Michelle Phillips was born as Holly Michelle Gilliam on June 4, 1944 in Long Beach, California. She was a popular member of a famous pop group, The Mamas and the Papas, which played in the golden years of the 1960s. The band, although not very famous, had composed many hits like Monday, Monday and California dreaming before they quit and disbanded.
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Apart from playing in a hipster band, she even had a career in the Hollywood film industry. Her first debut in the cinema sector was in the movie The Last Movie in the year 1971, in which she worked along with Dennis Hopper, whom she fell in love with. She fell in love with Hopper while working on set. They later got married for a short period in 1970.
After their breakup, she continued working as an actress, although she didn't get much success. In the year 1977, she was cast into the movie Valentino. In the later years of 1980s, she did get some roles on television and had some success when she was aired on prime time opera Knots Landing.
Personal life
Phillip lost her mother at a young age of five. For several years after this, her single father raised her in the Mexico city. later, she returned to the city of Los Angeles to continue her schooling. Phillips was a very talented and athletic girl in her youth. She used to play a number of sports and musical instruments during her high school years.
She also pursued modelling during those years. In the final years of high schooling, she started dating a local musician John Phillips, a member of a local band who called themselves The Journeymen. Michelle fell in love with the twenty six year old artist and they later got married in the year of 1962.
Career
Their band, the New Journeymen later changed into The mamas and papas in the year of 1965. This was along with the inclusion of a new member in the band, Cass Elliot. The band, with time, turned out to be hugely famous with its pleasant four section harmonies. Some of the biggest hits of the band were written with the help of Michelle's spectacular talent in the field. California dreaming is one of them. This song went up to number four on the Billboard pop charts in the year of 1966.
After two months the band hit the number one spot with their work "Monday, Monday". Although not much apparent, there used to be a quite a bit of tension between the members of the New Journeymen. Phillips and her Co member Denny Doherty had an affair, which later even became the base for the famous song, I saw her again, which was Co written by John and Denny. But later on, Michelle and John got separated and both of them started pursuing other relationships. Michelle started dating Gene Clark, a member of The Byrds. Due to this tensions rose and created problems for the band.
In the year of 1966, Phillips was fired and Jill Gibson took her place. But Michelle was called back to the band along with her husband. The band's third effort, Deliver, featured a number of offbeat tracks, including "Dedicated to one love", which hit number two on the Billboard pop charts
In the year of 1967, The band got involved in organizing a legendary music festival, The Monterey Pop festival. This festival featured many versatile acts as The who, Ravi Shankar and Otis Redding. The event drew lots of hippie tribes from around the world. This was the very venue where Phillip's band performed for the last time.
Later in 1968, after the failure of one of their albums, The mamas and papas eventually fell apart. This very year, Phillips was gifted with a beautiful daughter, Chynna. but this was soon followed by her divorce in 1970. She has a net worth of 8 million dollars.
Last Modified: Apr 5, 2020
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