Getty Kathy Hilton Paris Hilton
Kathy Hilton is making headlines for her antics on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” but nearly 45 years before she became a Bravo fan favorite she played a rock star on TV.
Hilton dabbled in acting as a teen, and in 1977 she appeared in the “Happy Days” episode, “Fonzie, Rock Entrepreneur Part 1.” The future “Housewives” star was credited as Kathy Richards in the episode in which she played Gertie, a backup singer/dancer for Leather Tuscadero’s (Suzi Quatro) all-girl group, Leather and The Suedes. The trio — which also included Bertie, played by Donna Fein, per IMDb — performed the song “Cat Size” at Arnold’s Drive-In, with Richie Cunnigham (Ron Howard) on saxophone.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Kathy’s character quit her spot in the all-girl rock band and she was replaced by Joanie Cunningham (Erin Moran) for the second installment of the two-parter, titled, “Fonzie, Rock Entrepreneur Part 2.”
You can see Kathy Hilton’s “Happy Days” cameo in the video below.
Fans Think Kathy Hilton Looks Like Her Daughter Paris Hilton in the Scene
GettyParis Hilton. / Getty
Kathy’s stint as a 1950s era rocker recently spawned a Reddit thread titled “Wait. Kathy was on Happy Days?” In the comments to a still photo from her role on the ABC sitcom, many fans agreed that with her lighter blonde hair and similar nose, Kathy looked just like her daughter, Paris Hilton, in the vintage episode.
“She looks just like Paris,” one commenter wrote of the then-18-year-old Kathy, in a response that received over 220 upvotes.
“Haha I was gonna say Nicky,” another fan wrote.
“They all have the same nose,” another noted of Kathy and her two daughters.
“I finally see her family resemblance,” a third fan agreed.
Other commenters zeroed in on Leather Tuscadero’s brown shag haircut, with one observer joking that “apparently” fellow “RHOBH” star Lisa Rinna was also on the cast of “Happy Days.”
“Don’t you dare compare Leather Tuscadero to Rinna!” another fan replied.
“This is amazing,” another chimed in. “It could totally be a scene of Kathy & Rinna on RHOBH, if it was filmed in 1959.”
Kathy Hilton’s Stint on the ‘RHOBH’ Reality Show is Almost Like a Sitcom
Bravo Lisa Rinna, Kathy Hilton, and Sutton Stracke on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Although Kathy left her acting career in the dust when she married businessman Rick Hilton a few years after her “Happy Days” role, her real life is funnier than anything that could come out of a writers’ room.
During her first season as a “Real Housewife,” Kathy has had a slew of memorable moments, from downing a can of Red Bull at bedtime because she couldn’t see what it was, to bringing a cheap box fan on a cast trip because she likes the white noise, to asking her co-stars who “Who is Hunky Dory?”—and meaning it.
In an interview With USA Today, Kathy’s daughter Paris revealed that in addition to her looks, she gets her sense of humor from her mom.
“I think that we both are very fun, and we have a playful side to us,” Paris said. “Watching the [RHOBH] show, I can see that I get a lot of my humor and the way I am (from) my mom. (She’s) just one of the funniest people in the world, and she’s the real OG.”
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