Irv Richards is the conservative father of Denise Richards from the Midwest. She used to be a telephone engineer and now owns a coffeehouse named Jitters in San Diego, California. From a small town in the Chicago area, the family relocated to Oceanside, California, in 1986, when Denise was 15. In 2007, when his wife Joni died from kidney cancer, Irv moved in with Denise. The two were happily married for 37 years, according to Denise.
As her father, Irv became known as part of the E! reality show Denise Richards: It’s Complicated. The show followed Denise as she dealt with motherhood, family, romance, and even Hollywood, in light of the crazy things that happened in her life. Irv has fixed up a room in Denise’s house for him, yet complications arise when his conservative values clash with Denise’s less-than-traditional outlooks. Denise, however, admits that family ties are very important to her, “My mom and dad are the rock of my family, and I would have not gotten through my divorce if I did not have my mom and daddy.”
Since then, the series was cancelled due to declining ratings. Denise Richards: It's Complicated ended its run in 2009.