Editing Phoebe Cates

{{short description|American actress (born 1963)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Phoebe Cates
| image              = Phoebe Cates at 81st Academy Awards.JPG
| caption            = Cates in 2009
| birth_name         = Phoebe Belle Cates
| other_names        = Phoebe Cates Kline
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1963|7|16}}
| birth_place        = New York City, U.S.
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actress|model|businesswoman}}
| years_active       = 1982–2015{{refn|group=nb|Brief returns: 2001, 2015}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Kevin Kline]]|1989}}
| children           = [[Owen Kline]]<br>[[Greta Kline]]
| relatives          = [[Gilbert Cates]] (uncle)<br>[[Gil Cates Jr.]] (cousin)
}}
 
'''Phoebe Belle Cates Kline''' (born July 16, 1963)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famous birthdays for July 16: Alexandra Shipp, Will Ferrell |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2019/07/16/Famous-birthdays-for-July-16-Alexandra-Shipp-Will-Ferrell/2211562981348/ |access-date=November 2, 2019 |website=[[United Press International]] |quote=Actor Phoebe Cates in 1963 (age 56)}}</ref> is an American businesswoman and retired actress and model. She appeared in the films ''[[Fast Times at Ridgemont High]]'' (1982), ''[[Gremlins]]'' (1984), ''[[Gremlins 2: The New Batch]]'' (1990), ''[[Drop Dead Fred]]'' (1991) and ''[[Princess Caraboo (film)|Princess Caraboo]]'' (1994). In 2005, she founded the [[Blue Tree (boutique)|Blue Tree]] boutique.

== Early life and education ==
Cates was born on July 16, 1963, in New York City,<ref>{{cite web|website=TCM|title=Phoebe Cates|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/30870%7C0/Phoebe-Cates#overview|accessdate=May 4, 2022}}</ref> to a family of television and Broadway production insiders. She is the daughter of Lily and Joseph Cates (originally Joseph Katz),<ref name="NYT">{{Cite web | last=Thomas | first=Robert McGill Jr. |author-link=Robert McG. Thomas, Jr. |date=October 12, 1998 |title=Joseph Cates, 74, a Producer Of Innovative Specials for TV |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/12/nyregion/joseph-cates-74-a-producer-of-innovative-specials-for-tv.html |access-date=May 16, 2013 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> who was a major Broadway producer and a pioneering figure in television, and who helped create ''[[The $64,000 Question]]''.<ref name="cates1">{{Cite news |last=Wakin |first=Daniel J. |date=June 3, 2005 |title=Heiress Is Identified as Victim in Case Against Arts Patron |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/nyregion/03vilar.html?ex=1275451200&en=63a1abdb4f49f5f5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=American Greed: Fraudster of the Opera |url=https://www.cnbc.com/id/40535892/ |access-date=July 16, 2013 |publisher=[[CNBC]]}}{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Her uncle, [[Gilbert Cates]], produced numerous television specials, often in partnership with Cates's father, as well as several annual [[Academy Awards]] shows. Her father was Jewish and her mother was Catholic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.irishamerica.com/2000/12/reclining-with-kevin-2/ | title=Reclining with Kevin &#124; Irish America | date=December 2000 }}</ref> Cates is of Eurasian<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Matthew Isaac |s2cid=147291754 |year=2009 |title=British performances of Java, 1811–1822 |journal=South East Asia Research |publisher=IP Publishing Ltd |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=87–109 |doi=10.5367/000000009787586389|quote=Due to her dark looks, she enjoyed particular prominence in South East Asia ... Few people in those pre-Internet days, however, knew that Cates's estranged mother was of Chinese Filipino descent. Cates's South East Asian heritage was not featured in 1994 publicity or criticism for the film ... Cates's Caraboo, her last major film role, contributes in no small part to her current celebration as an icon of Eurasian identity.}}</ref> or mixed European and Asian descent. Her mother was born in Shanghai, China<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABC7 Eyewitness News - WABC-TV New York |url=http://7online.com/archive/6456025/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418174744/http://7online.com/archive/6456025/|archive-date=April 18, 2015}}</ref> to a family of Chinese-Filipino heritage. Cates's father is American and from Manhattan.<ref name="NYT"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Villasanta |first=Boy |date=June 23, 2010 |title=Pinoys who made it in Hollywood |work=[[ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs]] |url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/06/23/10/filipinos-also-shine-hollywood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625123854/http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/06/23/10/filipinos-also-shine-hollywood |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 25, 2010 |access-date=May 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Slater |first=Judith J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Oz5cvi3z3EC&q=%22Phoebe%20Cates%22%20Filipino&pg=PA183 |title=Teen life in Asia |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-31532-9 |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=183 |access-date=May 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Matthew Isaac |s2cid=147291754 |year=2009 |title=British performances of Java, 1811–1822 |journal=South East Asia Research |publisher=IP Publishing Ltd |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=87–109 |doi=10.5367/000000009787586389}}</ref> 

Cates attended the [[Professional Children's School]] and the [[Juilliard School]].<ref name="people" /> A few years later, she wanted to become a dancer, and eventually received a scholarship to the [[School of American Ballet]], but quit after a knee injury at age 14.<ref name="people" /> 

