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Nicole Camille Richie (born September 21, 1981) is an American actress, author, celebutante, and an aspiring singer. The adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, she is perhaps best known for her role in the reality television show The Simple Life.

Biography

Early life and family

Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California.^[1] Because of her birth surname, she is well-rumored to be the biological daughter of Afro-Latin American Mexican percussionist Peter Escovedo III; however, her birth father has not been identified publicly. Her birth mother has been identified only as a woman who was employed as a backstage assistant on Lionel Richie's 1980 world tour; Escovedo was a member of Richie's band. In a November 15, 2005 CNN interview with Ryan Seacrest, Richie stated that her birth father (whom she declined to identify) was not a member of Lionel's band. Richie still speaks with her biological mother but has no contact with her biological father. Richie also denied that Escovedo was her biological father in a November 2005 Jane magazine interview.^[2]

Lionel Richie first met Nicole as a child playing tambourine on stage at a Prince concert. Richie became her guardian.^[3] At age 2, Nicole went to live with Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda Harvey-Richie, who began to raise her as their daughter. When she was three years old, Nicole began attending weekly sessions with a psychotherapist and remained in therapy throughout her childhood. She was legally adopted by the Richie's when she was nine. Shortly after the adoption was formalized, Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge.^[4] The Richie's went through a highly-publicized, bitterly acrimonious split, and as a result, indulged Nicole's every whim. "Their way of making me happy was to say yes to everything I wanted, but I don't think a little girl should have that much freedom," said Richie in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.^[5] Lionel Richie remarried following the divorce, and through him, Nicole has two younger half-siblings, Myles (born 1994) and Sofia (born 1998).^[6]

Richie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, daughter of Marvin Davis and mother of Brandon Davis. Richie's godfathers are Michael Jackson^[7] and Quincy Jones. Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known [Nicole Richie] since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl. When she was younger she worked eight hours a day for eight years to become an Olympic figure skater. She's a very talented girl."^[8]

From a very early age Richie became involved in alcohol and substance abuse. Richie herself has openly admitted that she smoked marijuana at the age of 13, then progressed to cocaine a year later. At 19, she was injecting heroin.^[9]

Education

In addition to figure skating, Richie studied the guitar, cello, violin, and piano. In 1986, she started kindergarten at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California where she met Paris Hilton. Richie graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in 1999. She also studied Arts and Media for two years at the University of Arizona.^[7]

Career

Acting

Main article: The Simple Life

Season 1 DVD Cover, a parody of American Gothic

In 2003, Richie and best friend Paris Hilton starred in Season 1 of the reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. The series debuted on FOX on December 2, 2003, to high ratings. The premiere episode drew 13 million viewers, increasing FOX's Adults 18-49 rating to 79%.^[10]

In Season 2, The Simple Life 2: Road Trip, the girls traveled the South driving a pink pick-up and living in a trailer. The girls had no money, credit cards or cell phones and were required to work various jobs during their trip to earn money. Their jobs included farmworkers, mermaids in an underwater show, hotel maids, sausage makers, crawfishers, working for a baseball team, working in a beauty salon, Deputy Sheriffs, and working on a cattle ranch. The girls also stayed with different families or in trailer parks and on one occasion, a nudist resort.

In Season 3, The Simple Life 3: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 15 different families' houses. Unlike Season 2, the girls did not have a swanky home on wheels and instead were traveling around the north-east in a regular Greyhound bus that was also ferrying normal members of the public that were traveling to the same destination.

In late 2005, FOX chose not to renew The Simple Life, explaining that they didn't see a place for it in their schedule.^[11] A month later, cable network E! picked up the series for its fourth season. The Simple Life 4: 'Til Death Do Us Part, followed the girls as they traveled around California, acting as wife and mother to various families, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen.^[12]

The Simple Life 5: The Simple Life Goes To Camp, debuted on E! on May 28, 2007, with Hilton and Richie reconciling on Richie's birthday in the season opener. For Season 5, Hilton and Richie worked as counselors at Camp Shawnee. The camp was host to five different specialty groups: Wellness Camp, Pageant Camp, Couples Camp, Survival Camp and Drama Camp, with two episodes focused on each specialty group.

Although Season 4 was a hit for E!, drawing nearly one million viewers per episode, Season 5 saw a sharp decline in ratings. While the premiere episode and ones that followed during this season drew about the same viewership, by the 7th episode the ratings had declined to around 700,000 viewers. It was announced on July 30, 2007 that the show would not be renewed for a sixth season.^[13]

In 2005, Richie made her acting debut in the comedic drama Kids in America. Richie has guest starred in television series including Eve, Six Feet Under and American Dreams, and Chuck.^[14]

In July 2008, plans were announced to turn Richie's 2005 novel, The Truth About Diamonds, into a television series.^[15]

Writing

Main article: The Truth About Diamonds

In 2005, Richie wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds, which was released by Bharell Jackson Publishing. The novel is loosely based on her life, but is mostly fictional. It chronicles the life of Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a singer who makes her way through all of the hottest nightclubs and parties in Hollywood and battles a drug addiction.^[16] In early January 2006, The Truth About Diamonds peaked at number #32 in Hardcover Fiction on The New York Times Best-Seller List.^[17]

