September 19: Happy Birthday Kim Richards

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https://lebeauleblog.com/2022/09/19/...-kim-richards/

Kim Richards, who is 58 today, is at the left in the above photo. Next to her is Todd Bridges, with Krista Errickson at the right and Dana Plato in back. Richards and Errickson played McLean Stevenson’s daughters on Hello Larry, while Bridges and Plato were regulars on Diff’rent Strokes; the occasion of the photo was a crossover episode between the two NBC sitcoms.

For anyone who only is familiar with the last 40 years or less of popular culture, Richards would be know as one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She was one of the original regulars on the Bravo reality series, along with her sister Kyle, Taylor Armstrong, Camille Grammer and others.



But those who remember the 1970s may remember Richards being all over TV and movie screens as one of that decade’s most prominent child actresses.

Richards, who was born on Long Island, made her first appearance in a commercial before she was one year old. Her first acting role was as Prudence Everett on the ABC sitcom Nanny and the Professor, which ran for 3 seasons beginning in 1970. She was also a regular on the short-lived Here We Go Again, and made a number of guest appearances on series like The F.B.I. and Little House on the Prairie.

Richards made her feature film debut in 1975, in Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain. She returned to the role of Tia Malone three years later in the sequel, Return from Witch Mountain, and also starred in Disney’s No Deposit, No Return. Richards also had a brief but memorable appearance in a decidedly non-Disney film, John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13.

In 1977, Richards was cast as a regular on the NBC drama series James at 15, as the title character’s younger sister. She made guest appearances on Police Story and Hizzoner!, and capped a busy decade when she starred as Ruthie Adler on Hello, Larry (also making three appearances as Ruthie on Diff’rent Strokes).

As the 1980s began, Richards continued to get TV guest appearances, but no new regular roles. She costarred in the mid-1980s features Meatballs, Part II and Tuff Turf, but then spent about 15 years almost totally out of the industry.

In the 2000s, Richards began making occasional film appearances again. She played Christina Ricci’s mother in Black Snake Moan, and had a cameo in the 2009 film Race to Witch Mountain, a loose remake of the 1975 film she had starred in.

Richards began appearing on Real Housewives in 2010 and was a regular for the show’s first five seasons. She was let go as a regular in 2015, after being arrested twice in a few months’ time, but has returned periodically for guest appearances.