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Michelle Phillips (born June 4, 1944) is an United
States|American singer and actor|actress. The
blonde beauty was born Holly Michelle Gilliam in
Long Beach, California. She gained fame as a
member of the popular 1960s singing group the
Mamas & the Papas.

Michelle Gilliam married
John_Phillips_(musician)|John Phillips on December
31, 1962, when she was 18 years of age. She helped
him co-write some of the band's most popular hits,
including Creeque Alley and California Dreamin.
They later had one child together, Chynna
Phillips, who went on to found the singing group
Wilson Phillips (along with The Beach Boys|Beach
Boys children Wendy Wilson|Wendy and Carnie
Wilson). The couple divorced in 1970 after her
infidelity with co-band member Denny Doherty and
others.

Phillip's infidelity, ultimately, led to her being
fired from the  the Mamas & the Papas in early
June 1966. After Michelle started dating Gene
Clark, a member of the rival band the Byrds, she
was kicked out of the band and replaced by Lou
Adler's girlfriend Jill Gibson. Fellow band
member, Cass Elliot (the other Mama), was in love
with Doherty, a fact Michelle was well aware of,
so her earlier affair with Doherty in 1965, was a
betrayal to half of the band. Michelle's presence
in the band was missed by some fans, mostly by
John, so she was invited back into the group in
late August while Jill Gibson was given a lump sum
for her two and a half months as a Mama. Gibson
later would say that she felt betrayed by John,
Cass, and Denny. The ill-will between the original
members was so embedded, that the band continued
to have problems even after Michelle's return. The
Mamas and the Papas finally called it quits in
1968.

During 1970, Michelle sang backup vocals on a
Leonard Cohen tour. That same year, Phillips
married actor Dennis Hopper for eight days. Of
that marriage, Phillips said: "I will say this
about Dennis Hopper: We were married for eight
days and truly... they were the happiest days of
my life."

In 1973, Phillips recorded vocals as a cheerleader
along with Darlene Love, for the Cheech & Chong
single Basketball Jones which peaked at No.15 on
the Billboard singles chart.

In 1977, Phillips released her debut solo album,
Victim of Romance, on A&M Records. That same year
she sang backup vocals, along with former step
daughter Mackenzie Phillips, on a track  called
Zulu Warrior on her ex-husband's John's second
solo album (this album was eventually realesed in
2001, 23 years later after the fact). 

Phillips married radio executive Robert Burch in
1978, and would divorce again, in 1980.

Michelle gave birth to her second child, a boy
named Austin Haines, in 1982.

In 1986 she penned her autobiography, Califorina
Dreamin': The True Story of the Mamas and Papas,
released just weeks after her former husband John
Phillip's autobiography Papa John.  In it Phillips
describes such events as the first meeting between
her and fellow Mama, Cass Elliot (Phillips had
just taken acid for the first time, and "came on"
to it just as she opened the door), winning 17
straight shoots at a crap table in the Bahamas
when the band was broke and couldn't afford plane
fare back to the states (winning enough for first
class, no less), and how her writing credit on the
California Dreamin song, which still nets her
royalties, was "the best wake-up call" she ever
had (she was asleep on the tour bus and John
Phillips woke her long enough for her to help him
to complete the lyrics for the song).

In late 1987, Phillips sang backup on Belinda
Carlisle's number one hit, Heaven Is A Place On
Earth, as well as on the Carlisle Lp, Heaven On
Earth.

Phillips continues to act in film|movies and in
television today.  She is best known to modern
television audiences for her roles as mother to
two prime-time vixens.  She starred for several
seasons on the "Dallas" spin-off Knots Landing as
Anne W. Matheson Sumner, playing the mother of
future Desperate Housewives star Nicolette
Sheridan (a role which Phillips returned to for
the 1997 TV-Movie Knots Landing: Back to the
Cul-de-Sac).  In the mid-1990's she gained a whole
new generation of fans for playing Abby Malone,
mother of Tiffani-Amber Thiessen on Fox's Beverly
Hills, 90210.  Phillips most recent acting job has
been a recurring role on the hit WB drama 7th
Heaven as Lily Jackson, sister of family matriarch
Annie Jackson (Catherine Hicks).

Phillips was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1998, along with her fellow bandmates.
For the first time in over two decades, Michelle
performed California Dreamin, live with Denny
Doherty and John Phillips.

Phillips was also inducted into the Vocal Group
Hall of Fame in 2000 (for the Mamas & Papas) where
she performed live with Denny Doherty, but without
John.

Phillips is renowned for her pulchritude and
youthful appearance which she attributes, in part,
to staying completely away from direct sunlight.

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0680645|name= Michelle Phillips
*
http://www.swinginchicks.com/michelle_phillips.htm
Phillips article on Swingin' Chicks of the '60s
(includes photos)