Kathleen Elizabeth Hilton ( Avanzino; formerly Richards; born March 13, 1959) is an American socialite, fashion designer, actress, and television personality. She is the mother of socialite

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...

and fashion designer

Nicky Hilton Nicholai Olivia Rothschild ( Hilton, October 5, 1983) is an American socialite, fashion designer and model. She is a member of the Hilton family by birth, and a member of the Rothschild family through her marriage to James Rothschild, a grandso ...

Booth Moore
Special occasion calls for a twist with Kathy Hilton
''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', December 9, 2012 and the half sister of ''

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' (abbreviated ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has ...

'' stars

Kim Richards Kim Erica Richards (born September 19, 1964) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. She began her career as a child actress, and rose to prominence from her roles in '' Nanny and the Professor'', '' Escape to Witch Mount ...

and

Kyle Richards Kyle Richards Umansky (: born January 11, 1969) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. Since 2010, she has appeared as a main cast member on ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', and as of 2022, is the last remaining ...

. Since 2021, Hilton has also starred on that series.

Early life

Hilton is the daughter of Kathleen Mary (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Dugan) and Larry Avanzino. Her father's family comes from Italian ancestry while her mother's side comes from Ireland. Hilton's parents later divorced, and her mother married Kenneth E. Richards (1917–1998), who already had three grown children from a previous marriage, and had Hilton's two maternal half-sisters: actresses

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

and

. Hilton also has five paternal half-siblings from her father's remarriage. She graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in Los Angeles, where she became best friends with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

. They remained close friends until his death in 2009.

Acting career

In 1968, Hilton began working as a child actress, retiring in 1979. Notable appearances include ''

Nanny and the Professor ''Nanny and the Professor'' is an early 1970s American sitcom created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century-Fox Television that aired on ABC from January 21, 1970 until December 27, 1971. During pre-production, the proposed t ...

'', ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typ ...

,'' ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attemp ...

'', ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

'', and film appearances include ''The Dark'' and ''

On the Air Live with Captain Midnight ''On the Air Live with Captain Midnight'' is a 1979 American comedy-drama, comedy-drama film directed by Beverly Sebastian and Ferd Sebastian with Tracy Sebastian as Marvin Ziegler, also known as Captain Midnight (not to be confused with the Capta ...

''. On the May 13, 2008, episode of ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'', she made a cameo appearance as herself. In 2005, she hosted the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, ''

I Want To Be a Hilton ''I Want To Be a Hilton'' is a 2005 weekly NBC reality television series that was hosted by Kathy Hilton. The show featured people who ''"Wanted to be like a Hilton."'' The finalist of the competition receives a prize package that includes a $2 ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. She also appeared on ''

The World According to Paris ''The World According to Paris'' is an American reality television series focusing on the daily life of Paris Hilton. It aired on Oxygen from June 1, to July 20, 2011. On August 23, 2011, it was announced that Oxygen did not renew the series for a ...

'' in 2011. In June 2012, Hilton commented that she refuses to watch her half-sisters Kim and Kyle Richards on ''

'', stating they caused her to "break down in tears" over watching their lives "fall apart". In October 2020, it was revealed that Hilton would appear as a friend of the housewives for the eleventh season of the show. Her addition to the show was well received by the public and she soon became a fan favorite. In June 2021, ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' called her "already a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills legend", writing: "Bravo's only mistake in casting Kathy Hilton on the show is that they didn't do it sooner."

Business ventures

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Hilton operated her own gift and antiques store The Staircase on Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles. She debuted with 2002 merchandise sales on cable TV's QVC home shopping network. In 2007, she began selling a signature skincare line on HSN. Hilton launched a perfume called "My Secret" in 2008. Since 2012, she has designed the Kathy Hilton Collection of party dresses, sold in four hundred stores worldwide, including

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washingt ...

and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

.Marshall Heyman
Celebrating the Holidays With the Hiltons
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', December 2, 2012Maria Martin
Kathy Hilton is 54, fabulous – and frugal
''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'', August 7, 2013 In December 2020, Hilton and her daughters Paris and Nicky, modeled new Valentino 2021 resort collection in a photo series for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''.

Philanthropy

Kathy Hilton, Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards at NBC party at TCA

Hilton raised money for the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headquart ...

in 2007, by asking celebrities to auction some of their belongings and donating the proceeds to them. In 2011, alongside her two daughters, she received an award from the

Starlight Children's Foundation Starlight Children's Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982. Starlight's programs include providing hospital wear, games, and deliveries to hospitalized children. The programs are provided directly to children through Starlight's ne ...

at its 'A Stellar Night' Gala in

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...

, Los Angeles.

Personal life

Hilton married

Richard Hilton Richard Howard Hilton (born August 17, 1955) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and co-founder of Hilton & Hyland, a real estate brokerage firm based in Beverly Hills, California, that specializes in homes and estates in Beverly Hills, ...

on November 24, 1979 when she was 20 years old. They have four children:

(born 1981),

(born 1983), Barron Nicholas Hilton II (born 1989) and Conrad Hughes Hilton III (born 1994). Hilton has five grandchildren, three by Nicky and two by Barron."Barron Hilton and Wife Tessa Welcome Second Baby, Son Caspian: 'Over the Moon'
''People.'' September 6, 2022. The couple resides in

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Univers ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Kathy Living people 1959 births 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople Actors from Whittier, California Actresses from Los Angeles American fashion businesspeople American film actresses American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American socialites American television actresses Businesspeople from Los Angeles Conrad Hilton family Montclair College Preparatory School alumni Participants in American reality television series People from Bel Air, Los Angeles Philanthropists from California Richards family