Phoebe Cates Uttered One of Television's Most Iconic Lines Miniseries in “Lace”, 42 Years Ago
Phoebe Cates Uttered One of Television's Most Iconic Lines Miniseries in “Lace”, 42 Years Ago
Angela AndaloroFri, February 27, 2026 at 9:29 PM UTC
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Bess Atmstrong (Judy Hale), Phoebe Cates (Elizabeth "Lili" Lace), Brooke Adams (Jennifer "Pagan" Trelawney), Arielle Dombasle (Maxine Pascal)Credit: Walt Disney Television Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty -
Phoebe Cates starred as Elizabeth "Lili" Lace in the 1984 miniseries Lace
The two-part drama followed Lili's quest to get to know her birth mother, narrowing the possibilities down to a group of three boarding school friends
Cates' performance as Lili was praised, particularly for delivering one of TV's most memorable lines
Phoebe Cates delivered a line that has lingered in television history
The actress, 62, starred as Elizabeth "Lili" Lace in the miniseries Lace, which first aired on ABC on Feb. 26 and 27, 1984.
The story centers around Lili's search for her birth mother. Lili discovers that a group of women living at a prestigious boarding school, the same one she had attended thanks to an unknown benefactor, was responsible for covering up the circumstances around her birth.
The group of three friends —Jennifer "Pagan" Trelawney, Judy Hale and Maxine Pascal — were close friends who supported each other and worked together to keep one of the three's pregnancy quiet. The women, who thought the child died in a car accident decades before, are forced to reckon with the truth.
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Lili shares her story. She had been involved in a car accident, after which her parents were killed by soldiers. She was then taken to a detention camp, where she lived for a decade before escaping and finding her way to fame as an actress. She tries to entice the women into telling the truth by offering them each something out of their reach, but well within hers.
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In a scene toward the end of the first part, Lili lays down the law. After gathering together for a funeral, during which each woman realizes they others had connected with Lili more than it seemed, Lili sits the three down and says, "Incidentally... which one of you bitches is my mother?"
In 1993, TV Guide named the astonishing moment the best line delivered on television, as they looked back on 40 years of television history in a special issue.
While part two finally delivered answers, it was that part one moment that got audiences talking and led Lace to be one of the highest-rated television movies of that year.
The energy and success of Lace led ABC to try duplicating it with Lace II in 1985. It leaned into the iconic line in the first miniseries by giving the second the marketing tagline, "Which one of you bastards is my father?"
Lace II failed to land with audiences, who considered it a repetition of what worked in the first iteration. There was also criticism over the handling of a sexual assault storyline, upsetting viewers. Ultimately, it brought in only half the viewers of the first miniseries.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
