Since its inception in 2006, the Real Housewives franchise has become a lynchpin in the reality TV genre. Although The Real Housewives of Orange County technically came first, the diamond-clad women over in Beverly Hills have become the face of the franchise ever since blinding us with their bedazzled dollar bills in 2010. And speaking of faces of a franchise, Kyle Richards remains the only cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to have stuck with the show since day one.
With yet another season on the horizon, one can’t help but wonder what Kyle did before the show. We know she has a proclivity for fashion; when she’s not doling out thousands of dollars on a shopping spree with her girlfriends, she’s creating boutique stores and fashion lines. Did she always work in fashion? Did people even know her name before the show? Here’s what you should know.
Before Real Housewives, Kyle was a child actress
Believe it or not, Kyle’s claim to fame was starring in one of the most iconic, famous, lovable TV shows of all time Little House on the Prairie. She played Alicia Sanderson Edwards and appeared in nearly two dozen episodes across seven years. As a matter of fact, this writer’s father was one of the show’s screenwriters and has more than a few stories about seeing young Kyle doing her thing on set.
Kyle was six years old when she started Little House on the Prairie, but astonishingly, that was neither her first nor last acting role. The 1974 TV series Police Woman was her first. Between 1974 and 1990, she scored a total of 28 acting credits, according to IMDb, including the most recognizable role in her filmography: Halloween.
Kyle played Lindsey Wallace in the first Halloween movie, the young girl many will remember as the child Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode was forced to babysit after Annie Brackett (Nancy Loomis) decides she wants to go to a Halloween party with her boyfriend Paul, leaving them to face Michael Myers all alone. Kyle reprised the role 43 years later as the grown-up version of Lindsay in 2021’s Halloween Kills and 2022’s Halloween Ends.
Still, Halloween isn’t all that Kyle’s done. After 1990, she took a bit of an acting hiatus but then returned in 1999 to appear in TV series such as Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, and even ER. She was on the soap opera Days of Our Lives in 2013 and even appeared in How I Met Your Father in 2023.
No, she wasn’t always married to Mauricio
Because we’ve only ever known her as the wife to real estate mogul Mauricio Umansky, it’s tricky to imagine Kyle as anything else other than that; she is, after all, known as a “Real Housewife.” In reality, Kyle was previously married to her first boyfriend Guraish Aldjufrie, with whom she had her daughter Farrah Brittany Aldjufrie at the age of 18. The marriage only lasted four years, and in 1990, the couple eventually divorced.
Kyle and Mauricio met in 1994 and married in January 1996. The pair were married for 27 years when, in 2023, it was announced that they had “separated,” according to People. Kyle denied accusations of a divorce in an Instagram post, although did allude to a “rough year.”
Being Paris Hilton’s aunt was her “in” to pop culture
Oh, you didn’t know Kyle Richards was Paris Hilton’s aunt? Well, there you go. Paris’ mom, Kathy Hilton, is Kyle’s older sister. Before she was on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Kyle was often spotted in specials about her niece (Paris was, after all, the most talked about celebrity of the town back then) and even made frequent visits to her reality TV series Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.
Thanks to Real Housewives, Kyle continues to be a presence in pop culture, but let it be known that she had a mighty leg up thanks to her uber-famous niece.
She can’t be a Housewife forever
Over a decade is a long time for anyone to stay with a TV show, let alone a reality TV show filled with as much drama as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. When Kyle made her debut, she was only 41 years old. Several seasons and cosmetic procedures later, she’s now in her mid-50s and undoubtedly nearing the end of her time on the show. Then again, if Kandi Burruss from The Real Housewives of Atlanta can manage to stay afloat for 15 seasons, so can Kyle.
When the fateful day that Kyle does eventually leave the franchise arrives, we can likely expect her to continue making appearances as a friend of the cast. However, with more time on her hands, she’ll surely keep her acting chops sharp with further appearances in movies and TV shows.
Let’s not forget she also has her clothing line Kyle x Shahida, which is still going strong as of this writing. She may have been only an actor before The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but now she’s that, a business owner, an entrepreneur, a socialite, and a television personality. Reality show or not, she’ll always take a page out of Rihanna’s book and shine bright like a diamond.