Birth Name:
Nicole Camille Escovedo
Full Name:
Nicole Camille Richie
Known As:
Nicole Richie
Born:
September 21, 1981
Birth Place:
Berkeley, California
Early Life:
Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California. Her biological father was a drummer who worked with Lionel Richie; her biological mother was a backstage assistant for Lionel. It is rumored that her biological father is musician Pete Escovedo (brother of musician Sheila E.), but Richie denied this in a November 2005 interview with Jane magazine. When Nicole was two, Lionel and his wife Brenda Harvey-Richie informally adopted her and raised her as their daughter. When she was nine, they went through the legal formalities of the adoption; she still speaks with her biological mother. Richie says of her heritage that she is a "mix of everything", and self-identifies as African American. Her godfathers are Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones.
A year later, Lionel and Brenda split, and in their guilt over the separation, "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.
Richie has studied the guitar, cello, violin, piano, and figure skating . Richie attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California. She also attended the University of Arizona to study Arts and Media for two years after graduating from Montclair Prep High School. Quincy Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known her 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."
The Simple Life:
Richie and heiress Paris Hilton starred in the 2003 reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. In the second season, The Simple Life 2: Road Trip, the girls traveled the American South driving a pink pick-up and living in a trailer. In the third season The Simple Life 3: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 15 different families' houses.
In late 2005, FOX chose not to renew The Simple Life, explaining that they didn't see a place for it in their schedule. A month later, cable network E! picked up the fourth season, The Simple Life 4: 'Til Death Do Us Part, in which the girls traveled around California, acting as the mother of the family, raising kids for a day and acting as a wife to the father, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen. The fifth season, The Simple Life 5: 'The Simple Life Goes To Camp, debuted on E! on May 28th 2007. |
