Phoebe Cates Biography

Actor

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Name at birth: Phoebe Katz

Phoebe Cates made a splash as poolside dreamgirl Linda Barrett in the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Known for her dark and vaguely Asian good looks, she had a series of ingenue roles in 1980s movies like Gremlins (1984) and Bright Lights, Big City (1988). She married the actor Kevin Kline in 1989, and they had two children: Owen (b. 1991) and Greta (b. 1994). After playing the title role of a mysterious missing royal in Princess Caraboo (1994), she went on a hiatus, taking no more feature roles until her part in the ensemble piece The Anniversary Party in 2001. She opened a Manhattan boutique, Blue Tree, in 2005.

Extra credit: Cates's uncle Gil Cates has often produced the annual Academy Awards telecast... Her father, Joseph Cates, was a director known (according to CNN's obituary) for casting Art Carney opposite Jackie Gleason in TV's The Honeymooners.