Denise Richards Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Drop Dead Gorgeous: Denise Richards

EARLY LIFE

Denise Lee Richards was born on February 17, 1971, in Downers Grove, Illinois, United States of America. She was older among two daughters of Joni Lee, a coffee shop owner, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer. She has a younger sister, Michelle. She was brought up in both Mokena and Downers Grove and was raised as a Roman Catholic. Her family relocated to Oceanside, California, when she was 15 years old.

Denise Richards completed her high school graduation from El Camino High School, Oceanside, California in 1989. Both the sisters were active in sports while studying in the high school. Denise played as the only girl on the boy’s baseball team. After the completion of her high school graduation, she was signed by a modeling agent. The contract enabled her to travel to big cities like Paris, Tokyo and New York, etc. to do photo shoots and commercials.

CAREER

After having traveled to a selected few big cities of the world on modeling assignments, Denise Richards moved to Los Angeles and started giving auditions for acting in Television and Film industry. She appeared as an actor in some low budget films and television shows during the major part of the 1990s including ‘Saved By the Bell,’ ‘Married With Children,’ ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Melrose Place’ and ‘Friends.’ She gained wide attention after having starred in the 1997 big-budget film ‘Starship Troopers.’ The film directed by Paul Verhoeven earned over $120 million in worldwide Box office revenue collection, and Denise was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer for her performance in the movie.

Denise Richards followed the success of Starship Troopers in her next film, where she appeared as an affluent girl of devious nature in the 1998 erotic thriller ‘Wild Things.’ She starred opposite Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon in this film and proved her mettle in portraying characters not conforming to the traditional good girl type roles. It was an unusual role which was signified by its manipulative villainess, which according to the critics was beautifully characterized by Denise in ‘Wild Things.’ In the same year, she appeared in a music video for the Blues Traveler song "Canadian Rose."

Denise Richards landed a coveted role as a Bond girl in the 1999 James Bond film ‘The World Is Not Enough,’ where she played the role of nuclear physicist Christmas Jones opposite Pierce Brosnan. Though she considered her role as intelligent, athletic and one that had a depth of character, she was sorely criticized for her credibility in the film and was ranked as one of the worst Bond girls of all time by the Entertainment Weekly in 2008. She was also chosen as the "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 1999 Razzie Awards for her role in the film.

However, her pride was restored to some extent when Denise Richards was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actress – Action, for the same film. In the same year, she starred alongside Kirsten Dunst in the beauty pageant satire, ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous.’ She received some favourable reviews for her role of a spoiled princess in this film including appreciative comments from the Los Angeles Times. 

In the new millennium, Denise Richards continued to star in different television shows as well as in various movies. Her filmography includes ‘Valentine’ (2001), ‘Undercover Brother’ (2002), ‘The Third Wheel’ (2002), ‘You Stupid Man’ (2002), ‘Love Actually’ (2003), ‘Scary Movie 3’ (2003) and many more such films. She was also portrayed as a sex symbol in some of these films especially in Valentine, Undercover Brother and Scary Movie 3.

In 2004, Denise Richards posed nude for the Playboy magazine, five months after the birth of her first child. Her semi-nude picture appeared in the July 2006 issue of Jane magazine. The photo was posted to raise money for the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation. She was ranked 9th in Maxim's 50 Sexiest Women in 1999 and 2001 she was voted 2nd in FHM's USA 100 Sexiest Women, 5th in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women and 19th in AskMen.com's 50 Most Beautiful Women. She was designated as one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health. 

Denise Richards participated in the 8th season of the dancing reality show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ partnering with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She was eliminated from the show on March 24, 2009. She appeared in a Television reality show ‘Denise Richards: It's Complicated’ during 2008-2009. During 2010-2011, Denise regularly appeared in the Spike comedy series ‘Blue Mountain State.’ 

PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY

After having met actor Charlie Sheen on the sets of Loaded Weapon 1 in 1991, Denise Richards got engaged to him on December 26, 2001. Later, Denise and Sheen tied the nuptial knot on June 15, 2002. The marriage ceremony was held at the estate of Spin City creator Gary David Goldberg and followed the Roman Catholic traditions. The couple was blessed with two daughters, Sam J. Sheen and Lola Rose Sheen. However, on November 30, 2006, their marriage was finally annulled after more than a year-long controversy over the stability of their marriage. Their dispute continued over the custody of their daughters and subsequent well being of them for a reasonably long time.

Denise is a vocal supporter of gay marriage and confessed to having a lesbian affair during a radio interview. In July 2011, she published an autobiography ‘The Real Girl Next Door.’ The memoir went on to become a New York Times Best Seller.