Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards lost her father in 1998. The same year, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away four years later in March 2002.

The deaths of her parents left a lasting impression on Richards and she has put effort into honoring them and their legacy through various works. Not only did she launch the annual Kyle Richards Mammogram Day on 24th October, but her 2018 series American Woman is also inspired by her and her mother’s life.

Kyle Richards On Her Parents

Richards was born to father Kenneth Edwin Richards, a business executive, and mother Kathleen Mary Dugan on January 11, 1969. When the reality star was 10 years old, her mother found out her father was cheating on her.

At the time, Kathleen had little idea about finance but took it upon herself to ensure that Richards wouldn’t ever find herself in a similar situation. She got Richards a checkbook and allowed her to have her ‘unemployment checks’ from her TV shows.

She opened a checking account for me. She wanted me to take control and learn from a young age how to look after myself, because she didn’t like finding herself in that position in the 70s… It’s not easy being a single mom, whether you’re in the 70s or today!

In fact, American Woman, which Richards wrote and produced, starts with her mother finding out about her husband’s infidelity. She says the entire series resulted from her wanting to tell the stories about her mother.

Though the show is not autobiographical, it is loosely based on Richards’ childhood, her mother, and her sister. Kathy Hilton once expressed her worries that the show might be too personal.

Richards described her mother as a very strong woman and has imparted the values she learned from her later mother to her four daughters — Farrah Aldjufrie, Portia Umansky, Sophia Umansky, and Alexia Umansky.

My mom was a very strong, outspoken woman, and in that time, women weren’t supposed to be like that. Now it’s like, ‘boss lady’ — that’s a term now. But in the 70s, if you were strong and opinionated and outspoken, it was looked down upon. And my mom was that woman — very strong.

Who Is Kyle Richards Father?

Aside from some stories Richards shared about her parents and their divorce, not much is known about her father. Aside from him, Kathleen was also married three other times to Lawrence Avanzino, Jack Catain, and Richard Fenton.

Kathleen had two other daughters aside from Richards — Kathy and Kim.

Kyle Richards Honoring Her Mother Through Her Fight Against Breast Cancer

After losing her mother to cancer in 2002, Kyle has been working to bring more awareness about breast cancer and help other women avoid the same fate. She has urged other women repeatedly to take preventive measures against breast cancer.

Richards also partnered with Dr. Heather Richardson during Breast Cancer Awareness month for Annual Mammogram Day at the Bedford Breast Center on October 24, 2020, where women could get free mammogram screening.