Kyle Richards recently captured the internet’s attention when fans discovered her early, nearly unrecognizable role in a legendary, award-winning television series.
Richards, at 57, is famed for her role as the glamorous and dramatic personality on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. However, she initially made a mark with audiences through her performances in iconic films and series like Halloween in 1978 and Little House on the Prairie between 1975 and 1982.
Interestingly, a lesser-known stint in a 25-time Golden Globe-winning drama has flown under the radar: Richards shared the screen with Noah Wyle in ER.
In ER, Richards took on the role of the assertive Nurse Dori Kerns, appearing without her now-famous hair extensions, fake tan, and designer wardrobe, across 21 episodes starting in the show’s fifth season in 1998.
In her portrayal, Kerns interacted with the series’ biggest stars, including Wyle, who played Dr. John Carter, Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, and Julianna Margulies as Nurse Manager Carol Hathaway.
Richards’ appearance in nurse attire was a stark departure from her lavish Los Angeles image, prompting fans to jest that she looks younger today than she did back then.
Kyle Richards’ fans were left stunned as the star’s early – and unrecognizable – appearance in an iconic multi-award-winning show went viral.
Richards, 57, known to today’s audiences as the drama-inducing, glamorous star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, first captivated viewers with a series of roles in classics, including Halloween in 1978 and Little House on the Prairie from 1975 to 1982
Others added: ‘Holy mother of all glow-ups.’
While Richards was a rookie on the established ER set, she previously spoke about her connection to show heartthrob George Clooney, who played Dr Doug Ross.
She told People: ‘The first day I was on the set of ER my friend said to me, “I can’t believe you’re going to see George again, that’s so cool.”
‘And I was like, “What do you mean?” And she started talking about this trip we went on and I was like, “Wait a minute, that George was George Clooney, the Sexiest Man Alive on PEOPLE magazine?!”
‘I never put two and two together. I was friends with him when I was a teenager. So that first day I was shooting ER, he came up to me and he was like, “Hey, how are you?”
‘I was like, “I cannot believe he remembered and I didn’t. This is so embarrassing.” He was just so sweet and down to earth. So lovely.’
Long before RHOBH, Richards was a child actress who starred in the 1978 horror classic Halloween.
Richards played the tenacious Nurse Dori Kerns – sans her now-signature hair extensions, fake tan and designer outfits – in 21 episodes of the show, debuting in the show’s fifth season in 1998. Above, with Noah Wyle as Dr John Carter
Richards with Shane West as Dr Ray Barnett in ER’s 11th season
Richards shared the screen with Julianna Margulies as Nurse Manager Carol Hathaway
Long before RHOBH, Richards was a child actress who starred in the 1978 horror classic Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis
Richards had a daughter, Farrah, 36, with her first husband, Guraish Aldjufrie. The reality star had Alexia, 29, Sophia, 25, and Portia, 17, with estranged husband Mauricio Umansky
She returned as her character, Lindsey Wallace, in the Halloween reboot trilogy.
‘When I was in Halloween, I was just eight years old. I didn’t know what I was doing until I saw it, then I was like What on God’s green Earth…’ Richards previously said.
Writer Danny McBride added they were trying to ‘find characters that have been established in John Carpenter’s original and finding ways to keep them involved in the story.’
Richards added, ‘It just felt so good, all these people from the original movie coming together again.
Curtis previously raved about Richards’ acting in a 2019 interview where she said, ‘She is so great that it’s going to be so fun for her audience, who now is used to [knowing] her for her TV show – they are going to be so happy to [see] an actress again.’
‘She is absolutely fantastic and so beautiful that, you know, she gets very … distressed in this movie in every way,’ Curtis added.
‘Emotionally, physically, environmentally, and she just completely let that other life and just came and shot for three, four weeks and was amazing. People are going to be bonkers about her.’