== 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>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Phoebe Cates 3.jpg|thumb|Cates and [[Kevin Kline]] at an after party for the 1989 [[Academy Awards]]]]
In the early 1980s, Cates shared an apartment in [[Greenwich Village]] with her then-boyfriend Stavros Merjos. She met him in 1979 after she went to her first night at [[Studio 54]] with family friend [[Andy Warhol]].<ref name="people">{{Cite magazine |last=Hammer |first=Josh |date=June 14, 1982 |title=Paradise Star Phoebe Cates Hangs Her Own Film with a One-Word Review—'rip-Off' |url=https://people.com/archive/paradise-star-phoebe-cates-hangs-her-own-film-with-a-one-word-review-rip-off-vol-17-no-23/ |magazine=People.com |access-date=December 8, 2012}}</ref>

In 1983, during her audition for a role (awarded to [[Meg Tilly]]) in ''[[The Big Chill (film)|The Big Chill]]'', Cates met actor [[Kevin Kline]]. They were both dating other people but became romantically involved two years later. They married in a private New York wedding on March 5, 1989,<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Richter |first=Erin |date=March 8, 2002 
| title=Cates Is Enough
|url=https://ew.com/article/2002/03/08/cates-enough/| magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date= January 7, 2025}}</ref> and she changed her name to Phoebe Cates Kline.<ref>{{cite web | last=Barilla | first=Lucille | title=Inside Phoebe Cates' Life Today | website=The List | date=May 10, 2021 | url=https://www.thelist.com/405126/inside-phoebe-cates-life-today/ | access-date=January 1, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About Blue Tree |url=http://www.bluetreenyc.com/about-us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222213924/http://www.bluetreenyc.com/about-us/ |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |access-date=November 13, 2012}}</ref> They moved to the [[Upper East Side]] of [[Manhattan]] in [[New York (state)|New York]], across Fifth Avenue from Central Park, where they raised their two children, son [[Owen Kline|Owen Joseph Kline]] (b. 1991) and daughter [[Greta Kline]] (b. 1994). Owen and Greta appeared with their parents in the 2001 movie ''[[The Anniversary Party]].'' Owen also appeared in the 2005 film ''[[The Squid and the Whale]],'' and made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age black comedy ''[[Funny Pages (film)|Funny Pages]]''. Greta fronts the band [[Frankie Cosmos]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pelly|first=Jenn|title=Frankie Cosmos|date=March 5, 2014 |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/rising/9345-frankie-cosmos|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=March 5, 2014}}</ref>

== Filmography ==

=== Film and television ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1982
| ''[[Paradise (1982 film)|Paradise]]''
| Sarah
|
|-
| ''[[Fast Times at Ridgemont High]]''
| Linda Barrett
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1983
| ''[[Private School (film)|Private School]]''
| Christine Ramsey
|
|-
| ''[[Baby Sister (film)|Baby Sister]]''
| Annie Burroughs
|Television movie
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1984
| ''[[Lace (miniseries)|Lace]]''
| Elizabeth "Lili" Lace
| Miniseries
|-
| ''[[Gremlins]]''
| Kate Beringer
|
|-
| 1985
| ''Lace II''
| Elizabeth "Lili" Lace
| Miniseries
|-
| 1987
| ''[[Date with an Angel]]''
| Patricia "Patty" Winston
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1988
| ''[[Shag (film)|Shag]]''
| Carson McBride
|
|-
| ''[[Bright Lights, Big City (film)|Bright Lights, Big City]]''
| Amanda Conway
|
|-
| 1989
| ''[[Heart of Dixie (film)|Heart of Dixie]]''
| Aiken Reed
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1990
| ''[[I Love You to Death]]''
| Joey's Girl at Disco
| Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Gremlins 2: The New Batch]]''
| Kate Beringer
|
|-
|''Largo Desolato''
| Young Philosophy Student
| Television movie
|-
| 1991
| ''[[Drop Dead Fred]]''
| Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cronin
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1993
| ''[[Bodies, Rest & Motion]]''
| Carol
|
|-
| ''My Life's in Turnaround''
| Herself
|
|-
| 1994
| ''[[Princess Caraboo (film)|Princess Caraboo]]''
| [[Princess Caraboo|Princess Caraboo/Mary Baker]]
| 
|- "[[Now and Then]]
| 2001
| ''[[The Anniversary Party]]''
| Sophia Gold
|
|}

=== Video game ===

* [[Lego Dimensions|''Lego Dimensions'']] (2015) as Kate Beringer

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Phoebe Cates}}
* {{IMDb name|0000121}}
* [http://www.bluetreeny.com/ Blue Tree] Cates's New York boutique's website
* {{rotten-tomatoes-person|phoebe_cates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cates, Phoeb}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:American actresses of Filipino descent]]
[[Category:American female models]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American models of Filipino descent]]
[[Category:American actresses of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:American women in business]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New York City]]
[[Category:Female models from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Hewitt School alumni]]
[[Category:Juilliard School alumni]]
[[Category:Kline–Cates family|Phoebe Cates]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from the Upper East Side]]
[[Category:Actresses from Manhattan]]
[[Category:People from Greenwich Village]]
[[Category:Models from New York City]]
[[Category:American people of Asian-Jewish descent]]