Denise Lee Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has appeared in numerous films, including Starship Troopers (1997), Wild Things (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), The World Is Not Enough (1999) as Bond girl Christmas Jones, Valentine (2001), and Undercover Brother (2002). From 2008 to 2009, she starred on the E! reality show Denise Richards: It\'s Complicated. In 2010 and 2011, she was a series regular on the comedy Blue Mountain State. She is currently starring in the Bravo reality show, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, joining in the ninth season.\n', '

Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, to Joni, who owned a coffee shop, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer. Her ancestry is German and French. She has a younger sister, Michelle. Richards grew up in both Mokena and Downers Grove. When Richards was 15 years old, she and her family moved to Oceanside, California where in 1989 she graduated from El Camino High School. As a child, she was the "only girl on the baseball team". Richards was raised Roman Catholic. At the age of 15, she appeared in the U.S. version of the music video "The Captain of Her Heart" by Double. After her high school graduation, she began working as a model and traveled to big cities such as Paris, New York, and Tokyo to do photo shoots and commercials.\n', '

She spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in lower-budget films and television shows such as Saved by the Bell, television movies, and guest starring in episodes of several television shows such as Married... with Children (1991), a five-second walk through. She later made guest appearances in shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210 (1992), Seinfeld (1993), Lois and Clark (1994) and a guest-arc in Melrose Place (1996). Her first starring role in a wide theatrical release was Starship Troopers in 1997 for which Richards was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer. She followed this with a role in Wild Things. Variety praised Richards\' transition from good-girl-type roles to manipulative villainess and the review continued to include her as part of "an ensemble that appears to be enjoying the challenge of offbeat roles and unusual material. There\'s not a wrong note struck by the game group of players." In 1998, she appeared in the music video for the Blues Traveler song "Canadian Rose".\n', '

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