Designer

In April 2007, Richie announced plans to start a jewelry, accessories, and sunglasses line along with a perfume and style book.^[18] In June 2008, she announced plans to launch House of Harlow, a jewelry line that will expand into children's wear and accessories.^[19]

Music

Richie was a member of the rock band "Darling" in 2004 along with Josie Maran and Soleil and Sofia Alberti.^[16] A year later she made her musical debut on The View playing the piano. Since 2005, Richie has been working on her debut album. A release date has not yet been announced.^[16]

In 2004, she auditioned for the part of Maureen in the popular Broadway hit, Rent, but did not get the part. In 2008 she was offered the lead role in the hit musical Chicago as Roxie Hart.^[20]

A source told Life & Style that 7 tracks have been completed on her debut album. Among the completed tracks is a cover of Prince's 1982 classic "Do Me, Baby" plus two tracks specially dedicated to her young family, boyfriend Joel Madden and daughter Harlow Winter Kate Madden who was born in January this year. The song for Joel will be called "Me and You".

Public image

Personal life

In April 2005, reports surfaced that Richie and longtime friend Paris Hilton were no longer speaking. Hilton commented on the reports stating, "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it."^[21]Neither Richie nor Hilton ever spoke publicly about the cause of the split. The two eventually reconciled in September 2006.^[22]

In early 2006, Richie made headlines with a dramatically thinner appearance, after spending two seasons of The Simple Life slightly heavier than her usual weight.^[23] In May she told Vanity Fair, "I know I'm too thin right now, so I wouldn't want any young girl looking at me and saying, 'That's what I want to look like.'"^[24] She also said, "I started seeing a nutritionist and a doctor. I was scared that it could be something more serious."^[25] During this time it was reported that she had also sought the help of a psychiatrist and a personal trainer.^[26] Later that year, in September, Richie stated "I am not anorexic. I am not bulimic. I do not have an eating disorder." ^[26] On October 27, 2006, it was announced that Richie was seeking treatment for "an inability to put on weight," though it is not treatment for an eating disorder.^[26]

In March 2007, Richie was taken to the hospital for dehydration. On March 21 her reps announced she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia.^[27]

Richie has had a string of high-profile relationships. She dated DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) from 2003 to 2005, and they broke up after a nine-month engagement.^[28] Richie was also briefly linked to childhood friend Brody Jenner of MTV's The Hills.^[29]

Richie's highest profile relationship thus far has been with Joel Madden, of the band Good Charlotte, an ex-boyfriend of Hilary Duff. Duff's song "Gypsy Woman" garnered media attention independently from the album when it was rumored to be about Richie. This speculation, which was reported in sources such as MSNBC and Radar magazine, also involved another song on the album, Dignity.^[30][31][32] Radar suggested that a line in the song, "Enjoy the fame, bringing down the family name," refers to Richie's famous father Lionel Richie.^[32] Duff admitted that songs on the album were about ex-boyfriend Madden, but insisted that she has nothing but "good feelings" toward him and Richie. "She seems like a nice person," Duff said.^[33]

On July 31, 2007, Richie confirmed that she and boyfriend Joel Madden were expecting a child, due in early January 2008.^[34] She gave birth to 6 lb (2.7 kg). 7 oz daughter Harlow Winter Kate Richie-Madden on January 11, 2008 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In February 2008, Richie introduced her daughter, Harlow, in People magazine.^[35] Richie and Joel Madden also pose in the photos, for which People reportedly paid $1 million.^[36] "She gives life a whole new meaning and a whole new purpose," Richie tells the magazine of Harlow, adding that she's ready to "move on" from her days as a wild child.^[37]

Legal problems

The booking photo of Richie from December 2006

In February 2003, Richie was arrested in Malibu, California and charged with possession of heroin while driving with a suspended driver's license.^[38]

On December 11, 2006, Richie was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after she failed a field sobriety test. She was charged with driving under the influence on State Route 134 in the Burbank/Glendale, California area. Several motorists had reported a black Mercedes-Benz G-Class entering the SR134 freeway on the exit ramp and traveling in the wrong direction.^[39] She admitted to using marijuana and Vicodin before the incident.^[39] July 27, 2007, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail,^[40] but served only about 82 minutes of the sentence as Richie checked herself into the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California on August 23, 2007 at 15:15 PDT and was released at 16:37 PDT.^[41]

A spokeswoman for the sheriff's department told People magazine that Richie "was released early due to overcrowding in the jail system. This is standard procedure for nonviolent offenders." After spending 82 minutes in jail Richie was "Of course pleasantly surprised to be released so quickly," said her attorney.^[42]

Richie signed up for an 18-month SB 38 anti-drinking driver education program, according to papers filed with the Superior Court of California.^[43]

Charity

In November 2007, Richie and Joel Madden created The Richie Madden Children's Foundation.^[44] The foundation supports programs that "provide immediate aid and seek out programs that are addressing the underlying causes of suffering and provide sustainable solutions."^[45]

Filmography

Discography

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of celebrities who have been Punk'd on Seasons 1 to 5

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Nicole Richie

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Nicole Richie

• Official website of The Richie-Madden Foundation
• Nicole Richie at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicole Richie at TV.com