Julianne Phillips


Julianne Phillips is an American former model and actress. She began her career as a model in the early 1980s before moving on to acting. She first attracted attention as the first wife of Bruce Springsteen and later for her role as Francesca "Frankie" Reed on the television drama series Sisters.

Biography

Phillips was born in Evanston, Illinois, the youngest of six children in a Roman Catholic family. She is the daughter of William Phillips, an insurance broker and executive, and his wife, Ann. She has five siblings: four older brothers and one older sister. Phillips's family relocated to Oregon in her early years, settling in the affluent Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, where she was raised.
Phillips graduated from Lake Oswego High School and attended Brooks College in Long Beach, California.

Early career

After graduating from college, Phillips returned to Oregon and began appearing in local community theater productions. This led to her being signed by Elite Modeling Agency in 1982, who characterized her as a "perfect-ten package," earning as much as $2,000 a day. After modeling in New York City, Phillips moved to Los Angeles, where she appeared in the .38 Special music video for the song "If I'd Been the One." This led to Phillips' acting roles in 1984's made-for-TV movies His Mistress, in which she co-starred with Robert Urich, and Summer Fantasy. She also appeared at the end of then-husband Bruce Springsteen's music video "Glory Days."

Marriage and divorce

Phillips garnered publicity as the girlfriend and, later, the first wife of musician Bruce Springsteen. The two met in October 1984 and were subsequently married in her native Lake Oswego shortly after midnight on Monday, May 13, 1985, surrounded by intense media Citing irreconcilable differences, she filed for divorce in August 1988, which was finalized the following Following the divorce, neither party commented publicly on their relationship until Springsteen's autobiography Born to Run where he describes the marriage from his point of view.

Acting career

Phillips continued her acting career during and after the marriage. She appeared in Odd Jobs, Sweet Lies, and Seven Hours to Judgment, and starred opposite Chevy Chase in Fletch Lives and John Ritter in Skin Deep both in 1989.
Two years later, she accepted the role of Frankie Reed, the business-oriented character on Sisters; it became her best-known role. She left the show at the end of its fifth season in 1995, returning for its final episode in 1996. She then briefly returned to movies, appearing in Big Bully, Colin Fitz Lives!, Allie & Me, and the made-for-TV disaster film Tidal Wave: No Escape.

1997–present

Phillips stopped acting in 1997 and has rarely been in the public eye since. In 2001, she was interviewed on an episode of the biographical documentary series Intimate Portrait that profiled her Sisters co-star Sela Ward. In 2014, she reunited with Ward and her other Sisters co-stars, Swoosie Kurtz and Patricia Kalember, for Entertainment Weekly. The reunion was documented on Today.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983If I'd Been the OneWoman
1985Bruce Springsteen: Glory DaysWoman
1986Odd JobsSally
1986A Fine MessLoraineuncredited
1987Sweet LiesDixie
1988Seven Hours to JudgmentLisa Eden
1989Skin DeepMolly
1989Fletch LivesBecky Culpepper
1996Big BullyVictoria
1996Hollywood BoulevardLinda Morgan / Sarah Constance Banks
1997Colin Fitz Lives!Justice Fitz
1997Allie & MeAngela Nansky

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984Summer FantasyJoanna BranniganTV movie
1984His MistressAnne DavisTV movie
1990Midnight CallerDanielle HopkinsEpisode: "The Class of 1980"
1992Getting [Up and Going Home]JanetTV movie
1993The Only Way OutSusannahTV movie
1994The [Larry Sanders Show]Julianne PhillipsEpisode: "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show"
1995A Vow to KillRachel WaringTV movie
1995Original SinsBecka SharpTV movie
1995Where's the Money, Noreen?Noreen RaffertyTV movie
1991–1996SistersFrancesca 'Frankie' Reed Margolis93 episodes
1997Tidal Wave: No EscapeJessica WeaverTV movie