Mackenzie Phillips

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Laura Mackenzie Phillips (born November 10, 1959, in Alexandria, Virginia) is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time.

Family background and early life

Mackenzie Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips, lead singer of the The Mamas and the Papas, and his first wife, Susan Adams. She is the sister of Jeffrey Phillips and half-sister of Tamerlane Phillips, actress Bijou Phillips and singer Chynna Phillips.

At the age of twelve, she formed a band with three of her classmates and was spotted by a casting agent during one of their performances.^[1] This won her an audition for a role in the 1973 hit film American Graffiti, in which she was subsequently cast.

Career

Phillips was 12 years old when the filming of American Graffiti began and was 14 when the movie was released in 1973. She was cast as Carol Morrison, a younger girl picked up by hot rodding teenager John Milner. Due to her age and California state law, producer Gary Kurtz became Phillips' legal guardian during the period of filming.^[2]

Phillips' career took off in the 1970s and 1980s, when she was cast in the role of the rebellious, boy-crazed, teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the long-running television show One Day at a Time. She was reportedly commanding $50,000 a week from the sitcom.^[1] However, after having problems with drugs and alcohol, she was fired from the sitcom in February 1980.^[1] After two near fatal overdoses, she checked into Fair Oaks Hospital to undergo treatment. In 1981, after seeing that she had gone though rehabilitation, the producers of One Day at a Time invited her back to the show.^[1] In 1982 she resumed using cocaine, and she was once again fired from the show in 1983. This time, however, her departure was permanent, and her character was written out of the series as having abandoned her child. In 1992, Mackenzie Phillips entered into a long-term drug rehabilitation program at the Little Hill Alina Lodge, and underwent intensive treatment for nine months.^[1]

In 1999, she co-starred with Cara DeLizia in the Disney Channel series So Weird as the fictional rock star Molly Phillips. She sang original songs written by Jon Cooksey and AnnMarie Montade.

In the 2002-released Disney Channel Original Movie Double Teamed, she played Mary Burge, the mother of twins, Heather and Heidi Burge.

She guest starred as the sister of Annie Spadero in the sitcom Caroline in the City.

Personal life

Phillips has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Jeff Sessler (1979-1981), and her second to rock guitarist Michael Barakan (1996-2000). In June 2005, she married Keith Levenson. Mackenzie Phillips has one son, Shane, who was born in 1987.

On August 27, 2008, she was arrested by the Los Angeles Airport Police on charges of possession of cocaine and heroin after she went through airport security screening. ^[3] On October 31, 2008, Phillips pled guilty to one felony count of possession of cocaine, and was sentenced to a drug rehabilitation program.^[4]

References

External links

• Mackenzie Phillips at the Internet Movie Database