She was a badass before you were a badass. When Mackenzie Phillips first appeared onscreen in a small but unforgettable part as a mopey teen opposite a supercool Paul Le Mat in American Graffiti, she looked to be at the start of a long career as a talented actress. In this one role, she basically wrote the book on teen angst. Later, she even brought some of that genuine adolescent confusion and rebellion as high-schooler Julie Cooper to the not-very-good sitcom One Day at a Time. But her private life was waaaayyyy more dramatic than any of her roles. We've all heard the shocking — and it's not easy to shock in 2009 — accusations of incest with her rock-star father, John Phillips, in her autobiography High on Arrival. Some say you can't trust the words of a self-claimed heroin addict, but that would make Phillips' Oprah appearance her most amazing performance yet.

Sun., Oct. 25, 6 p.m., 2009

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