Denise Richards
Richards in 2011, s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Denise Lee Richards
Place of Birth: Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 17, 1971
Ethnicity: German, French-Canadian, Irish, English, Welsh, distant Dutch
Denise Richards is an American actress and model. She became known in the late 1990s, after a string of films that highlighted her sex appeal, including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, The World Is Not Enough, and Valentine, among others.
Denise is the daughter of Joni and Irv Richards. Her family surname was originally Reichert. Her ancestry is German, French-Canadian, Irish, English, Welsh, and distant Dutch.
Several web sites have stated that Denise’s mother was of Croatian descent. This is not accurate.
Denise is married to Aaron Phypers. She has three children, including two with her former husband, actor Charlie Sheen.
Denise’s paternal grandfather was Irving Bernard Richards (the son of Theodore Reichert/Edward Richards and Theresa Cormier). Irving was born in Illinois. Theodore was born in Illinois, the son of Adam Reichert, a German immigrant, and of Frances Mary Breternitz/Preteinitz, who was born in Illinois, of German descent. Denise’s grandfather was born with the surname Reichert; the surname was later changed to Richards. Denise’s great-grandmother Theresa was also born in Illinois, the daughter of Albert Cormier, who was French-Canadian, and of Annie O’Neill, who was born in Illinois, to Irish parents.
Denise’s paternal grandmother was Dorothy M. Herron (the daughter of Fred Wesley Herron and Marguerite/Margaret A. Dando). Dorothy was born in Illinois. Fred was born in Illniois, the son of Simon Wesley Herron and Charlotte Lucretia Sperry, and was of mostly English ancestry, along with some distant Dutch roots. Marguerite was also born in Illinois, the daughter of Albert I. Dando and Margaret Loretta “Maggie” Broderick. Denise’s great-great-grandfather Albert’s parents, Meshack/Meshach Dando and Martha Swanborough, were born in Gloucester, England, and Aberystruth, Monmouthshire, Wales, respectively, while Denise’s great-great-grandmother Margaret’s parents, Richard Broderick and Mary Ann Gallagher, were Irish, with Richard being from Galway.
Denise’s maternal grandfather was James Donald Braden (the son of Robert Ernest Bradin and Rose Maude Baldwin). James was born in Michigan. Robert was the son of Robert F./Y. Bradin/Braden and Mary Welch. Rose was the daughter of Charles Albert “Bert” Baldwin and Lillian Viola Harris.
Denise’s maternal grandmother was Shirley Ann Kirkpatrick (the daughter of Mack/Mac Kirkpatrick and Florence Harriet Verta/Vietta/Vieta Parr). Shirley was born in Michigan. Mack was the son of Ephrim/Ephraim Kirkpatrick and Lydia Ida Graffins, who were from Pennsylvania. Florence was born in Canada, to English parents, James Parr and Mary Ann Cotterell.
Sources: Genealogies of Denise Richards (focusing on her father’s side) – https://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.geni.com
Birth record of Denise’s paternal grandfather, Irving Bernard Reichert/Richards – https://familysearch.org
Genealogies of Denise’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Simon Wesley Herron and Charlotte Lucretia Sperry – https://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Denise’s maternal grandmother, Shirley Ann (Kirkpatrick) Braden Lehmann – http://www.memorialsolutions.com
She looks more Croatian,than Welsh or French.Most Central/Eastern European women look the same..light slavic features.But then again you never know,because with the exception of some Italian,Greek and Spanish women,that are somewhat darker,most other Europians look the same and you can never tell the difference for sure.
Denise looks more Croatian?!!…. light slavic features?! ))) Jimmy,you’re in error
It’s one more stuff and nonsens about Slavs! In fact,it’s really hard to define what’s the difference between Slav people and other Europeans by appearance.
i think that there’s people who are even blinder than Steevy Wonder… or they smoke too much crack… a croatian face… yes there’s probably some croatian girls who looks like her… but as well some Austrian girls and some Belgian girls and even some (northern) Spanish girls… some Lituanian too… it does means nothing too say specially Croatian… Kosovar or Macedonian girls are closer to Croatian girls than most American girls…here is the truth
Kosovar (albanian) girs are closer to spanish,italian,greek,portuguese actually. Im a kosovar (albanian) and i know what we look like. We are not slavic (croat,serb,etc) we are just south east european.
Sorry but Albanian girls have NOTHING to do with italians, greeks etc lookwise. I can always tell if someones from Albania and you ppl have a very specific look about you. btw Croats aint entirely slavic hun. :)
Thats weird. I’ve witnessed a lot of people who are not albanian say it and in a way i agree. we look very similar to greeks and italians in particular. Similar skin tones and noses. Thats what i think.
Croatians don’t usually look light skinned and Croatians are from a very mixed heritage, it is NOT an entirely slavic nation at all. I know many many italians that are light skinned and blonde, mostly from northern Italy
I am being fussy now but Croatia is NOT Central or even Eastern Europe but Southeastern Europe :)
yeah but im saying all this based on the croats i’ve met and the fact that slavs in general are quite light featured. Technically croatia is in centeral europe, its not far off from the balkans but i dont think you can bring the south into this. I think its too far off.
shes part black too. i think one of her great grandparents. i know because there was a story a l0ng time ago about charlie sheen calling her the n word in an argument xD
To Kaboom
Careful what you say,you might get accused of trying to turn everyone black
No . . . but I did tell you that idiots only think she is part black because he called her the N word. Maybe not you . . . but others.
it can’ be true or completely wrong as well… to believe in Charlie is like ask to a sad clown to play Pinocchio…well…a judge won’t receive this as a proof …’cause Charlie was surely not that clean when he said that…
Who knows? Who cares? She is a white American, which encompasses many things. Let’s leave it at that.
She is no where near black. sorry
And it still doesn’t change the fact that on almost every actor’s board, you are saying that they are black.
To Dolphin
Don’t exaggerate,I barely been to 5% of the celebs on this site,however I can’t help if they do have it
Ok,so after a year I actually found a link which shows Denise’s Twitter response about her ethnicity.This is what I exactly seen on her Twitter on Fri, Oct 9, 2009 09:33:45 :
Denise Richards
@MelieMarjanovic no I’m not croatian..I’ve been there its beautiful..I’m french and german
1 Year Ago
Denise Richards
@MelieMarjanovic I know i’ve heard that before. My mother wasn’t from croatia, she was from Michigan:)
1 Year Ago
Here is the actual link: http://whocelebstweet.com/chatter/DENISE_RICHARDS/MelieMarjanovic/
So,I don’t know what the truth is about Denise’s ethnicity.Lots of sites say her mom has Croatian heritage,but nobody actually proves it.I would think Denise knows better what she is.
It wouldn’t be surprising at all that she’s part Croatian since she was born in Downer’s Grove Illinois. Northern Illinois has a lot of Easter Europeans, of them, many are Croation. Some Croatians have light features, others dark.
Croatia is NOT in Eastern Europe ffs