Kathy Hilton is an American actress, fashion designer and philanthropist.
Background
Hilton is the daughter of Kathleen Mary (née Dugan. 1938–2002) and Laurence K. Avanzino (1935–1997). Hilton"s parents later divorced, and her mother married Kenneth E. Richards (1917–1998), who already had three grown children from a previous marriage, and fathered Kathy"s two maternal half-sisters: actresses Kim and Kyle Richards.
Hilton also has five paternal half-siblings from her father"s remarriage.
Education
She graduated from a private high school in Los Angeles, where she became best friends with Michael Jackson until his death in 2009.
Career
She is the mother of socialite Paris Hilton and fashion designer Nicky Hilton. Her paternal grandfather was of Italian descent. She also has Irish and Scottish ancestry.
In 1968, Hilton began working as an actress, retiring in 1979.
Notable appearances include "Nanny and the Professor", Bewitched, Family Affair, Happy Days, The Rockford Files, and film appearances include The Dark and On the Air Live with Captain Midnight. On the May 13, 2008 episode of The Young and the Restless, she made a guest appearance as herself.
In 2005, she hosted the reality show, I Want To Be a Hilton on National Broadcasting Company. She also appeared on The World According to Paris in 2011. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Hilton operated her own gift and antiques store The Staircase on Sunset Plaza in Los Los Angeles
She debuted with 2002 merchandise sales on cable television"s Quality, Value, Convenience home shopping network.
In 2007, she began selling a signature skincare line on HSN. Since 2012, she has designed the Kathy Hilton Collection of party dresses, sold in four hundred stores worldwide, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. She is known for her philanthropic endeavors. In 2007, she raised money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, by asking celebrities to auction some of their belongings and donating the proceeds to them.