Editing Phoebe Cates (section)

== Career ==
At age ten, she started modeling, appearing in ''[[Seventeen (American magazine)|Seventeen]]'' and other teen-oriented magazines. She then began a short, successful career as a model.<ref name="seventyfive">Cohen, D. & S. ''Young and Famous: Hollywood's Newest Superstars'', 1987. p.75. {{ISBN|0-671-63493-3}}</ref> She said that she disliked the industry: "It was just the same thing, over and over. After a while, I did it solely for the money."<ref name="people" /> As a teen model, Cates appeared on the cover of ''[[Seventeen (American magazine)|Seventeen]]'' magazine four times, first in the April 1979 issue. She appeared within the magazine as well, on the editorial pages in 1979 and 1980.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/g1713/65th-anniversary-cover-archive/?slide=40 | title=70 Years of Seventeen! | date=February 2013 }}</ref> Dissatisfied with modeling, Cates decided to pursue acting. 

Cates was offered her first part in the movie ''[[Paradise (1982 film)|Paradise]]'' (1982) after a screen test in New York. She was uncertain about the nudity the role required, but her father encouraged her to take the job.<ref name="people" />

''Paradise'' was filmed in Israel from March to May 1981.<ref name="Paradise Desert">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/10/movies/paradise-an-awakening-in-the-desert.html |title=Paradise, An Awakening in the Desert |work=[[The New York Times]] |date= May 10, 1982|access-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref> In the film, Cates performed several full-frontal nude scenes and several rear scenes aged 17. The movie had a plot similar to ''[[The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]''. She also sang the film's theme song and recorded an album of the same name. In a 1982 interview, she recalled having trouble with the career change: As a model, she had to be conscious of the camera; but as an actor, she could not.<ref name="people" /> She later regretted being in the film: "What I learned was never to do a movie like that again."<ref name="seventyfive" /> She claimed that the film's producers used a [[body double]] to film nude close-ups of her character without telling her.<ref name="people" /> 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."<ref>[[Beck, Marilyn]] (March 17, 1982). "Hollywood: Nude scenes too much for Aames." ''[[The Orange County Register]]''. p C3</ref>

Later that year, Cates starred in ''[[Fast Times at Ridgemont High]]'' (1982), featuring what ''Rolling Stone'' has described as "the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history".<ref>{{Cite news |last=''Rolling Stone'' staff |date=November 21, 2006 |title=Escape Your Family: Sneak Upstairs! |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/12625824/escape_your_family_sneak_upstairs/print |access-date=January 23, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915180542/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/12625824/escape_your_family_sneak_upstairs/print |archive-date=September 15, 2009}}</ref> She said that she had "the most fun" filming that movie.<ref name="seventyfive" />

The next year, Cates was in the comedy ''[[Private School (film)|Private School]]'' (1983), co-starring [[Matthew Modine]] and [[Betsy Russell]], and where she sang on two songs of the film's soundtrack: "Just One Touch" and "How Do I Let You Know".

In 1984, Cates starred in the TV mini-series ''[[Lace (TV series)|Lace]]'', based on a novel by [[Shirley Conran]]. She played the role of Lili "to get away from a sameness in her movie portrayals".<ref name="jacobs">"'Lace' miniseries is soap-opera tangle" by Associated Press, ''[[Star-News]]'', February 24, 1984. p. 5C</ref> During her audition, she so impressed the writer that he wanted to hire her on the spot.<ref name="jacobs" /> She struggled with the portrayal of a bitter movie star because, despite her character's vicious persona, she wanted the audience to sympathize with her.<ref name="lace">"Angela Lansbury leads 'Lace' cast" by Julianne Hastings, ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'', March 7, 1984. p. 12.</ref> She did not read Conran's novel, on which the movie was based because she did not want to have a "fixed image".<ref name="lace" /> Her best-known line in the film, "Which one of you bitches is my mother?", was named the greatest line in television history by ''TV Guide'' in 1993.<ref>''[[TV Guide]]'' April 17–23, 1993. pg. 96</ref> She also starred in the sequel mini-series ''[[Lace (miniseries)#Sequel|Lace II]]''.

In the summer of 1984, Cates co-starred in the box office hit ''[[Gremlins]]'' for [[executive producer]] [[Steven Spielberg]], the highest-grossing film of her career. She reprised her role of Kate Beringer in the sequel ''[[Gremlins 2: The New Batch]]''.

