Ariana Clarice Richards is an American painter and former

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. She is best known for her role as

Lex Murphy The following is a list of fictional characters from Michael Crichton's 1990 novel ''Jurassic Park'', its 1995 sequel '' The Lost World'', and their film adaptations, ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (1997). Also inc ...

in the blockbuster film '' Jurassic Park''. Richards won several

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

s for her acting as a child, but as an adult has focused primarily on her art career.

Personal life

Richards's sister, Bethany, is an actress. Her maternal grandmother, who was of Italian ancestry, was a descendant of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

painter

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli (Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivari ...

. In addition to Italian, her maternal grandfather, William Otto Garrison's father, John, had English ancestry. Richards is a descendant of boxer John L. Sullivan, who had Irish ancestry. Richards married Mark Aaron Bolton in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in January 2013; Bolton is an Irish immigrant, stunt performer, and a former soldier of the Irish Defence Forces. The couple have a daughter.

Acting

Richards made her acting debut in 1987's ''Into the Homeland'', a made-for-cable release that starred Powers Boothe. She also appeared as Mindy Sterngood in the first '' Tremors'' film and reprised her role in the second sequel '' Tremors 3: Back to Perfection'', which went

straight-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was ...

. Her most notable appearance was as

in the first '' Jurassic Park'' film; she reprised the role briefly in the sequel '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park''. She has been featured in other films such as '' Angus'', where she played a high school cheerleader; she also appeared on television episodes of '' The Golden Girls'', ''

Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...

'' and ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and fami ...

''. In addition to acting in movies, Richards appeared in the 1997 music video " Brick" by Ben Folds Five, portraying a high school student having an abortion. She appeared in the September 2006 issue of the British movie magazine ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' discussing a possible return to acting. Richards starred in the 2013 film Battledogs, shot in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. In February 2014, Richards was voted No. 98 on VH1's 100 Greatest Child Stars.

Awards

* Favourite Newcomer – Japan: ''Jurassic Park'' (1994)-Won * Favourite Newcomer – Australia: ''Jurassic Park '' (1994)-Won * Favourite Newcomer – United Kingdom: ''Jurassic Park '' (1994)-Won *

Bambi Award The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and oth ...

: ''Jurassic Park'' (1993)-Won *

– Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture: ''Jurassic Park'' (1993)-Won *

– Best Young Actress in a Television Movie: ''Locked Up: A Mother's Rage'' (1992)-Won *

– Best Young Actress in a Television Movie: ''Switched At Birth'' (1991)-Won

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Music

On December 17, 1993, Richards released a CD album ''First Love'' on the

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

label in Japan. The album was released only in Japan and is rare and out-of-print. The tracks from the CD can be viewed on the YouTube channel of Philip Jennelle. The album was a mix between teen-pop and dance-friendly ballads of the early 1990s. There was also a single released in very small volume. Ariana and her mother wrote the words to the track "You're The Reason". 15 years later, Richards returned briefly to the world of music in September 2008 and released a cover version of

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

's "The Prayer" in a duet with Chris M. Allport, whom she has known since a young age.

Art

Richards has become a successful artist. Her paintings, usually of landscapes and figures, tend to be in the style of the

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. In October 2005, she won first place in the National Professional Oil Painting Competition (sponsored by ''American Artist'' magazine) for the painting ''Lady of the Dahlias''. As of 2013 Richards lived in Salem, Oregon, and was apprenticing under a professional painter.

Awards

*'' Art of the West''s Award of Excellence (2006) * The National Professional Oil Painting Competition (2005)

References

External links

Gallery Ariana
��Ariana Richards' art gallery website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Ariana Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women artists Actresses from California Actresses from Salem, Oregon American child actresses American child singers American film actresses American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American people of Norwegian descent American television actresses American women painters Art Center College of Design alumni Artists from Salem, Oregon Painters from California People from Healdsburg, California Pony Canyon artists Singers from California Skidmore College alumni Western Oregon University alumni 21st-century American singers Year of birth missing (living people)