Michelle Phillips

Michelle Phillips (born June 4, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as a vocalist of the group the Mamas & the Papas.

Quotes

I didn’t feel comfortable with American children. I certainly knew more about sex and drugs by the time I was eleven than they would ever know. My father used to ask me when I was thirteen if I needed a diaphragm. I said, ‘No, Dad, really, I’m still a virgin.’ He said, ‘you let me know when you’re not.'
- On returning to California after having spent her early childhood in Mexico City, Rolling Stone no. 259 (February 23, 1978)

I like what’s happening to me now in every way. When you’re twenty, you handle it a lot differently than when you’re thirty—and I’m thirty-three. I was naïve enough to think it would be easy to get here. It wasn’t.
- On maturing, Rolling Stone no. 259 (February 23, 1978)

I don't consider psychedelics hard drugs, [but] I also don't recommend that people take [them]. I think it's something that you either did in the sixties, or you just forget about it.
- On drug use, Regis Philbin's Lifestyles (1986)^{[specific citation needed]}

Cass gained a lot of strength from her public. Once she was a star, she wasn't afraid of anybody, and certainly not me.
- On Cass Elliot, Regis Philbin's Lifestyles (1986)^{[specific citation needed]}

I was raised to be very independent. I was raised to believe I could do anything I wanted with my life. My father said I was lucky to be born a woman because "women can do anything they want" with their lives. Of course, I didn't realize until later that my father was giving me a slightly unrealistic view, but I think that [it] gave me a lot of confidence.
- On her upbringing, The Arsenio Hall Show (1991)^{[specific citation needed]}

I've always had a reputation as the pretty girl. Pretty girls rarely get the good parts. We all have to do a film like The Burning Bed where we can really be degraded so that people think we can act.
- The Chicago Tribune (July 5, 1986)

We toured in a Lear jet and that's the only way to fly, baby! Success is a bubble, though, and we knew the wonderful time we were having couldn't possibly last.
- On the success of the Mamas & the Papas, The National (January 5, 2011)

People assume that there must have been tension between us, but the truth is I wanted to be just like Cass. Cass liberated me; she stopped John [Phillips] trying to have too much control over me. She taught me a lot about feminism, and she always encouraged me, although I was obviously inferior to her as a singer.
- On her relationship with Cass Elliot, The National (January 5, 2011)

I was so lucky to have been surrounded by really great actors. Everybody in that movie was a real actor: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Richard Dreyfuss, Harry Dean Stanton. It was just a wonderful, wonderful experience for me and I had so much support and so much help and so much encouragement.
- On her first acting role in Dillinger (1973), The Huffington Post (August 25, 2016)

I would not let her work until she was eighteen, and believe me, since the time she was being strolled down the street in her stroller, people were saying, “Can I use her in my commercial? Can I put her in my movie?” “No!” But I did let her take any class that she wanted to take. Singing, acting, dancing...
- On raising her daughter, Chynna Philips, The Huffington Post (August 25, 2016)

External links

Encyclopedic article on Michelle Phillips on Wikipedia

Michelle Phillips at the Notable Names Database

Quotes

See also

External links