Phoebe Cates Biography
Born: July 16, 1963
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, Rovi
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