This year marks the 65th anniversary of the two-piece bathing suit, commonly known as the bikini. Inventor Louis Reard called his creation a bikini in honor of America's first nuclear test in the Pacific, which took place near the Bikini Islands.Now the two-piece is everywhere, including, of course, Hollywood. Rare is the film that doesn't feature at least one bikini-clad starlet romping in the surf. Perhaps the most famous scene in which the bikini plays a starring role came in the 1982 comedy classic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Actress Phoebe Cates wears a red two-piece while lounging at her friend's pool after school.Cates's absence from the big screen was a conscious decision; she wasn't forced out of Tinseltown or anything. She is married to Oscar-winning actor Kevin Kline and the couple has several children. The two met while Cates was auditioning for a role in the 1983 hit film "The Big Chill."
She didn't get the role but she did go on to appear in the mega-hit "Gremlins."Today, Cates focuses her energy on her business. In 2006, the actress opened a boutique in New York called Blue Tree.the shop specializes in "often unexpected" gifts. A Yelp reviewer calls the high-end shop a "museum of cool."
