Biography for
Mackenzie Phillips More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

10 November 1959, Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Birth Name

Laura Mackenzie Phillips

Nickname

Mack

Height

5' 7½" (1.71 m)

Mini Biography

Mackenzie Phillips, was known for her role in the 1973 hit movie American Graffiti (1973). Two years later, she got the role that changed her life in the 1975 sitcom "One Day at a Time" (1975). The show was an instant success, and everything was going well until the third season was launched, when she was arrested for cocaine possession and lied about the incident on her uncredited appearance on "Dinah and Her New Best Friends" (1976). During the run of the 1979-1980 season, Mackenzie started to fall off the deep end. The producers didn't know what was wrong - she started getting tired and showing up late for rehearsals. On the set she was incoherent and the producers gave her a six week leave of absence. In 1980, she was fired from the series, went to rehab, then returned in the fall of 1981. Sadly, in 1983, she fell asleep during a rehearsal. Producer Patricia Fass Palmer told her that she had to take another drug test, but she refused and left. She has since recovered and returned to acting.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Spouse

Keith Levenson	(June 2005 - present)
Michael Barakan	(February 1997 - 2000) (divorced) 1 child
Jeff Sessler	(15 August 1979 - 1981) (divorced)

Trivia

Son, Shane (b. 1987), with Barakan.

Has been in rehab several times for drug and alcohol addiction.

Sang in her father's music group, The Mamas and the Papas, when it made a comeback.

One of her stepmothers was Michelle Phillips.

Daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas musical group and Susan Adams.

Half sister of Bijou Phillips, Chynna Phillips and Tamerlane Phillips. Sister of Jeffrey Phillips.

Skipped a grade in elementary school.

Sister-in-law of William Baldwin.

Mackenzie was named in honor of her dad's friend and songwriting/performing partner, Scott MacKenzie, with whom he played prior to The Mamas and the Papas in a band called the Journeymen. John Phillips and Scott MacKenzie co-wrote the big 1960s hit "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," which Scott MacKenzie recorded and made into a worldwide hit. They also co-wrote the big 1980s hit "Kokomo" for The Beach Boys from the movie Cocktail (1988). Scott MacKenzie, John Phillips, & Mackenzie Phillips also worked together in the reformed the Mamas & the Papas in the 1980s & 1990s at various times, with Scott replacing original member Denny Doherty.

Childhood best friends of Lisa Coleman, musician in "Prince and the Revolution", and in "Wendy & Lisa" (with Wendy Melvoin).

Aunt of Jamison Leon Baldwin.

While shooting "So Weird" (1999) in Vancouver, Mackenzie was the legal guardian of co-star Patrick Levis until he turned 18.

Best remembered by the public for her starring role as daughter Julie Cooper in "One Day at a Time" (1975).

Her paternal grandmother was Cherokee Indian and met and married Phillips' grandfather in Oklahoma.

Personal Quotes

"I have gone to great lengths to rearrange my life and change from the inside."

"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."

Where Are They Now

(October 2005) Playing Lily St. Regis in a national tour of "Annie," which stopped at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in October.

(October 2005) Currently appearing as Lily St. Regis in the touring production of "Annie."

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z