Nicole Richie

Born Nicole Camille Escovedo in 1981 in Berkeley, California, Nicole Richie moved in with singer Lionel Richie and his family when she was three years old. She was formally adopted at age nine and grew up in Southern California. After attending the University of Arizona for two years, Richie returned to California and began acting, appearing in supporting roles on shows like "American Dreams" (NBC, 2002-05), and "8 Simple Rules" (ABC, 2002-2005). In 2005, Richie and her friend Paris Hilton starred in and produced the reality show "The Simple Life" (Fox, 2003-05; E! 2005-07). The premise of the show involved wealthy socialites Richie and Hilton temporarily giving up their glamorous lives to see what it's like when they live with average Americans. The show was successful and Hilton and Richie became tabloid fodder, with stories tracking their tumultuous relationship. The same year, Richie published The Truth About Diamonds, a semi-autobiographical novel. Once the show ended in 2007, Richie made few onscreen appearances, published another novel Priceless, and made inroads into the fashion world. She came back to the screen with "Candidly Nicole" (VH1, 2014-2015), another reality show detailing her life and how she deals with obstacles. In 2017, she debuted in her first series regular role, playing a self-obsessed young news anchor on the comedy "Great News" (NBC, 2017-), executive produced by Tina Fey.