Patricia Richardson Bio, Age, Career, Boyfriend, Net Worth

Patricia Richardson's Net Worth as of December 2024 is $25 Million

Quick Facts of Patricia Richardson

Since 1979, Patricia Richardson has been a super senior famous actress in American television programs and Hollywood. Patricia Richardson’s role as Jill Taylor in the situational comedy (sitcom) series “Home Improvement” has made her the most popular actress.

Patricia Richardson’s Bio, Age

She was born on February 23, 1951.  Richardson went to a variety of schools, including Holton-Arms and Hockaday.  She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1972, where she was friends with classmates Beth Henley and Stephen Tobolowsky, who were set to join the cast of Home Improvement but had other contract agreements when filming began. After Frances Fisher was deemed too serious for the role of Jill Taylor, Tobolowsky proposed to the producers of Home Improvement that Richardson be considered for the part.

Patricia Castle Richardson is an American actress best known for her role as Jill Taylor on the ABC comedy Home Improvement, for which she was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. She was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Ulee’s Gold (1997).

Patricia Castle Richardson was born in Bethesda, Maryland on February 23, 1951. Patricia attended many secondary schools before enrolling at Southern Methodist University and graduating in 1972. She crossed paths with actresses like Beth Henley and Stephen Tobolowsky during her college years. Tobolowsky was approached for a part in “Home Improvement,” but he declined due to scheduling issues. After Frances Fisher was passed over, he suggested Patricia to the producers, and she was permitted to audition for the role of Jill. Patricia is a devout Methodist who also happens to be a registered Democrat.

Patricia Richardson’s Career

Richardson began her Broadway career as the backup for Angela Lansbury’s Gypsy: A Musical Fable, in which she also played other tiny chorus parts. She worked in regional theater, commercials, and other Broadway and Off-Broadway shows for the next ten years. She appeared in The Equalizer, Spencer For Hire, and Kate & Allie, among other shows. She co-starred in a third-season episode of The Cosby Show alongside her real-life husband as a lady giving birth to her ninth kid. Richardson has appeared in the films C.H.U.D. and Christmas Evil. She played a radio station owner in an episode of Quantum Leap in 1989.

In 1983, she moved to Los Angeles for a short tenure to work on Norman Lear’s Double Trouble sitcom, which featured Katey Sagal’s twin sisters, Liz and Jean Sagal. She declined an offer to return for a second season after her contract had expired in order to stay in New York and continue playing in Beth Henley’s off-Broadway production of The Miss Firecracker Contest. Allan Burns, who co-created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, called her back to Los Angeles a few years later to star in two of his sitcoms: Eisenhower and Lutz and FM. Both series had a 13-episode run.

Richardson was cast as Jill Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement in 1991, three months after giving birth to twins, as a last-minute replacement for Frances Fisher in what would be her breakout role. In this performance, Richardson got four Emmy nods and two Golden Globe nominations. She hosted the Emmys with Ellen DeGeneres while working on Home Improvement, starred in the miniseries Undue Influence with Brian Dennehy, Sophie and the Moonhanger on Lifetime with Lynn Whitfield, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her first major theatrical film role in Ulee’s Gold in 1997.

Richardson joined the Lifetime medical drama series Strong Medicine in 2002, replacing Janine Turner as Dr. Andy Campbell, a new character. For her work in Strong Medicine, she was nominated for two Prism Awards. She was cast in a recurring role as Sheila Brooks, campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), in the final two seasons of NBC political drama The West Wing, after three seasons on that show.

Richardson made her debut appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the first season. She was the executive producer of the video documentary Long Story Short in 2008, which tells the story of Larry and Trudie Long, a popular Asian American nightclub act in the 1940s and 1950s, as seen through the eyes of their daughter and her friend, actress Jodi Long. She starred alongside A.J. Cook and Jennifer Morrison in the NBC made-for-TV film The Jensen Project in 2010, and in the Lifetime television drama Bringing Ashley Home in 2011. She starred in the coming-of-age film Beautiful Wave in 2012 and the Hallmark Channel TV film Smart Cookies the following year. Since then, Richardson has starred in a number of minor indie films as well as two Hallmark Channel features, Friend Request and Snow Bride.

Richardson guest-starred as Helen Potts in the twelfth episode of Last Man Standing’s fourth season, “Helen Potts,” and reunited with her former Home Improvement co-star Tim Allen. Randy, played by her other Home Improvement co-star Jonathan Taylor Thomas, was revealed to be one of her sons towards the end of the episode. In the next season, she reappeared as Helen Potts.

After serving on the board of directors for one term, she ran for national president of SAG-AFTRA in 2015. She was defeated by incumbent President Ken Howard by a razor-thin margin. She was re-elected to SAG-national AFTRA’s and local boards in Los Angeles.

Richardson made her stage comeback in 2016 with Steel Magnolias at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Marsha Mason, a four-time Oscar nominee, directed the film, which also starred Elaine Hendrix, Lucy DeVito, Jessica Walter, and Susan Sullivan. This performance became the highest-grossing show in the Bucks County Playhouse’s history on June 9, 2016.

Patricia continued to book roles in a range of shows throughout the next few years. She replaced Janine Turner on the cast of “Strong Medicine” in 2002. She was on this show for three seasons before landing a recurring position as a campaign manager in “The West Wing’s” last two seasons. Richardson subsequently went on to act in the first season of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” before executive producing “Long Story Short,” a documentary, in 2008.

Patricia Richardson’s Boyfriend

In 1982, Richardson married fellow actor Ray Baker. Before they separated in August 1995, they had three children together: Henry Richardson Baker (born February 22, 1985) and twins Roxanne Elizabeth Baker and Joseph Castle Baker (born January 3, 1991). Betty Gilpin, the daughter of actor Jack Gilpin, has Richardson as her godmother. Richardson had a long-term relationship with retired psychologist Mark Cline, whom she met at Southern Methodist University when they were both students.

Richardson is the National Spokesperson for “Cure PSP,” patient advocacy and research organization for progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, multiple system atrophy, and associated “Prime Of Life” disorders. He sat on the Board of Directors for many years. In 2005, her father died of PSP.

Patricia Richardson’s Net Worth

Patricia Richardson has a net worth of $25 million as a television and film actress in the United States. She is best recognized for her role as Jill Taylor on the classic television sitcom “Home Improvement,” for which she received numerous honors and accolades. Patricia, on the other hand, has a long list of achievements in the entertainment industry, including a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for her role in the 1997 film “Ulee’s Gold.”

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