Phoebe Cates (born July 16, 1963) is an
American film
actress known for her roles in several
teen films, most notably
Fast Times at Ridgemont High and
Gremlins.
Biography
Cates was born in
New York City, New York, 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.
[filmreference.com biography][NY Times article] Her uncle
Gilbert Cates produced numerous TV specials, often in partnership with Cates' father, and several annual
Academy Awards shows.
[Gilbert Cates Biography (1934-)]
Her maternal grandfather was of
Chinese/
Filipino descent, and her father as well as her maternal grandmother were of
Russian Jewish origin.
[Phoebe Cates - Gossip Rocks!] Cates attended the
Professional Children's School and the
Juilliard School.
[Yahoo movies]
Career
Cates starred in 1982's
Fast Times at Ridgemont High which features "the most memorable
bikini-drop in cinema history."
[Rolling Stone article] Also that same year, she had a starring role and several
nude scenes in the romance film
Paradise, which had a plot very similar to
The Blue Lagoon released the previous year.
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 1985, Cates appeared
Off-Broadway in
Rich Relations written by
David Henry Hwang at the
Second Stage Theatre.
[New York Times-Stage: 'Rich Relations'] In 1994, she starred in the romantic comedy
Princess Caraboo.
Personal life
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.
[ABC News (June 1, 2006): Perfect Gifts, According to Phoebe Cates: Former Teen Starlet Owns Upper East Side Gift Store]
Filmography
