Denise Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, to Joni & Irv Richards. She had a typical middle-class upbringing, as a child, she was the "only girl on the baseball team". When Richards was 15 years old, her family moved to Oceanside, California. After her high school graduation, she began working as a female model and traveled to cities such as Paris, New York, and Tokyo to do photoshoots and commercials Denise got her first job in the acting world on ‘Doogie Howser MD’ & ‘Saved by The Bell’. It was a struggle for her to get traction on the movies she was auditioning for, but her big break came in 1996 with ‘Starship Troopers’. The budget was so large for the special effects that it opened the door for smaller actors like her to get starring roles. After this, it was the big break in her career she needed to get bigger roles. Next was ‘Wild Things’ with Neve Campbell, and then as the nuclear physicist Christmas Jones in the James Bond film ‘The World Is Not Enough.’ Around this time, she got huge guest appearances on major TV shows like Friends, Spin City, and Two and A Half Men. This is where she met Charlie Sheen. Denise married Charlie Sheen in 2002. She had 2 children with him, Sam & Lola Rose. Their marriage was short-lived, and full of problems, as she filed for divorce in 2006. She also had a restraining order against Charlie at the time. One of Denise’s many claims that Charlie was abusive, mentally and physically, including direct threats to her life. With her kids, Denise made sure that they were not privy to any of the fighting and discord during their divorce.  In May of 2010, Sheen surrendered legal custody of Sam and Lola to Richards. They previously had joint legal custody of their daughters. Richards got sole legal custody, given Sheen's "marital turmoil, sobriety issues, and criminal problems" and he did not put up a fight about it. This was the beginning of the healing part of Charlie & Denise’s relationship. Hear her story about how she was able to overcome and move on from an abusive relationship & make her family and herself stronger in the process. Hear the difficulty of being a single parent & trying to get her life back on track. In June 2011, Richards adopted a third daughter, Eloise Joni Richards, as a single parent. She picked her middle name Joni in honor of her late mother. Now her kids are 16 and 17, and she feels like they have a stronger bond as a family than ever. Now Denise is working on new projects including Glow and Darkness and Paper Empire. Denise is also starring once again on the latest season of Real Housewives on A&E as well as The Bold & The Beautiful. She met her current husband Aaron Phypers on the set of The Bold & The Beautiful, they have been happily married since 2018. This is Denise Richards in her own words, on Knockin’ Doorz Down. For Carlos Vieira's autobiography Knockin' Doorz Down https://www.kddmediacompany.com/ For 51FIFTY use the discount code KDD20 for 20% off! https://51fiftyltm.com/ For more on the Knockin' Doorz Down podcast and to follow us on social media https://www.kddmediacompany.com/podcast For more information on the Carlos Vieira Foundation and the Race 2B Drug-Free, Race to End the Stigma and Race For Autism programs visit: https://www.carlosvieirafoundation.org/ For more on Denise Richards  https://www.facebook.com/DeniseRichardsOfficial/

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Broadcast on:

31 May 2021