Michelle Phillips is an American actress and singer whose career spans over five decades. She initially came to prominence as a vocalist in the group The Mamas and the Papas in 1965. She had her first major screen appearance in a minor role in Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie (1971) before being cast as Billie Frechette in the John Dillinger biopic Dillinger (1973), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nominations for Most Promising Newcomer. Phillips subsequently had leading roles in the television films The Death Squad and The California Kid (both 1974).
In 1977, she was cast as Natacha Rambova in the Rudolph Valentino biopic Valentino, directed by Ken Russell. Subsequent film roles included The Man with Bogart's Face (1980), and the nature horror film Savage Harvest (1981). Throughout the majority of the 1980s, Phillips worked prolifically in television, appearing in guest-starring roles on Fantasy Island and The Love Boat, as well as appearing in a number of television films, such as Murder Me, Murder You (1983) and Secrets of a Married Man (1984).
Beginning in 1987, Phillips portrayed Anne Matheson on the series Knots Landing, a role she continued until 1993. She subsequently provided the voice role of Raven on the short-lived Ralph Bakshi animated series Spicy City (1997), and appeared in several episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1997–1998), playing Abby Malone, mother of Valerie Malone. In the 2000s, Phillips appeared in several independent films, including the comedy Jane White Is Sick & Twisted (2002) and the gay-themed drama Harry + Max (2004), and the comedy Kids in America (2005). Since the millennium, she has also appeared in a number of documentary films as an interview subject, including (2018) and Echo in the Canyon (2019).
| Denotes documentary film appearances |
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Monterey Pop | Herself | Documentary film | |||
| 1970 | Saturation 70 | Unfinished; lost film | [1] | |||
| 1971 | data-sort-value="Last Movie" | The Last Movie | Banker's Daughter | [2] | ||
| 1973 | Dillinger | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer[3] | ||||
| 1974 | data-sort-value="Death Squad" | The Death Squad | Joyce Kreski | Television film | ||
| 1974 | data-sort-value="California Kid" | The California Kid | Maggie | Television film | ||
| 1975 | Shampoo | Girl at Party | Uncredited | |||
| 1975 | Miracle | Trixie | Short film | [4] | ||
| 1977 | Valentino | |||||
| 1978 | data-sort-value="Users" | The Users | Marina Brent | Television film | ||
| 1979 | Bloodline | Vivian Nichols | ||||
| 1980 | data-sort-value="Man Bogart's Face" | The Man with Bogart's Face | Gena | |||
| 1981 | Savage Harvest | Maggie | ||||
| 1982 | Moonlight | Meredith Tyne | Television film | |||
| 1983 | Murder Me, Murder You | Chris Jameson | Television film | |||
| 1984 | Secrets of a Married Man | Katie Jordan | Television film | [5] | ||
| 1985 | data-sort-value="Covenant" | The Covenant | Claire Noble | Television film | ||
| 1985 | Stark: Mirror Image | Jennifer Clayton | Television film | |||
| 1986 | American Anthem | Linda Tevere | ||||
| 1987 | Assault and Matrimony | Madge Evers | Television film | [6] | ||
| 1989 | Let It Ride | Mrs. Davis | ||||
| 1989 | Leora Van Treas | Television film | ||||
| 1989 | Trenchcoat in Paradise | Suzanna Hollander | Television film | |||
| 1991 | Tracy | [7] | ||||
| 1991 | Scissors | Ann Carter | ||||
| 1993 | Joshua Tree | Esther Severance | Also known as: Vanishing Red and Army of One | |||
| 1993 | Rubdown | Jordana Orwitz | Television film | [8] | ||
| 1996 | No One Would Tell | Laura Collins | Television film | [9] | ||
| 1996 | Pretty Poison | Mrs. Stepanek | Television film | [10] | ||
| 1999 | Sweetwater | Nancy Nevins | Television film | |||
