Shields was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Grant High School. At the age of 18, while working as a street mime and performing at the Hollywood Wax Museum, he was discovered by Marcel Marceau, who offered him a full scholarship to his school of mime in Paris. His apprenticeship was short-lived, however, as he felt the need to develop his own style and pry mime loose from its artsy pedestal. Shields soon returned to California, working in Union Square, San Francisco. Shields is credited with being the originator of "The Robot" moves early in his career.[citation needed] In 1974, Shields appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Conversation. In 1998, Shields was recruited by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to serve as their Director of Clowning.
Lorene Yarnell and Robert Shields met when they worked on Fol-de-Rol, a 1972 Sid and Marty Krofft TV special that was Shields' first TV appearance.
Lorene Yarnell (also a native Angeleno) had been a dancer and actress in movies and television shows, including Bye Bye Birdie, Shindig!, and The Carol Burnett Show, as well as off-Broadway musicals, before she met Shields, in San Francisco.

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