flair for comedy, so she played to that aspect quite a bit more. Her starring role on _Suddenly Susan_ showed she could do well at light comedy, which is what she usually does up to today. That may only make her a B-lister, but her name is still quite well known and her face easily recognizable. I always thought she was very attractive, and still is, in fact. Though I have no problem that she is not a busty woman, I think she has the most perfectly shaped long legs I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/31 "2014-11-20T14:23:41Z")
Definitely B-list. Not A, at least any more. And not C, because far too many people recognize her, and she still gets regular work. How many letters are there, anyway? I would put a whole bunch of reality TV people, comedians and has-beens far lower than Shields. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/32 "2014-11-20T14:52:05Z")
Upper tier of B-list. Still fairly well known by a lot of people. I do enjoy her recurring role as the white trash neighbor on The Middle. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/33 "2014-11-20T15:14:54Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > rrrow! Hiss! Easy, chief. There a Few people who’ve written and paid to have published (1) 4 inch by 4 inch brightly colored hard-cover book that this might apply to. I don’t know what letter Brooke is and I doubt she’d care if I did. Pretty sure I sat behind her in church once. And No, I’m Not Satan. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/34 "2014-11-20T15:20:23Z")
I’d say former A-lister, now maybe high on the B-list. The downgrade is only because she has much less exposure now than 20 years ago, but I always figured it was by choice. Didn’t she drop out of acting for a while when she was young to go to college; and then retire for another while to raise a family? She always seemed very classy despite her younger career as a sexpot. I always remember her being in _Just You and Me, Kid_ with George Burns because when I was a kid that movie was on our pay TV channel all the time. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/35 "2014-11-20T15:52:35Z")
C list. Now. Other than being a giantess with big bushy eyebrows offered up as a sexxy child star, I never thought she was much of an actress and simply didn’t get all the excitement. Out of my demographic, I guess. I don’t not admire her, though, I give her credit for growing up to lead a good life, not the cliched rolling around-in-the-gutter-with-occasional jaunts to a spa/rehab. I would LOVE to read her autobiography! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/36 "2014-11-20T15:58:56Z")
A-List: Commands $1 million+ per picture, or on TV for six figures/episode (I don’t think many people get the _FRIENDS_ cast salaries these days). Projects get made on the strength of your star-power. B-List: Headlines lesser projects (like Brendan Fraser or Mike Noth) or regularly appears as a supporting player in projects starring bigger-deal actors (Jonah Hill, Ed Helms). C-List: Former A-lister who stays in the public eye via commercials and “special guest star” roles. Jack Cassidy as a frequent guest villain on _Columbo_ fits this bill. So did Paul Lynde for pretty much the entirety of his television career. D-List: Better-known for appearances on _Hollywood Squares_ than for any actual acting work. Listed in the IMDB largely as a courtesy. Lots of non-speaking roles or “Girl in Shower” on Cinemax. Also semi-famous children of actual stars, like Rumer Willis. I’d put Brooke on the C-List. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/37 "2014-11-20T16:04:38Z")
BTW, she kind of pioneered the “I’m a virgin!” method of promoting her career, later copied by Britney Spears (who apparently defined the word differently than most) and Jessica Simpson. It’s always awkward when they back off from the claim in their 20s. Did Brooke ever say who her first time was with? The rumored contenders were Woody Harrelson, Dean Cain and Liam Neeson. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/38 "2014-11-20T18:20:01Z")
I’d put her on the A-minus list. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/39 "2014-11-20T18:22:29Z")
I’d say she’s B-list. It’s been a long time since she starred in a movie or TV show, but she was famous enough for long enough that most Americans over 30 will immediately recognize her name and/or face. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047/40 "2014-11-20T18:57:32Z")
Honorably-retired A, part-time B. As stated, her A-times were brief, and far in the past, but her presence in the consciousness of a large part of the population prevents her falling off. And she seems fine with it. (NOT having gone down the flaming celeb scandal spiral does seem to raise her in many people’s estimation. When you were doing nude photo shoots before your teens that’s no small feat.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-classify-brooke-shields-b-list-or-c/705047.md?page=3)