After nearly a lifetime in the spotlight, the world knows the name Brooke Shields. But people might be more familiar than they realize with her husband, Chris Henchy.
After first meeting on the Warner Bros. Studios lot shortly after her divorce from ex-husband, Andre Agassi, Henchy and Shields are now celebrating 22 years of marriage.
“He made me laugh, and he continuously makes me laugh and doesn’t take anything too seriously, so I don’t go down those rabbit holes the way I used to,” Shields said in a March interview with People about her documentary, "Pretty Baby." “He brings me back out and says, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ So, he’s good at leveling me.”
In the acknowledgements of Shields' 2005 memoir, “Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression,” the 57-year-old thanked her "amazing" husband for "continuing to show me what true love is."
Here's what to know about Henchy.
He’s a producer and screenwriter
Though the two didn’t meet while working on a project together in Hollywood, Henchy is no stranger to show business, having worked for years as a producer and screenwriter, primarily in comedy.
He worked alongside Will Ferrell and Adam McKay to co-found the comedy site Funny Or Die, known for viral videos like "The Landlord." Some of his other notable works include “Entourage,” “The Other Guys,” “Spin City” and “Land of the Lost,” according to his IMDB page.
He also wrote, produced and directed 2020's "Impractical Jokers: The Movie."
But first, he worked on Wall Street
Before heading to Hollywood, Henchy studied finance in college and wound up with a job on Wall Street, according to The Second City, for which he serves on the board of directors.
“I was not good,” he said during a Q&A for the comedy troupe.
Originally, the now 59-year-old moved to New York City to pursue comedy and gradually entered the stand-up comedy world. After landing a gig that caused him some inspiration, he started writing and pitching "until someone said, 'OK,'" he said.
He met Shields in 1999 when returning her dog
In her 2005 memoir, Shields told the story of her meet-cute with Henchy.
“To this day I believe that I fell in love with Chris the day we met, in 1999, but I would never tell him that!" she wrote.
Shields had just adopted an American bulldog named Darla and brought the pup to meet her friends at the Warner Bros. Studios lot. But Darla wandered off.
"Chris brought her back," Shields said. "He was writing for a show filmed on the lot and loved dogs. We chatted and he made me laugh."
"The Blue Lagoon" actor said she left the lot that day without knowing Henchy's full name, but he made "such a strong impression" on her that she at first recommended her friend go out with him. Shields herself had just gotten divorced from Agassi, so she wasn’t ready for a relationship.
Three weeks later, Shields hosted a show, for which Henchy was a writer, in Washington, D.C. They then started "spending time together and became friends," she explained.
"I was struck by how thoughtful and funny he was," she wrote. "Because he knew my situation, there was no pressure, and we were friends for quite some time."
Eventually, Shields admitted that there was so much chemistry between them which she "could no longer ignore," and they began dating.
Henchy and Shields broke up before getting married
Shields began dating Henchy fairly soon after her divorce, but she broke up with him because she feared “rebounding, or whatever they call it, because I hadn’t spent any time sowing my oats," she told People.
However, her idea didn't go as planned, saying that “there was not one oat that would be sowed.”
“I literally got, like, rejected.… People were like, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK,'" she told the outlet.
Her single period didn't last too long though, as Shields realized she was still talking to Henchy every day. But that didn't come without pushback from the producer, she said.
“I was calling him all the time, and he said, ‘You broke up with me, this is the way it works. You don’t get to call me every day, because you broke up with me. So don’t call me every day,’" she said.
Shields then recalled responding, “But I want to talk to you.”
After Henchy told her it "doesn't work like that," Shields said she thought, “I don’t want to lose this person, so I better behave.”
Henchy and Shields got married in 2001
On May 26, 2001, Henchy and Shields were married in Palm Beach, Florida. In her memoir, Shields explained that they originally planned to have their nuptials in New York but changed their plans to be closer to her father, who was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
"The wedding was everything we had hoped for," she wrote. "The weather held, despite the threat of rain, and there was enough of a breeze that it was never too warm."
She noted that the two had written their own vows, adding that the wedding ceremony was "intimate and spiritual without being heavy."
After a reception and barbecue lawn party the following day, the couple left for a two-week honeymoon in Fiji and Bali.
In 2020, Shields shared a throwback black-and-white photo from the wedding, captioning the picture, “19 years today,” with a white heart emoji.
Henchy's sitcom 'I'm With Her' is based on his relationship with Shields
In 2003, Henchy co-created the "Notting Hill"-esque sitcom "I'm With Her" about a high school teacher who begins a high-profile relationship with a movie star, which was inspired by his relationship with Shields, according to TV Guide.
In an interview with Deseret News, Henchy described the show as a story of "two different worlds that are kind of colliding."
“It’s that not being known affords you a whole new outlook or opportunity to view her world,” he said. “I was often pushed backwards as the driver, the bodyguard, the guy who held her purse or whatever. It was just coming into that world with a very average-guy outlook and perspective.”
The couple shares two children together
In "Pretty Baby," Shields opened up about the loss of her first child with Henchy and her experience with fertility treatments.
She told TODAY.com in April that after her miscarriage in 2001, she "became a full-blown adult."
“It was the way I looked at it," she said. "I was like, ‘Oh, this is what real loss is."
In May 15, 2003, Henchy and Shields welcomed their first daughter Rowan Francis Henchy. Then in 2006, they had Grier Hammond Henchy on April 18.
In 2021, Rowan, now 19, donned the dress her mom wore to the 1998 Golden Globes for her high school prom.
After Rowan graduated, she got matching ladybug tattoos with her mom as a gift.
“A special graduation gift and memory with my girl,” Shields wrote on Instagram.
In August 2021, Rowan started college at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Grier, who turned 17 April 18, seems to follow in her mother's modeling footsteps.
The mother-daughter duo was featured in a Mother's Day campaign advertisement for Victoria's Secret in May 2022.
“To be able to shoot this campaign with my daughter and to showcase the beauty of our relationship was a dream come true,” Shields wrote in the caption.
