One Day at a Time

Background:

“I have gone to great lengths to rearrange my life and change from the inside.” Mackenzie Phillips

American actress and singer Mackenzie Phillips, the daughter of the late rock musician and co-founder of the great musical group The Mamas & the Papas and half-sisters of actresses/singers Chynna and Bijou Phillips, has experienced a roller-coaster life due to her dependency on drug and alcohol. First attaining attention as Carol on the mega blockbuster “American Graffiti” (1973), a role she reprised later in the 1979 disappointing sequel “More American Graffiti” (1979), the then-16-year-old Phillips became a household name playing eldest daughter Julie Cooper on the popular CBS comedy series “One Day at A Time” (1975), but her success was cut short by her substance abuse problems that led the producers to fire her in 1980. After receiving treatment, she was welcomed back to the show in 1981 and enjoyed some resurgence in both acting and music before being discharged from the sitcom again in 1983. Phillips spent the next nine years struggling with her addictions until 1992 when she eventually became clean and sober. Since then, she has consistently resumed her acting career. Among her remarkable gigs include playing the regular role of rock singer and mother Molly Phillips on Disney Channel's “So Weird” (1999-2001) and Nurse Harding on the thriller film “The Jacket” (2005), starring Adrien Brody.

A two-time divorcee, Phillips is currently married to music conductor/arranger Keith Levenson. She has a son, Shane (now 21 years old), with her second husband, musician Michael Barakan (together from 1997 to 2000). She married first husband Jeff Sessler from 1979 to 1981. Before the marriage, she was romantically involved with Peter Asher (together from 1978-1979).

Mack

Childhood and Family:

Laura Mackenzie Phillips was born on November 10, 1959, in Alexandria, Virginia. Her parents, rock musician John Phillips and ex-ballerina Susan Adams (aka Suzy January), gave their daughter the name Mackenzie after John's friend and songwriting/performing mate, Scott MacKenzie, with whom he performed together in a group called the Journeymen. When Mack was three years old, her parents divorced, and her dad was soon married to Michelle Phillips, with whom he co-founded the popular folk/rock group the Mamas and Papas. Her famous father went on to marry two other women, including actress Genevieve Waite, before his death in March 2001 because of heart failure. Mack has an older brother, Jeffrey Phillips (born in 1957), and three half-siblings, actresses Chynna Phillips (born in 1968; mother Michelle Phillips) and Bijou Phillips (born in 1980; mother Genevieve Waite), and Tamerlane Phillips (born 1971; mother Genevieve Waite).

On August 15, 1979, Mack was married to Jeff Sessler, but the marriage ended in separation in 1981. Six years later, on February 3, 1987, she welcomed her first child, son Shane Fontayne, Jr., with companion rock guitarist Michael Barakan, whom she married later in February 1997. Mack divorced from her second husband in 2000. She is now the wife of music conductor/arranger Keith Levenson, whom she has married since June 2005.

So Weird

Career:

Daughter of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas musical group, Mackenzie Phillips had her first foray into the entertainment industry at age 12 when she joined with her three other schoolmates to form a musical group. In one of the group's performances at the Troubadour, they were discovered by an agent and before long, Phillips was on her way pursuing a career in acting. In 1973, she made a promising debut as Carol, a gabby teen who links herself to Paul Le Mat, in director/writer George Lucas' hit comedy/drama “American Graffiti,” which earned five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Also in that same year, the Virginia native had her first television movie assignment in the anti drug-themed “Go Ask Alice” (ABC), based on the book by Beatrice Sparks.

Phillips' big breakthrough arrived two years later when she was tapped to play the starring role of Julie Cooper Horvath, the sometimes disruptive and difficult eldest daughter of single mother Ann Romano (played by Bonnie Franklin), on the CBS sitcom “One Day at a Time” (1975). The series was a success and so was Phillips. She even emerged as the highest paid actress on the show with earnings reportedly $47,500 a week. With a new found fame, Phillips could be seen in several other roles like playing the 14-year-old Eleanor Roosevelt on the noted miniseries “Eleanor and Franklin” (ABC, 1976), reprising her role as Carol on the unsuccessful installment “More American Graffiti” (1979), directed by Bill L. Norton, and being cast as silent screen legend Lillian Gish in the NBC TV-film “Moviola: The Silent Lovers” (1980).

