What Is Phoebe Cates Net Worth?

Phoebe Cates is an American actress, model, and entrepreneur with a net worth of $35 million. This is a combined net worth with her husband of over three decades, fellow actor Kevin Kline. Phoebe Cates is best known for her roles in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982), “Gremlins” (1984), “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” (1990), and “Drop Dead Fred” (1991). She also appeared on Broadway in a 1989 production of Paddy Chayefsky’s “The Tenth Man.” Cates largely retired from acting in the mid-1990s to focus on raising her children, with her last official screen credit being the 2001 film “The Anniversary Party.”

Manhattan Apartment

For the last several decades, Kevin and Phoebe have lived in an exclusive Manhattan building located at 1125 Fifth Avenue. Not much is known about their residence, but the unit could be worth anywhere from $10 million to well over $20 million. For example, in 2019, Bette Midler listed the penthouse unit in the building for $50 million but ultimately pulled the listing. A year earlier, the unit directly below Midler’s was listed for $20 million before being taken off the market. Outside of New York City, in Garrison, New York, Kevin and Phoebe own a 5+ acre farm property acquired in 1988 for $770,000.

Early Life

Phoebe Cates was born Phoebe Belle Cates on July 16, 1963, in New York City. Her mother, Lily, was born in China, and her father, Joseph (originally Katz), was a Broadway and television producer involved in creating the game show “The $64,000 Question.” Phoebe grew up with an older sister, Valerie, and a younger sister, Alexandra. She attended the Professional Children’s School and the prestigious Juilliard School. Cates began modeling at age 10 and appeared in teen magazines like “Seventeen.” She later decided to focus on dance and earned a scholarship to the School of American Ballet but had to drop out after injuring her knee at age 14. Reflecting on her modeling career, Phoebe said, “It was just the same thing, over and over. After a while, I did it solely for the money.”

Phoebe Cates Career

After becoming dissatisfied with modeling, Cates decided to try acting and made her film debut in 1982’s “Paradise.” Initially uncertain about the role due to nudity requirements, her father encouraged her to take it, saying, “What are you going to do, model for the rest of your life? What are you so hung up on nudity for?” Besides starring in the film, Phoebe also sang the theme song and recorded an album titled “Paradise.” Cates alleged that producers filmed naked close-ups of her character using a body double without her permission, and she refused to promote the movie.

Her second film was 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” where she was responsible for what “Rolling Stone” described as “the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history.” In 2005, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in its National Film Registry. In 1983, Phoebe appeared in “Private School” and the TV movie “Baby Sister,” performing songs for the “Private School” soundtrack.

In 1984, Cates starred in the horror-comedy “Gremlins” and the miniseries “Lace.” “Gremlins” grossed $212.9 million at the box office, and Phoebe reprised her role in 1990’s “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” and the 2015 video game “Lego Dimensions.” She then appeared in the miniseries “Lace II” (1985), the films “Date with an Angel” (1987), “Bright Lights, Big City” (1988), “Shag” (1989), and “Heart of Dixie” (1989), and the TV movie “Largo Desolato” (1990). In 1991, Cates played Elizabeth “Lizzie” Cronin in “Drop Dead Fred,” then appeared in “Bodies, Rest & Motion” and “My Life’s in Turnaround” in 1993. She was cast as Steve Martin’s daughter in “Father of the Bride” (1991) but dropped out after becoming pregnant with her first child.

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In 1994, Phoebe played the title role in “Princess Caraboo” alongside her husband, Kevin Kline, then did not appear in another movie until 2001’s “The Anniversary Party,” a favor to her friend Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film’s director. In a 1998 interview, Kline stated of Cates’ decision to step away from acting, “We have agreed to alternate so that we’re never working at the same time… (but) whenever it’s been her slot to work, Phoebe has chosen to stay with the children.”

Personal Life

Phoebe shared a Greenwich Village apartment with her boyfriend, Stavros Merjos, in the early ’80s. In 1983, while auditioning for a role in “The Big Chill,” Cates met actor Kevin Kline. They were both involved with other people at the time, but two years later, they began a relationship. Phoebe and Kevin married on March 5, 1989, and welcomed son Owen on October 14, 1991, and daughter Greta on March 21, 1994. The entire family appeared together in the 2001 film “The Anniversary Party,” and Owen has become a writer, director, and actor, while Greta is a singer-songwriter and musician. In 2005, Cates opened the Blue Tree boutique on NYC’s Madison Avenue.

Phoebe Cates Net Worth

Phoebe Cates net worth is $35 million.