Mackenzie Phillips, 48, Arrested on Drug Charges

Hard-Luck Actress Nabbed at LAX

Mackenzie Phillips was the older sister on "One Day at a Time" to Valerie Bertinelli's younger sister. Bertinelli's character was sweet and cuddly while Phillips' was a little edgy and a bit of a troublemaker.

Art sometimes imitates life.

As reported by Josh Grossberg at Eonline, Mackenzie Phillips has been arrested for trying to bring cocaine and heroin aboard an airliner. The 48-year-old actress was nabbed at the Los Angeles Airport.

As Grossberg goes on to report, Phillips was intercepted at Terminal 4 at LAX at which time airport security police were called to the scene and Phillips was arrested on suspicion of a controlled substance. Bail has not been set.

Drugs are not new to Phillips. In fact, her drug habit was grave. During "One Day at a Time's" 1979-80 season she was arrested for cocaine possession. Her drug habit caused her to show up late to work on the show. Ultimately, producers gave her six weeks to clean up her act but she ultimately was fired.

Mackenzie Phillips was in rehab for awhile and then rejoined the show only to quit two years later.

There was a group that came to public attention during my high school years called The Mamas and the Papas. The founder of this group was John Phillips. They came on the scene with such songs as "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreaming". John Phillips is Mackenzie Phillips' father. He is also who she blames for her drug problem. Her step-mother was another member of the group, Michelle Phillips.

There are a couple of very sad things in Phillips' life.

She was the daughter of a man in an iconic group during the height of the "free-love, free-sex" movement. She was exposed to this and yet as even John Phillips' admits in his book she had little supervision from an early age.

Perhaps the most shocking piece of information that I personally feel had as much to do with her drug dependency as anything was the fact that she had sex at a very early age with someone who she should have been able to trust.

Mackenzie Phillips had sex with Mick Jagger after he sent her father on an errand... when she was 13.

This girl never had a chance.

References: