Superstar Couples

Everyone knows the “suffering,” of socialite and now prisoner Paris Hilton. A double meaning depending on the pro-Paris and anti-Paris camps.

But what do we know about her parents, Kathy Richards and Richard Hilton, who before Paris and her sister Nicky already hogging the limelight, and are celebrities in their own accord?

Kathy isn’t only Paris and Nicky’s mom but also mother to brothers Baron and Conrad, but she was a former actress as well. Okay, she tried acting but it didn’t work out. Unlike her more or less successful sisters Kim and Kyle, she was a better socialite. Perhaps, if she were chosen to replace Eve Plumb as Jan Brady on “The Brady Bunch,” her fate would have been different. The role went to Geri Reischl. Sister Kim was dubbed to be an adorable and a promising child actress in the ’70s.

It wasn’t known when and where did Kathy and Ricky meet but you could probably guess how.

On November 24, 1979, at the age of 19, she married the heir of the Hilton chain of hotels, Richard, or Ricky as we know him. It is somewhat a tradition in the Hilton family, that is, the Hilton men marry rising stars for their own (and perhaps, their business’) benefit. Richard’s grandfather, Conrad Hilton married Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1942. His uncle, Conrad Hilton Jr., married the young Elizabeth Taylor. Of all the unions with actresses, Ricky’s marriage has proven to be the longest. Maybe because Kathy semi-retired to concentrate more on the family. Come to think of it, she enjoys her wealth while doing nothing, I mean, not acting.

Right now, she is the star of the show, “I Want to Be a Hilton” and her husband the producer. I haven’t seen it yet but it seems to be another boring reality show that even the owners find the whole thing sucks.

The Hiltons are hardly the parental types that we also know. Feature articles, gossips and scandals spawn a straightforward description of Kathy and Richard. Kathy, a self-absorbed mother who refuses to take up her maternal role. Ricky, the forever silent father whose only concern is to make money.

Kathy has been blamed for the way she has brought up their two girls. The sisters appear to the public as these forever spoiled brats thinking they can do whatever they want. This is what happens when the mother has an unfulfilled wish for herself: To be a celebrity. (Don’t forget that she is an autograph-crazy as well, she continually uses her status to be photographed next to the celebrities like Andy Warhol, and the like. The photos hanging on the walls of their mansion in Bel-Air.)

We have witnessed how she encouraged her girls to attend parties before they were barely 16, spend their money like they pee, etc., etc…

You’ve never heard anything from Papa Hilton, asserting that he too has an upper hand on their daughters’ upbringing. Instead he remains quiet while his wife do the maneuverings.

The reason Paris and Nicky turned out like this was their mother’s doing, who pressured her daughters to enter show business as the children won’t inherit anything from the Hilton fortune. Owing to the fact that their Paris’ religious great-grandfather, Conrad Nicholson Hilton, gave most of his fortune away to the Hilton Foundation and other charities. When he died he left nothing to his children. This is according to his autobiography, “Be My Guest,” which by the way is included along with the Gideon’s Bible in all of of Hilton Hotel rooms worldwide.

An entry to the Wikipedia states:

When Barron’s father died in 1979, he left the bulk of his estate to the Roman Catholic Church and other charities, and almost nothing to his children. Barron contested the will because of his lifelong career of working to build the hotel company and won his lawsuit in 1988. His half-sister, Francesca, lost her case though and received nothing.

In 2005, Newsweek interviewed the family. Kathy admitted she didn’t like it when Paris’ sex tape leaked and became a controversy.

“Well, that was very painful. Very painful. But it taught me that I really can’t trust everybody.”

Which seems to be bollocks because behind the scene, it turned out that Paris’ parents were so proud of it they even released it on DVD without asking their daughters’ permission.

Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer claims that while researching his book ‘House of Hilton’ he had found that the hotel heiress’ parents, Rick and Kathy, were not fazed when ‘One Night In Paris’ was leaked onto the internet, and eventually released as a DVD, without her permission.
“I have family sources telling me that Rick and Kathy Hilton are proud of everything Paris has done, including the X-rated video that launched her to this international stardom, infamy and fame,” Celebrag.com quoted Oppenheimer, as telling New York Daily News.
“It is a bizarre family. Behind the scenes her parents were not opposed to the video because that totally launched her,” he added.

When actress Jamie Lee Curtis made a stunning analysis on what happened to Paris and co., she asked what did their mothers have done to their daughters. So what do Kathy, Dina Lohan and Lynne Spears have in common? Simply, they push their daughters to reach the limits of stardom without giving them a time to pause, acting as their friends instead of a mother. I guess, she knows what she is talking about. Her own parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, are products of Hollywood.

Can we take the wrenching sight of Paris asking her mother, “why?” and ask it of ourselves?
My analyst told me this: “Children are paparazzi. They take your picture mentally when you don’t want them to, when you don’t look good, and show it back to you in their behavior.”

Kathy Richards, Kathy Hilton, Richard Hilton, Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Conrad Hilton, Baron Hilton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dinah Lohan, Lynne Spears