| Phoebe Cates | |
|---|---|
Phoebe Cates at 81st Annual Academy Awards, February 22, 2009 |
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| Born | Phoebe Belle Cates July 16, 1963 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1981–94, 2001 |
| Spouse | Kevin Kline (1989–present) |
Phoebe Cates (born Phoebe Belle Cates; July 16, 1963) is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.
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Cates was born Phoebe Belle Cates in New York City, to a family of TV and Broadway production insiders. Her father, Joseph Cates was a major Broadway producer and a pioneering figure in television, who helped create The $64,000 Question.[1][2] Her late uncle, Gilbert Cates, produced numerous TV specials, often in partnership with Cates' father, and several annual Academy Awards shows.[3] Her paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother were Russian Jews, and her maternal grandfather was Chinese Filipino.[4][5][6]
Cates attended the Professional Children's School and the Juilliard School.[7] When she was ten, she wanted to become a dancer. She eventually got a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, but after suffering a serious knee injury at age 15, she gave up her dancing career.[8] She next began a career as a professional model, which was short-lived although successful.[8]
After ending her modeling career, Cates decided upon acting.[8] Although her father was an actor as well, he was not enthusiastic about his daughter's becoming an actress.[8] Cates' movie debut was in Paradise (released 1982).[9] At the age of 17, she played a starring role and did several fully nude scenes in the movie, which had a plot very similar to The Blue Lagoon. Cates later regretted being in the movie and said: "What I learned was never to do a movie like that again."[8] According to her co-star Willie Aames, "she will have nothing to do with the film. She's really upset about it. She won't do any promotion with me."[10]
Later in 1982, Cates starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High which features "the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history."[11] She was quoted as saying that she had the most fun in filming that movie.[8] The following year, she was in the sex comedy Private School (which co-starred Matthew Modine and Betsy Russell), for which she sang on two songs of the film's soundtrack.
Her later film roles were more modest and largely oriented toward younger audiences, such as the two Gremlins films and the 1991 film Drop Dead Fred. Her face graced the covers of teen magazines such as Seventeen, Tiger Beat, Teen Beat and others. In 1984, she starred in the TV mini-series Lace. She sought the role of Lili "to get away from a sameness in her movie portrayals."[12] During her audition, she so impressed the writer, that he wanted to hire her there and then.[12] Cates struggled with the portrayal of a bitter movie star because, despite her character's vicious persona, she intended for the audience to sympathize with her.[13] She did not read the novel on which the movie was based because she did not want to have a "fixed image".[13]
In 1985, Cates appeared Off-Broadway in Rich Relations, written by David Henry Hwang of the Second Stage Theatre.[14] In 1994, she starred in the romantic comedy Princess Caraboo.
Cates retired from acting in the mid-90s in order to raise her children. She did return in 2001, however, for one film with her family, The Anniversary Party, as a favor to the director, her best friend, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Cates sang the title song (of the same name) for the film Paradise.[15] She also sang the songs Just One Touch and How Do I Let You Know for the Private School soundtrack.
In 1989, Cates married actor Kevin Kline, whom she had met while auditioning for the part that Meg Tilly ultimately won in The Big Chill. Kline and Cates make their home in New York City and have two children, Owen Joseph Kline, born in 1991 (who, in 2005, received rave reviews for his performance in The Squid and the Whale), and Greta Simone Kline, born in 1994. Owen and Greta appeared in Cates' most recent film, The Anniversary Party (2001).
In 2005, Cates opened her own boutique called Blue Tree on New York's Madison Avenue.[16]
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | |
| 1982 | Paradise | Sarah | |
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Linda Barrett | ||
| 1983 | Private School | Christine Ramsey | |
| 1984 | Gremlins | Kate Beringer | |
| 1987 | Date with an Angel | Patricia 'Patty' Winston | |
| 1988 | Bright Lights, Big City | Amanda Conway | |
| 1989 | Shag | Carson McBride | |
| Heart of Dixie | Aiken Reed | ||
| 1990 | I Love You to Death | Joey's Girl at Disco (uncredited) | |
| Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Kate Beringer | ||
| 1991 | Drop Dead Fred | Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Cronin | |
| 1993 | Bodies, Rest & Motion | Carol | |
| 1994 | Princess Caraboo | Princess Caraboo/Mary Baker | |
| 2001 | The Anniversary Party | Sophia Gold | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | |
| 1983 | Baby Sister (TV movie) | Annie Burroughs | |
| 1984 | Lace (miniseries) | Elizabeth 'Lili' Lace | |
| 1985 | Lace II (miniseries) | Elizabeth 'Lili' Lace | |