Biography
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