Francis X. Shields Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Francis X. Shields (1910-1975) was a highly rated tennis star of the early 1930s, famous for his hi-jinx off the court. He never won a Grand Slam tournament, but reached the finals of the US, British and French Opens. Shields, whose son and biographer William X. Shields called him "the heavyweight champion of the nightclub brawl," failed to show up for his scheduled final match at Wimbledon, either because of an injured leg or because of a romantic rendezvous, depending on which story you believed. The handsome, 6'6" Shields, grandfather of actress Brooke Shields, failed in his own bid for movie stardom, but made Hollywood friends like Errol Flynn and Johnny Weissmuller.