“I’ve done a lot of
horror movies,”
says Richards
(with Jamie Lee
Curtis in 1978’s
Halloween). “But
this is the one
people always
want to talk
about.”y
voice and drank
champagne out of
a silver goblet,” says
Richards of Bette
Davis, her co-star in
1980sThe Watcher
In the Woods.“She had a scaryong before she became
a Real Housewife,Kyle
Richards was paying
her dues in Hollywood,
working as a child actor
in more than 30 films and
TV shows, includingLittle
House on the Prairieand
Halloween.Growing up
in front of the camera was
“all I ever knew,” says Richards, 49. “I have no
memory of my life before television.”
Now the mother-of-four—who has
been married to real-estate agent Mauricio
Umansky, 47, for 22 years—is behind the
camera, co-executive producing a drama
series,American Woman, inspired by her
“unconventional” childhood with her
mother, Kathleen Richards, who died of
breast cancer in 2002 at the age of 63.
“My mother was a single mom in the ’70s,
raising kids on her own,” says Richards. “It was
a crazy, fun, reckless time, and she was very
opinionated and outspoken. I wanted to make
a show about women coming into their own
and finding their voice.”
Kyle’s sister Kim Richards, 53, who was
herself a child star, has been supportive, but
oldest sister Kathy Hilton, 59, voiced concern
about the project.
“I would never tell anyone else’s stories,”
says Richards, who insists the show isn’t
autobiographical. Still, it has strained her
relationship with Kathy, whose daughters
are Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Rothschild.
Says Richards: “I hope when she sees the
show, she’ll understand. I love my sisters,
and I would never do anything to disrespect
them or embarrass them. I feel bad
about that.”She went from 1970s child
actress to reality TV queen.
How family put Kyle on
the path to fame
OLLYWOOD
My
story
REAL
HOUSEWIFEKyleRichardsOn the show,
“I’m just myself,
and I’m not
embarrassed about
it,” says Richards
(with Camille
Grammer and Lisa
Vanderpump).Who l 43