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Phoebe Cates (born 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.
Cates was born Phoebe Belle Cates in New York City, to a family of TV and Broadway production insiders. Her father, Joseph Cates (originally Katz), was a major Broadway producer and a pioneering figure in television, who helped create The $64,000 Question. Her uncle Gilbert Cates produced numerous TV specials, often in partnership with Cates' father, and several annual Academy Awards shows. Her maternal grandfather was of Chinese descent, and her father as well as her maternal grandmother were of Russian Jewish origin.
Cates attended the Professional Children's School and the Juilliard School. 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. She next began a career as a professional model, which was short-lived although successful.
After ending her modeling career, Cates decided upon acting. Although her father was an actor as well, he wasn't enthusiastic about his daughter becoming an actress. Cates' movie debut was in Paradise (released 1982, filmed March to May 1981). 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." 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."
Later in 1982, Cates starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High which features "the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history." She was quoted saying that she had the most fun in filming that movie.
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 made 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." During her audition, she "knocked out" the writer, who "wanted to hire her on the spot." 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. She did not read the movie on which the novel was based, because she did not want to have a "fixed image".
In 1985, Cates appeared Off-Broadway in Rich Relations written by David Henry Hwang at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1994, she starred in the romantic comedy Princess Caraboo.
Cates retired from acting in the mid-90s in order to raise her children. However, she did return in 2001 for one film with her family; The Anniversary Party, as a favor to the director, her best friend, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Cates is also known for her singing talent, which includes the title song (of the same name) for the film Paradise. She also sang the songs Just One Touch and How Do I Let You Know for the Private School soundtrack, and released an album "Paradise".
In 1989, Cates married actor Kevin Kline, 16 years her senior, whom she had originally 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.
Phoebe Cates (born 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.
Cates was born Phoebe Belle Cates in New York City, to a family of TV and Broadway production insiders. Her father, Joseph Cates (originally Katz), was a major Broadway producer and a pioneering figure in television, who helped create The $64,000 Question. Her uncle Gilbert Cates produced numerous TV specials, often in partnership with Cates' father, and several annual Academy Awards shows. Her maternal grandfather was of Chinese descent, and her father as well as her maternal grandmother were of Russian Jewish origin.
Cates attended the Professional Children's School and the Juilliard School. 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. She next began a career as a professional model, which was short-lived although successful.
After ending her modeling career, Cates decided upon acting. Although her father was an actor as well, he wasn't enthusiastic about his daughter becoming an actress. Cates' movie debut was in Paradise (released 1982, filmed March to May 1981). 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." 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."
Later in 1982, Cates starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High which features "the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history." She was quoted saying that she had the most fun in filming that movie.
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 made 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." During her audition, she "knocked out" the writer, who "wanted to hire her on the spot." 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. She did not read the movie on which the novel was based, because she did not want to have a "fixed image".
In 1985, Cates appeared Off-Broadway in Rich Relations written by David Henry Hwang at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1994, she starred in the romantic comedy Princess Caraboo.
Cates retired from acting in the mid-90s in order to raise her children. However, she did return in 2001 for one film with her family; The Anniversary Party, as a favor to the director, her best friend, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Cates is also known for her singing talent, which includes the title song (of the same name) for the film Paradise. She also sang the songs Just One Touch and How Do I Let You Know for the Private School soundtrack, and released an album "Paradise".
In 1989, Cates married actor Kevin Kline, 16 years her senior, whom she had originally 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.
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