American actress and singer from a noted family, known for her roles as Carol Morrison in the 1973 film American Graffiti, as rebellious but ultimately loving teenager Julie Mora Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–1983, 2017–2020), and as Molly Phillips on the Disney Channel supernatural series So Weird (1999–2001).
She is the daughter of John Phillips, formerly of the folk rock group “The Mamas & the Papas.” She is the sister of Jeffrey Phillips and a half-sister of Tamerlane Phillips, actress Bijou Phillips, and singer Chynna Phillips. She made her film debut at 13 and began a starring role on the TV series One Day at a Time two years later.
By the age of 18, she moved away from home into her own $150,000 bachelor girl home in the high rent district of the Hollywood Hills. With too much money and not enough control, she was already traveling in the fast lane with one drug bust behind her. A product of the golden ghetto, rich and spoiled, she started smoking pot at the age of 12 and drank heavily by the time she was 14. An abuser of coke and psychedelics, she became erratic on the TV series. When she was fired, she took some TV and film roles but was increasingly unreliable and sickly, losing weight. Mackenzie and her father, who was on heroin, entered a drug rehabilitation program together in New Jersey in 1980 to kick their addiction habits.
She returned to her series in the fall of ’81 and since then, she and her father toured and lectured on the dangers of drugs. Phillips, however, fell by the wayside once again, entering rehab at the Alina Lodge in Blairstown, New Jersey in 1992.
She spent nine years as a rocker, touring the world with a reconstructed Mamas and Papas (known as “The New Mamas and The Papas”) from 1983 to 1992. She was already housemates with the group’s guitarist from 1981, Shane Fontayne; their son Shane was born in 1987. Phillips separated with Fontayne and quit the tour in 1992. She moved to their mountain hideaway home near Stroudsbury, Pennsylvania to make her most serious attempt to kick the habit, supported by AA and the love of her son.
Reevaluating her life, she moved back to Hollywood in 1994 looking for work. In 1995 she played a guest role in two episodes of Melrose Place and landed a role in the TV series Beverly Hills 90210. In 1999 she started in the role of a fictional rock star in the Disney TV series So Weird which allowed her to continue her talents of both acting and singing.
To date, she claims that her greatest achievement has been to stay clean and sober for seven years. She is involved in many organizations that are recovery-oriented.
Phillips filed for divorce from her husband of three years, Michael Barakan, on 16 February 2000 and they shared custody of their 13-year old son, Shane. On 18 March 2001, her father, John, 65, died peacefully at 8:10 AM in West Hollywood, California. She was one of his five children from his first three marriages.
Her memoir, High on Arrival, was released in September 2009. In the tell-all book she reveals an incestuous relationship with her father and describes her battle with drugs.
In February 2022 Phillips revealed her bisexuality in a podcast, saying that she had dated both men and women.
Link to Wikipedia biography