Former Playboy Bunny, Buddy Holly Movie Wife, Found Dead In PS Hot Tub
Maria Eugenia Richwine, 71, of Los Angeles was discovered unresponsive Tuesday morning in the residential Palm Springs hot tub.
She was not on the list.
PALM SPRINGS, CA — A Colombian-born actress — who became a Playboy Bunny and was later cast as Buddy Holly's wife in a 1978 biopic about the famous American 1950s rock-and-roller — was found dead Tuesday in a Palm Springs hot tub.
Maria Eugenia Richwine, 71, of Los Angeles was discovered unresponsive in the residential hot tub in the 400 block of E. Valmonte Sur shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to Palm Springs police Lt. Gustavo Araiza.
Foul play is not suspected, Araiza said.
The Riverside County coroner will rule on Richwine's cause and manner of death.
Born María Agudelo on June 22, 1952, in Cali, Colombia, Richwine was lured to the stage during her formative years. In a 2010 interview published by La Prensa, Richwine said her father brought the family to the United States when she was a child. Early on she saw famous productions at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, like the Rockettes and the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn, "Breakfast At Tiffany’s."
"When I walked into Radio City Music Hall with my dad, the auditorium felt like a microcosm of the universe. The stage and the lights were like the stars and planets floating by me. It looked like the sun was illuminating the long-legged ladies dancing in unison — it was breathtaking," Richwine said. "I was inspired by them to learn to dance but Audrey Hepburn’s performance left such a lasting impression on me that I wanted to grow up to be just like her."
Richwine worked as a Playboy Bunny for Hugh Hefner for four years during the 1970s, and she said her family approved.
"My dad was very supportive," Richwine said. "He thought it was a great opportunity. The reality is that a Playboy Bunny is basically cocktail waitress in a sexy costume with ears and a tail. I loved the costume; we all looked beautiful, sophisticated and elegant in it. The biggest misconception is that folks often mistake a Bunny for a Playmate. Playmates are models who pose nude for the magazine. Bunnies worked at the Playboy Clubs as cocktail and food servers."
Richwine told La Prensa she enjoyed her Playboy experience.
"That was probably the best and most fun job that I have ever had, and I would do it again in a nanosecond," she said.
During her Bunny stint Richwine studied acting, and she got her big break when she was cast as Buddy Holly's wife in 1978's "The Buddy Holly Story." The Columbia Pictures film co-starred Gary Busey as the iconic singer and songwriter.
"It didn’t take very long from the time I began to study and get an agent, to the time I was hired to play Maria Holly," Richwine said. "When I heard I got the job, after having gone to four callbacks, I was floating on air. I really had to pinch myself. Sometimes I fell asleep with the script in my arms. I knew I had to just get on that train and ride it all the way and never look back. There was no room for fear or insecurities; I just had to step up to the plate."
Her film performance received positive reviews. Newsweek critic David Ansen said, "Her attractive performance suggests complexities of character that the script fails to explore."
Richwine's other acting gigs included a regular role in Norman Lear's 1984 television series "a.k.a. Pablo." She also appeared in the television series "Three's Company," "Sledge Hammer!" and "Freddy's Nightmares."
Actress
Lost Angeles Ward
Carla Carlson
ReleasedTV Series
2011
1 episode
Sin Vergüenza (2012)
Sin Vergüenza
8.0
TV Series
Esther
2012–2017
13 episodes
Rita Coolidge and Jack Tempchin in Jack Tempchin Feat. Rita
Coolidge: Slow Dancing (2017)
Jack Tempchin Feat. Rita Coolidge: Slow Dancing
Music Video
Maria Richwine
2017
Love Sanchez (2016)
Love Sanchez
Juventina Garcia
2016
Foreign Land (2016)
Foreign Land
4.9
2016
East Los High (2013)
East Los High
6.9
TV Series
Veggie
2015
1 episode
Thou Shalt Not Kill (2014)
Thou Shalt Not Kill
8.0
Senora Ojeda
2014
A Bag Full of Money
Short
The Reader
2013
Baby Boomer Bunnies (2011)
Baby Boomer Bunnies
TV Movie
Bunny Maria
2011
Sex Crimes (1992)
Sex Crimes
5.7
Rosanna
1992
The Sitter (1991)
The Sitter
5.1
TV Movie
Mary (as María Montoya)
1991
Freddy's Nightmares (1988)
Freddy's Nightmares
6.2
TV Series
Violet Rodriguez
1990
1 episode
Ministry of Vengeance (1989)
Ministry of Vengeance
3.9
Fatima
1989
Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989)
Desperado: The Outlaw Wars
6.4
TV Movie
1989
Michael Paré and Michael Beck in Houston Knights (1987)
Houston Knights
7.4
TV Series
Maria Rodriguez
1987
1 episode
Anne-Marie Martin, Harrison Page, and David Rasche in Sledge
Hammer! (1986)
Sledge Hammer!
8.1
TV Series
Rosa
1987
1 episode
Stacy Keach in The New Mike Hammer (1984)
The New Mike Hammer
6.8
TV Series
Sister Lorna
1987
1 episode
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
Hamburger: The Motion Picture
4.7
Conchita
1986
Our Family Honor (1985)
Our Family Honor
6.2
TV Series
1985
1 episode
Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly in Hardcastle and
McCormick (1983)
Hardcastle and McCormick
6.6
TV Series
1984
1 episode
a.k.a. Pablo (1984)
a.k.a. Pablo
6.2
TV Series
Carmen Rivera
1984
6 episodes
Desire
Cris Arias
1982
John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt in Three's
Company (1976)
Three's Company
7.5
TV Series
Maria
1982
1 episode
Eileen Brennan in Incident at Crestridge (1981)
Incident at Crestridge
6.3
TV Movie
Vicky Castillo
1981
Valerie Harper and Max Gail in Fun and Games (1980)
Fun and Games
6.3
TV Movie
Berta
1980
A Man Called Sloane (1979)
A Man Called Sloane
6.6
TV Series
Maria Casal
1979
1 episode
The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
The Buddy Holly Story
7.2
Maria Elena
1978
Casting Department
Richard F. Montes and Jade Puga in Aguruphobia (2015)
Aguruphobia
8.0
casting assistant
2015
No comments:
Post a Comment