Kyle Richards Biography

Kyle Richards photo
Kyle Richards

Date of Birth: January 11, 1969

Kyle Richards began her career at a very young age. When she was still a baby, her older sister Kim Richards already had a starring role on the popular 1970s TV series Nanny and the Professor. When Kim was cast at the age of 10 in the Disney feature film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Kyle was cast as the younger version of Kim's character in flashback sequences. The role was uncredited, but soon after, Kyle was cast in a two-part episode of the popular TV drama Little House on the Prairie. The role became a recurring one and she appeared in several more episodes over the course of 1976 and 1977.

In the meantime, she also played Kim's sister (and James Brolin's daughter) in the horror movie The Car (1977), played the role of Lindsey in the horror movie Halloween (1978), and made guest appearances on popular TV series such as Police Woman, Fantasy Island and Vega$. In 1979, she played a recurring role on the TV series Carter Country, which starred Victor French, who'd played her adopted father on Little House on the Prairie.

A more sombre and serious little girl than her sister Kim, it seemed that she was a favorite choice for horror movies, when she was again cast in a scary movie, this time starring alongside Bette Davis in The Watcher in the Woods (1980).

Her roles seemed to be dwindling when in 1983, she didn't work at all. However, the following year she had a break when she was cast on the TBS sitcom Down to Earth, playing the daughter of Dick Sargent's (famous for being the second Darrin on the classic sitcom Bewitched) character. The series ran three years to 1987, bringing Kyle through the awkward adolescent years. Two more years passed before she landed roles in a couple of small budget films: Curfew (1989) and Escape (1989), the latter which starred her sister Kim and which was written and produced by Kim's husband at the time, G. Monty Brinson.

In her late teens, Kyle married Guraish Aldjufrie, and had a daughter, Farrah, who was born October 31, 1988. The marriage ended in divorce in 1992, and Kyle married second husband Mauricio Umansky on January 20, 1996. She returned to work in 1998, landing guest appearances on the TV series Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher and Love Boat: The Next Wave, as well as a recurring role as Nurse Dori on the hit medical TV series ER. She continued to appear in occasional episodes over the course of the series, until 2006.

In 2010, she was cast on the reality TV series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, alongside her sister Kim.

In 2018, Kyle helped create and produce the Paramount Network series American Woman, starring Alicia Silverstone in a role based on Kyle's mother.

In addition to her daughter from her first marriage, Kyle also has three daughters with her second husband, to whom she is still happily married. She said in a recent interview that she doesn't regret her years of child stardom.

Filmography:
The Hungover Games (2014)
National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2006)
Escape (1989)
Curfew (1989)
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
Halloween (1978)
The Car (1977)
Eaten Alive (1976)
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
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