In June 1984, Cates made her stage debut in the [[Off-Broadway]] play ''The Nest of the Wood Grouse'', a comedy by Soviet writer [[Victor Rozov|Viktor Rozov]], at the [[The Public Theater|Joseph Papp Public Theater]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |date=June 15, 1984 |title=STAGE: ROZOV'S 'NEST OF THE WOOD GROUSE' |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/15/arts/stage-rozov-s-nest-of-the-wood-grouse.html |access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nest of the Wood Grouse Show Information |work=[[BroadwayWorld]] |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/backstage.php?showid=326604 |access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref> Cates said that while doing the play she "felt a certain freedom and a certain connection with acting that I had never really felt before".<ref name="BobbieWygant">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYks74UofK0&t=93s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/GYks74UofK0| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Phoebe Cates & Tim Roth "Bodies, Rest, & Motion" 4/3/93 - Bobbie Wygant Archive|date=September 13, 2021|access-date=April 19, 2021|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Cates appeared [[Off-Broadway]] again two years later in ''[[Rich Relations]]'', written by [[David Henry Hwang]], at the [[Second Stage Theatre]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |date=April 22, 1986 |title=New York Times-Stage: 'Rich Relations' |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/22/theater/stage-rich-relations-from-david-hwang.html?&pagewanted=all |access-date=March 7, 2010}}</ref> In December 1989, Cates made her [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in a revival of [[Paddy Chayefsky]]'s ''[[The Tenth Man (Chayefsky play)|The Tenth Man]]'' at the [[Vivian Beaumont Theater]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mosel |first=Tad |date=December 10, 1980 |title=THEATER; In Search of the Untouched Moments of Life |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/10/arts/theater-in-search-of-the-untouched-moments-of-life.html |access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Tenth Man Broadway Original Cast |work=[[BroadwayWorld]] |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/The-Tenth-Man-324374/cast |access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref>

In 1988, Cates told an interviewer, "There are simply not that many good parts in film", but that theater had "tons of good women's roles...I think of theater as what I like to do most...I've only felt happy as an actress for about two years. I rarely watch my film work."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kogan |first=Rick |date=October 23, 1988 |title=BARD CHOICES |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-10-23-8802090982-story.html |access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref>

Cates continued to appear steadily in films through the early 1990s, usually in supporting roles or in ensemble casts. These include ''[[Date with an Angel]]'' (1987), ''[[Bright Lights, Big City (film)|Bright Lights, Big City]]'' (1988), ''[[Shag (film)|Shag]]'' (1988), ''[[Heart of Dixie (film)|Heart of Dixie]]'' (1989), ''[[Drop Dead Fred]]'' (1991) and ''[[Bodies, Rest & Motion]]'' (1993). The films suffered from mixed to poor reviews and failed to make an impact at the box office.<ref name="nzherald">{{Cite news |first=Lexie  |last=Cartwright |date=October 27, 2019 |title=Why Phoebe Cates vanished from the spotlight at the height of her fame |work=nzherald.co.nz |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/why-phoebe-cates-vanished-from-the-spotlight-at-the-height-of-her-fame/H33X7IUUQAMFWTPLB75Q7QHL4E/}}</ref>

Cates was set to play [[Steve Martin]]'s daughter in the successful comedy ''[[Father of the Bride (1991 film)|Father of the Bride]]'' (1991), but her pregnancy with her first child forced her to drop out.<ref>{{cite web |last=Susman |first=Gary |date=December 19, 2016 |title=15 Things You Never Knew About Steve Martin's 'Father of the Bride' |work=[[Moviefone]] |url=https://www.moviefone.com/2016/12/19/father-of-the-bride-facts-steve-martin/ |access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>

In 1994, Cates starred in the [[Princess Caraboo|fact-based]] comedy-drama ''[[Princess Caraboo (film)|Princess Caraboo]]'' (1994) with her husband [[Kevin Kline]]. It was Cates's last film before she shifted her focus away from acting to raising her children, Owen and Greta.<ref name="nzherald" />

=== Post-retirement ===
In 2001, Cates briefly returned to acting for one film, ''[[The Anniversary Party]]'' (2001), as a favor to her best friend and former ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' castmate [[Jennifer Jason Leigh]], who directed it.<ref name="looper">{{Cite web |first=Brian |last=Boone |date=August 11, 2017 |title=Why You Never Hear From Phoebe Cates Anymore |work=[[ZergNet#Owned or associated websites|Looper]] |url=https://www.looper.com/19687/real-reasons-phoebe-cates-disappeared-hollywood/}}</ref>

In 2005, Cates ventured into business and opened a boutique, [[Blue Tree (boutique)|Blue Tree]], on New York's Madison Avenue.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2006 |title=ABC News (June 1, 2006): Perfect Gifts, According to Phoebe Cates: Former Teen Starlet Owns Upper East Side Gift Store (Archive) |url=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1590206&page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218223246/http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1590206&page=1 |archive-date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=March 7, 2010 |publisher=Abcnews.go.com}}</ref>

In 2015, Cates provided the voice of her ''Gremlins'' character Kate Beringer for the video game ''[[Lego Dimensions]].''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Sara |date=March 26, 2017 |title=Where is the Gremlins cast today? |page=4 |work=[[Screen Rant]] |url=https://screenrant.com/gremlins-cast-where-are-they-now/4/?view=lista |access-date=November 1, 2017}}</ref>