06/05/2026
Happy birthday to Michelle Phillips who was born Holly Michelle Gilliam on this date June 4, 1944 in Long Beach, CA.
She spent her early life in Los Angeles and Mexico City, raised by her widowed father. While working as a model in San Francisco, she met and married John Phillips in 1962 and went on to co-found the vocal group the Mamas & the Papas in 1965. They released five studio albums before their dissolution in 1970. While married to John Phillips, she gave birth to their daughter, singer Chynna Phillips. Michelle Phillips is the last surviving original member of the band.
After the breakup of the Mamas & the Papas and her divorce from John Phillips, she transitioned into acting, appearing in a supporting part in "The Last Movie" (1971) before being cast as Billie Frechette in the critically acclaimed crime biopic "Dillinger" (1973), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
She went on to appear in a number of films throughout the remainder of the 1970s, including Ken Russell's "Valentino" (1977), playing Natacha Rambova, and the thriller "Bloodline" (1979). She released her only solo album, "Victim of Romance", in 1977.
Phillips's first film of the 1980s was the comedy "The Man with Bogart's Face" (1980). The next year she co-starred with Tom Skerritt in "Savage Harvest" (1981), followed by the television films "Secrets of a Married Man" (1984) and "The Covenant" (1985).
In 1987, she joined the series "Knots Landing", portraying Anne Matheson, the mother of Paige Matheson (portrayed by Nicollette Sheridan), until the series's 1993 conclusion.
In 1998, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Mamas & the Papas.
