Phoebe Cates
After shooting to stardom during the '80s in a string of youth-orientated movies, former model Phoebe Cates hit her stride in the '90s as a featured player in ensemble films. Born Phoebe Belle Katz on July 16, 1963 in New York City, Cates is the daughter of television producer Joseph Cates (The $64,000 Question) and the niece of film director Gilbert Cates (1970's I Never Sang for My Father). Joan Crawford was her godmother. While growing up in Manhattan, Cates attended New York's prestigious Professional Children's School. An exceptional dancer, she studied with the School of American Ballet until a knee injury forced her to quit in 1977. At the suggestion of the family for which she babysat, she began modeling in teen magazines and commercials. A few years later, director Stuart Gillard saw Cates dancing with friends at New York's Studio 54 and offered her the lead role in his Blue Lagoon (1980) knock-off, Paradise (1982). She then gave a standout performance as Jennifer Jason Leigh's sexually mature best friend in Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), before starring in Private School (1983). Besides appearing in the film's infamous "mooning" scene (during which the cast flashes the audience), Cates recorded two songs for Private School's soundtrack, "Just One Touch" and "How Do I Let You Know."
In 1984, with her star on the rise, Cates portrayed a young actress bent on destroying her deadbeat mother in the notoriously tasteless television film Lace (1984). That same year, she signed on to play the love interest in Joe Dante's horror-comedy Gremlins. Written by Chris Columbus and produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, the bizarre, special effects-laden film about a group of strange and violent creatures was a colossal success -- despite premiering only two weeks after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and on the same day as Ghostbusters (1984). After returning for Lace 2 (1985), Cates appeared as Michael J. Fox's model wife in Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and as a young bride-to-be in the coming-of-age film Shag (1989).
Cates began the '90s at a personal low, starring in the sequel to Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1991), and in Ate de Jong's disastrous Drop Dead Fred (1991). She quickly revived her career opposite Bridget Fonda, Eric Stoltz, and Tim Roth in the Generation X comedy Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993), before earning rave reviews for her performance as the mysterious title character in Princess Caraboo (1994). The film also starred Cates' husband, actor Kevin Kline. The actress appeared as herself in Scratch the Surface (1997), a documentary about teen fashion models in the '80s, and then opted to take a short break from show business in order to care for her children. After a four-year hiatus, Cates returned to the screen in The Anniversary Party (2001), an ensemble film co-written and co-directed by her friend and Fast Times at Ridgemont High co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh and actor Alan Cumming. Acting opposite Kline (who portrayed her fictional husband in the film), Cates played none other than an actress who has left show business to raise a family.
In addition to her screen work, Cates has also appeared frequently on the stage. Her numerous theater credits include The Tenth Man at Lincoln Center, Much Ado About Nothing at the New York Shakespeare Festival, The Seagull and The Three Sisters at the La Jolla Playhouse, and Romeo and Juliet at the Goodman Theater. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
In 1984, with her star on the rise, Cates portrayed a young actress bent on destroying her deadbeat mother in the notoriously tasteless television film Lace (1984). That same year, she signed on to play the love interest in Joe Dante's horror-comedy Gremlins. Written by Chris Columbus and produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, the bizarre, special effects-laden film about a group of strange and violent creatures was a colossal success -- despite premiering only two weeks after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and on the same day as Ghostbusters (1984). After returning for Lace 2 (1985), Cates appeared as Michael J. Fox's model wife in Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and as a young bride-to-be in the coming-of-age film Shag (1989).
Cates began the '90s at a personal low, starring in the sequel to Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1991), and in Ate de Jong's disastrous Drop Dead Fred (1991). She quickly revived her career opposite Bridget Fonda, Eric Stoltz, and Tim Roth in the Generation X comedy Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993), before earning rave reviews for her performance as the mysterious title character in Princess Caraboo (1994). The film also starred Cates' husband, actor Kevin Kline. The actress appeared as herself in Scratch the Surface (1997), a documentary about teen fashion models in the '80s, and then opted to take a short break from show business in order to care for her children. After a four-year hiatus, Cates returned to the screen in The Anniversary Party (2001), an ensemble film co-written and co-directed by her friend and Fast Times at Ridgemont High co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh and actor Alan Cumming. Acting opposite Kline (who portrayed her fictional husband in the film), Cates played none other than an actress who has left show business to raise a family.