| 2000 | Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel | DeeDee Westbrook | ||||
| 2000 | 919 Fifth Avenue | Mrs. Janet Van Degen | Television film | |||
| 2000 | data-sort-value="Price" | The Price of Air | Mrs. Rye | |||
| 2001 | March | Joan | ||||
| 2002 | Jane White Is Sick & Twisted | June | ||||
| 2004 | Harry + Max | Mother | ||||
| 2005 | Kids in America | Singer | ||||
| 2006 | Unbeatable Harold | Erma | [11] | |||
| 2006 | And the Sea Took Us | Herself (voice) | Documentary film | [12] | ||
| 2009 | Betrayal | Eva Karlsen | [13] | |||
| 2016 | Good Fortune | Herself | Documentary film | |||
| 2018 | Herself | Documentary film | ||||
| 2019 | Echo in the Canyon | Herself | Documentary film | [14] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Stephanie Marks | Episode: "The Prowler" | ||
| 1977 | Aspen | Gloria Osborne | 3 episodes | |
| 1979 | The French Atlantic Affair | Jennie Barber | 3 episodes | |
| 1979–1984 | Fantasy Island | Various | 7 episodes | |
| 1980 | Vega$ | Officer Cassandra Hunt | 2 episodes | |
| 1981–1984 | The Love Boat | Barbara Carroll/Sheila Price/Linda Gammon | 5 episodes | |
| 1982 | Matt Houston | Glenda Collins | Episode: "Shark Bait" | [15] |
| 1983 | The Fall Guy | Fay Charles | Episode: "The Chameleon" | |
| 1983 | The Mississippi | Caroline Foster | Episode: "The Last Voice You Hear" | |
| 1983 | Search For Tomorrow | Ruby Ashford | Proctor & Gamble Productions | |
| 1983–1986 | Hotel | Elizabeth Bradshot Cabot | 8 episodes | |
| 1984 | Automan | Veronica Everly | Episode: "Murder, Take One" | |
| 1984 | Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense | Sandra Lorenz | Episode: "Paint Me a Murder" | |
| 1984 | Finder of Lost Loves | Alicia Marsh | Episode: "Yesterday's Child" | |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | Regina Kellijian | Episode: "Death Casts a Spell" | [16] |
| 1985 | T. J. Hooker | Teri Sherman | Episode: "Love Story" | |
| 1985 | Glitter | Episode: "The Matriarch" | ||
| 1987; 1989–1993 | Knots Landing | 88 episodes | ||
| 1988 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Katherine Clark | Episode: "If Looks Could Kill" | [17] |
| 1988 | Jenice Manheim | Episode: "We'll Always Have Paris" | ||
| 1993–1994 | Second Chances | Joanna Russell | 4 episodes | [18] |
| 1994 | Burke's Law | Denise Kima | Episode: "Who Killed the Starlet?" | |
| 1994 | Herman's Head | Sandra Clayton | Episode: "A Head in the Polls" | [19] |
| 1994 | Heaven Help Us | Episode: "Stepping Out" | ||
| 1994–1999 | Diagnosis Murder | Livia Parkinson/Christine Shaw | 2 episodes | [20] [21] |
| 1995 | Claudette Wilder | Episode: "Target: Jimmy Olsen" | [22] | |
| 1996 | Malibu Shores | Suki Walker | 10 episodes | |
| 1996 | Too Something | Karen Reeves | Episode: "Donny's Mother" | |
| 1997 | The Big Easy | Collette | Episode: "Ghost of the Pricky Rose" | |
| 1997 | Pauly | Cassandra | Episode: "Foreplay" | |
| 1997 | Anne Matheson Sumner | 2 episodes | ||
| 1997 | Spicy City | Raven | 6 episodes | [23] |
| 1997–98 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Abby Malone | 9 episodes | |
| 1998 | Quinn Ford | Episode: "True Course" | [24] | |
| 1998–2000 | The Magnificent Seven | Maude Standish | 3 episodes | |
| 1999 | Providence | Blair Mason | Episode: "If Memory Serves" | [25] |
| 1999–2001 | Rude Awakening | Vivian | 3 episodes | |
| 2000 | Twice in a Lifetime | Edwina Lewis | Episode: "Old Flames" | |
| 2000 | Popular | Hellacious Akers | 2 episodes | |
| 2001 | All About Us | Juliana Merrick | Episode: "The Scare" | |
| 2001 | Spin City | Jane Moore | Episode: "The Wedding Scammer" | |
| 2001–2002 | That's Life | Maureen | 2 episodes | |
| 2001–2004 | 7th Heaven | Lilly | 3 episodes | |
| 2003 | Abby | Christine Newton | Episode: "The Mama and the Papa" | |