Kyle Egan Richards, socialite, actress, television personality, and philanthropist, has grown up amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
Starring in her first major role at only 6, Richards grew up among the affluent in Los Angeles. Her father, a wealthy business executive, and her mother, a casting director, held a considerable amount of resources that launched Richards to stardom.
Initially, the Richards home may have appeared ideal in terms of wealth, talent, and fame; however, a cursory glance into the dynamics of the family tells a different story. Although materialistically, the Richards girls likely never wanted for anything, a troubled home life followed them into adulthood.
Early Life in Los Angeles
The stormy relationship between Richards’ parents can be denoted in the fact that they remarried twice after their initial separation in 1972. Her father, Ken Richards was already married with two children when he met her mother, Kathy Dugan.
Throughout the course of her life, Dugan took four husbands and had three daughters: Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, and Kathy Hilton. Dugan is said to have frequented upscale bars and lounges in the area in search of a wealthy husband–purportedly, she also pressured her daughters to follow a similar path.
Hilton, Kathy’s eldest daughter and half-sibling of the Richards girls, went on to marry Rick Hilton of luxury real estate firm, Hilton and Hyland. She would also become a mother to Paris and Nicky Hilton.
In this respect, Dugan’s perhaps well-intentioned advice served well, however, for the Richards girls, it resulted in early marriages that didn’t last. Both Kim and Kyle have been married twice; both of Kim’s marriages were short-lived, while Kyle has been with her husband since 1996.
When Jerry Oppenheimer wrote ‘House of Hilton’ in 2006, details regarding the personal home life of the girls surfaced in a way they hadn’t before: “Kim was just a few months old, according to Oppenheimer’s book, when her driven stage mother put her to work — in a TV commercial for a rug company, in which baby Kim was seen crawling around on one of the company’s plush rugs”
This apparently was what led Dugan to become a stage mom, with an aim to make her younger two children into TV and movie stars. The Oppenheimer book characterizes Dugan as “a materialistic stage mother from hell.”
As a young girl, Kyle began her acting career in “Little House on the Prairie’ at age 6. Kyle worked steadily in movies and TV up through 1990, with at least one major project every year from age 6 to age 21.
Kyle became famous for her roles in nail-biting films such as the 1978 production of ‘Halloween’ and the 1980 film ‘The Watcher in the Woods’. These roles were so iconic to her career that she will be reprising her role as Lindsey in the ‘Halloween’ sequel, ‘Halloween Kills’, slated for release in 2021.
Later in her career, she would transition into her well-known roles on ‘ER’, ‘Days of Our Lives’, and of course, ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’.
Marrying Young and Rich
In 1988, at only 19, Kyle Richards married Guraish Aldjufrie. Unfortunately, their union was not to be, as the couple had one daughter, Farrah, then split in 1992.
In 1996, Kyle married founder and CEO of The Agency, Mauricio Umansky. Umansky is with whom Kyle makes her 2010 appearance on ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’.
To this day, Kyle regularly posts on her social media about Umansky, referring to him as her soulmate.
Privileged yet Troubled
While money likely never put the Richards family in dire straits, Kyle and her sisters still grew up with adversity. Kyle, Kim, and Kathy were all deeply impacted by their parent’s transgressions, which followed them into adulthood.