In addition to her screen work, Cates has also appeared frequently on the stage. Her numerous theater credits include The Tenth Man at Lincoln Center, Much Ado About Nothing at the New York Shakespeare Festival, The Seagull and The Three Sisters at the La Jolla Playhouse, and Romeo and Juliet at the Goodman Theater. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
Filmography
Phoebe Cates plays the Baby Sister in this made-for-TV melodrama. A sexually promiscuous college dropout, Cates moves into the home of older sister Pamela Bellwood. Ted Wass, Bellwood's husband, welcomes Cates with open arms...and that's the whole trouble. The original title of this pulpish endeavor was Tainted Love. Baby Sister was first broadcast March 6, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michael Steinberg, co-director of The Waterdance, made his solo directorial debut with the Gen-X character study Bodies, Rest & Motion. Written by Roger Hedden, based on his own play, the film's title refers to Newton's First Law of Motion, which states essentially that a body at rest or in motion will remain in that state until acted upon by an external force. The film is set in the desert town of Enfield, AZ. Nick (Tim Roth) is a feckless television salesman who gets fired and impulsively decides that he and his girlfriend, Beth (Bridget Fonda), will move to Butte, MT, which he's read is "the city of the future." "I read that a while ago, so the future should be there by now," he enthuses. He waits until the last moment to tell Carol (Phoebe Cates), his ex and Beth's best friend, about the move. While Nick is working his last day, Sid (Eric Stoltz) comes to the couple's house to paint it for the next tenants. He quickly develops an interest in Beth. He, Beth, and Carol get stoned and hang out. When Sid hears about the move, he tells Beth that he's never left Enfield, and has no interest in traveling. Meanwhile, Nick decides to take off on his own. When Beth gets word of this from Carol, she finds solace in Sid's arms. Sid proclaims his love the next morning, and implores Beth to stay. Meanwhile, Nick visits his childhood home, looking for his parents, has an epiphany, and decides to return to Carol. The film features Alicia Witt (Urban Legend) in her first substantial part. There's also a very brief cameo by Peter Fonda, Bridget's father. Hedden would go on to collaborate with Stoltz again on Sleep With Me and Hedden's directorial debut, Hi-Life. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Michael J. Fox once more makes a courageous effort to shed his nice-guy image in Bright Lights, Big City. Fox plays an impressionable Kansan who comes to the Big Apple to take a job at a major magazine. It isn't long before he falls into the twin traps of drug and alcohol abuse. His only hope for redemption is in the hands of Vicky (Tracy Pollan), the cousin of his scuzzy drinking buddy Tad (Kiefer Sutherland). Jay McInerney's bestselling novel does not translate easily to the big screen, but Fox strives hard to please, as do all of his costars. The white stuff snorted by Fox wasn't really cocaine, but powdered milk. Watch for Frasier's David Hyde Pierce in a small role and Jason Robards in a significant unbilled cameo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this romantic comedy fantasy, an angel (Emmanuelle Beart) with a heavenly body falls into the swimming pool of Jim Sanders (Michael E. Knight). Hung over from his bachelor party, his encounter with the angel has Jim questioning his upcoming marriage to Patty (Phoebe Cates), the daughter of a wealthy cosmetics mogul (David Dukes). After he helps the injured celestial being, Jim must protect her from his lecherous friends and his curious fiance. Beart's beauty and performance is the highlight of the film even though she does not speak. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Phoebe Cates stars in this bizarre comedy that wants to be the kind of stylish comic fable the likes of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and Pee-wee's Big Adventure but ends up looking like a shabby burlesque about schizophrenia. Cates is Elizabeth, who has recently separated from her philandering husband Charles (Tim Matheson) and moved back home with her harridan mother Polly (Marsha Mason). Back in her old little-girl haunts, she regresses into childhood and recalls her imaginary childhood friend Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall), a nasty, ill-tempered sociopath. As a child, Elizabeth created mayhem with her imaginary pal, but Polly locked him up tight in a jack-in-the-box. But now, Elizabeth mistakenly liberates him from the jack-in-the-box, and the newly freed Drop Dead Fred proceeds to wreak more havoc than the Id Monster from Forbidden Planet -- taking vengeance upon all the people who have made Elizabeth miserable -- and then some. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Amy Heckerling's adaptation of Cameron Crowe's Fast Times at Ridgemont High is often considered one of the finest films of a disreputable genre (the teen sex comedy), and kick-started the careers of many future stars. The center of this ensemble film is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton. She is a young, innocent high-school student who, as the film opens, is asking for advice from her friend, the sexually outspoken Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates). Stacy takes a liking to nebbish Mark Ratner (Brian Backer), but he is too afraid to make a move even after Stacy all but throws herself at him. She eventually hooks up with Mark's more confident best friend, Mike Damone (Robert Romanus). When not concerning itself with these four characters, the film spends time with stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) and his ongoing feud with history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). The film includes brief appearances by such future stars as Nicolas Cage, Eric Stoltz, and Forest Whitaker. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
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