Despite her increasing status, by this period, Phillips gained notoriety for her consumption of alcohol and drugs, a destructive habit she had started since her high school years. Following a series of battles with producers of “One Day at a Time,” she was fired in February 1980 and her part was written out of the show. Phillips responded the discharge by checking herself to hospital and undergoing treatment. When the treatment completed, she began to plunge herself into anti-drug activities, a nice efforts that brought the actress back to “One Day at a Time” in 1981. In the next year, she resumed her big screen career by playing the supporting role of J.J. in Larry Peerce's “Love Child,” along side Amy Madigan and Beau Bridges, and made a return to her musical roots by touring with her dad's group, The New Mamas and the Papas. Unfortunately for Phillips, her reunion with her father led to her old habits. She once again became addicted to cocaine, and it was not without price. By 1983, she had been fired from her sitcom for a second time.

After taking a two-year hiatus, Phillips resurfaced on the small screen having a guest spot in an episode of “Murder, She Wrote” called “Murder in the Afternoon” (1985), playing Carol Needom. She followed it up with a supporting part in the NBC telepic “Kate's Secret” (1986), which saw her play a woman living with an eating disorder, but it marked her last acting role for eight years. In the meantime, Phillips continued using drugs and did not enter a rehab until 1992. After a nine-month serious treatment, she eventually became clean and sober.

1994 saw Phillips resume her acting career by making a guest appearance as a drug counselor named Ellen Marks in an episode of the hit show “Beverly Hills, 90210.” She went on to undertake a recurring role as Maureen Dodd in two episodes of “Melrose Place”(1995) and appear as substance abuse counselor Rachel Sullivan in the CBS daytime drama “Guiding Light” (1996). Also in 1996, she was spotted on the stage playing Rizzo in “Grease!.” In addition to joining the touring company, she also briefly appeared on the show's Broadway.

Guest spots in the series “Carolyn in the City” and “Walker, Texas Ranger” followed in 1997, but Phillips did not land a film role until early 1998 when she was featured as Connie in “True Friends,” an independent drama directed by and starring James Quattrochi. It was her first film since 1982. Phillips moved on to a leading role in the following year's indie-comedy “When,” playing Catherine Brown, and returned to series TV as a regular later that same year in the Disney Channel series “So Weird,” opposite Patrick Levis, Eric Lively and Cara DeLizia. She starred as Molly, a veteran rock musician balancing a performing schedule and child raising, from 1999 until the show's end in 2001. The show gave the actress the chance to display her singing talents.

Phillips maintained busy during the late 1990s and early 2000s by appearing as a guest star in such series as “Chicago Hope,” “The Outer Limits,” “Crossing Jordan,” “ER,” “The Division,” “ Without a Trace,” “NYPD Blue” and “7th Heaven.” In 2002, she had a supporting role on the sport-themed TV film “Double Teamed,” playing Mary Burge, the mother of twins Heather and Heidi (played by Poppi Monroe and Annie McElwain, respectively), and was cast as Doris in a stage production of “Same Time, Next Year,” by Bernard Slade. Three years later, she joined Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch, Brad Renfro and Daniel Craig for the psychological thriller “The Jacket,” where she was cast as a nurse.

In 2007, Phillips appeared as Mrs. Swett in an episode of the CBS crime series “Cold Case” and became a presenter at The 5th Annual TV Land Awards. She then made a self-appearance in a 2008 episode of NBC's “ The Today Show.

“If it never gets better than it is at this moment, if I never am more successful than I am right now, that's OK with me.” Mackenzie Phillips

Awards:
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