Phoebe Cates is probably best known for her role as Kate Beringer, making her instantly recognizable to most American teens of the 80s. After starring in some of the most popular teen films of the previous decade, she disappeared from the entertainment industry in the mid-1990s.
Here’s what Phoebe Cates has been doing since her days as a movie star and why she left the big screen.
Born in New York City on July 16, 1963, Phoebe Cates appeared in 16 movies over 12 years, from teen comedies like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” to 1991’s “Drop Dead Fred.” But this rising star abruptly left the spotlight in the mid-1990s, and Phoebe Cates’ name disappeared from movie credits.
So, what happened to Phoebe Belle Cates? What is she doing right now? And how does she even look now?
Phoebe Cates comes from a family with deep roots in the entertainment industry. Her father, Joseph Katz, was a Broadway producer and her uncle worked on multiple Academy Awards shows and TV specials. Her maternal grandfather was a Chinese-Filipino born in Shanghai, and her grandmothers were Russian-Jewish. A close family friend was the late Andy Warhol, a well-known artist.
Cates attended the elite Julliard School, the Professional Children’s School, and the Hewitt School. She started modeling at the age of 10 and appeared in teen magazines before becoming an actress. Initially, Cates dreamed of becoming a dancer, but a knee injury at 15 forced her to quit ballet school. She started modeling around this time but didn’t enjoy it, saying, “It was basically the same thing over and over… I only did it for the money.”
Phoebe Cates made her acting debut in the movie “Paradise” (1982), chosen during a screen test in her native New York. Reports say Cates was embarrassed by the finished product, which was often compared to “Blue Lagoon.” However, that same year, she gave a standout performance as Linda Barrett in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
Both of these early films featured varying degrees of nudity, but Cates said in a 1982 interview that one was much harder to film than the other. “I was barely 17 when I filmed my nude sequences in Paradise. They were serious and more challenging because they were difficult to justify. Yet, it was simple because the topless moment in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was humorous.”
“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” featured future Hollywood stars like Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn, Eric Stoltz, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. “None of the young performers had any clue it would take on a life of its own,” said Penn. The movie has even been preserved in the US National Film Registry for its cultural and historical significance.
In 1983, Cates starred in the comedy “Private School,” contributing her vocal talents to the soundtrack. She also played Kate Beringer in the iconic 1984 comedy-horror film “Gremlins” and its 1990 sequel, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.” In 1987, she played Patty Winston in the fantasy rom-com “Date with an Angel.”
Despite coming from a Broadway family, Cates didn’t start acting in plays until the mid-1980s. She performed in the off-Broadway musicals “Rich Relations” and “The Nest of the Wood Grouse,” and made her Broadway debut in “The Tenth Man.” Cates often stated she preferred stage acting over film because theater offered more interesting and varied roles for women.
In 1988, Cates said, “I think of theater as what I prefer to do best. As an actress, I’ve only felt content for roughly two years. I hardly ever watch my filmmaking.” Despite this, she continued to work in films, starring with Bridget Fonda in the comedies “Shag” and “Big City,” though these films didn’t do well at the box office.
In 1994, Cates played the title role in “Princess Caraboo,” a historical comedy based on the true story of Mary Baker, who tricked a British town into believing she was a foreign princess. The movie featured stars like Jim Broadbent, Wendy Hughes, Kevin Kline, John Lithgow, and Stephen Rea.
In 1991, Cates starred in “Drop Dead Fred,” where she played a lonely teenager with a wild imaginary friend. Although the film received negative reviews, it has since gained a cult following, making Cates a cult classic star. However, she abruptly left the spotlight after this film to focus on her family.
Currently, Phoebe Cates is married to actor Kevin Kline, whom she met during a casting for the movie “The Big Chill” in 1983. The couple married in 1989 and have two children, Owen Joseph Kline (born in 1991) and Greta Simone Kline (born in 1994).
Cates left Hollywood to prioritize her family, but ten years later, she pursued a different career path. In 2005, she opened a boutique called Blue Tree on Madison Avenue in New York City, offering everything from clothing to jewelry to books to stuffed animals to fragrances.
Now 58, Phoebe Cates occasionally returns to acting but hasn’t appeared in a major motion picture since 2001’s “The Anniversary Party,” a favor to the movie’s director, Jennifer Jason Leigh, her co-star from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” In 2015, Cates voiced her previous Gremlins character in the video game “Lego Dimensions.”
Phoebe Cates’ story is refreshing in an era filled with tales of former child stars facing difficulties in their adult lives. She chose a different path and is thriving in her middle age. Let’s all wish Phoebe Cates and her family the very best for the future!
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