Phoebe Cates Height, Weight and Body Measurements

Phoebe Cates is reported to stand about 5 ft 5 in / 165 cm, and she has long been described as slim, though she has never published official figures for her weight or anything else. Treat any numbers as the sort of approximations that circulate in profiles. As of 2026 she is in her early 60s and well outside the spotlight.

Quick facts

Height, build and the 80s look

At about 5 ft 5 in, Cates is a little above the average height for American women, and she’s long been described as slender with a dancer-like frame. Weight has never been part of her public conversation, and since she stepped away from film in the 1990s there haven’t been fresh interviews or red carpet moments to update anyone’s guesses. That’s why listings tend to repeat decades-old estimates. What fans remember instead is her style: long dark hair, a natural, unfussy look and the casual California-meets-New York wardrobe that defined the early 1980s on screen.

From modelling to movies

Cates started as a teenage model before moving into acting. Her early film role came in Paradise (1982), and later that year she appeared in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a teen comedy that became a defining film of its era. The film’s ensemble included many actors who would later become stars, and it captured the mall-and-school-hallway culture of American teenagers so memorably that it is still studied as a snapshot of its time. Many viewers still know her best for that part, as Linda Barrett, the confident friend of Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character. She followed with Private School in 1983.

Gremlins and beyond

In 1984 she played Kate Beringer in Joe Dante’s Gremlins, delivering a memorable monologue about Christmas that audiences still discuss. The film became a holiday-season favourite and one of the year’s biggest hits. She followed it with Gremlins 2: The New Batch in 1990, Bright Lights, Big City in 1988, and Drop Dead Fred in 1991, among other titles. She also appeared in the 1994 period comedy Princess Caraboo, a film that placed her alongside her husband.

Stepping away

By the late 1990s she had largely retired from acting to focus on family life. She later opened a boutique in New York, Blue Tree, a home and gift shop that gained a loyal following. She has rarely given interviews since, and her few public appearances make news, since many fans have been waiting years for a glimpse of her.

Marriage

Cates married actor Kevin Kline in 1989. Kline is an Oscar winner, known for A Fish Called Wanda, and the two are regarded as one of Hollywood’s more private, stable couples. They have continued to live largely away from the entertainment spotlight, appearing together only occasionally at premieres or events.

Style legacy

Her look from the early 80s, casual and sun-faded, remains a reference point in fashion retrospectives about the decade. The popularity of that aesthetic, from vintage tees to loose waves, has brought her image back every few years for new audiences on social media.

What fans ask

The question people ask most is why she stopped acting. She has said little publicly beyond choosing to focus on her family and her life away from the industry, and that’s the only answer there is. Others ask whether she’ll appear in a Gremlins sequel (nothing has been confirmed) and whether she’s still married to Kevin Kline (yes, as far as public reports show). Younger fans want to know where to begin: Fast Times at Ridgemont High for the teen classic, and Gremlins for the horror-comedy that she’s still widely associated with.

Few performers have left so strong an impression with such a short list of credits. That brevity is part of the mystique, and it helps explain why her name keeps returning in nostalgia features and 80s film retrospectives.

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