Ariana Richards
Biography
Ariana Clarice Richards is an American painter and former actress. She is best known for her role as Lex Murphy in the blockbuster film Jurassic Park. Richards won several Young Artist Awards for her acting as a child, but as an adult has focused primarily on her art career.
Richards's sister, Bethany, is an actress. Her maternal grandmother, who was of Italian ancestry, was a descendant of Renaissance painter Carlo Crivelli. In addition to Italian, her maternal grandfather, William Otto Garrison's father, John, had English ancestry. Richards is a descendant of boxer John L. Sullivan, who had Irish ancestry.
Richards married Mark Bolton in Oregon in January 2013.
Richards made her acting debut in 1987's Into the Homeland, a made-for-cable release that starred Powers Boothe. She had a supporting role as Carol Wetherby in Prancer. She also appeared as Mindy Sterngood in the first Tremors film and reprised her role in the second sequel Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, which went straight-to-video.
Her most notable appearance was as Lex Murphy in the first Jurassic Park film; she reprised the role briefly in the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park. She has been featured in other films such as Angus, where she played a high school cheerleader; she also appeared on television episodes of The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Boy Meets World.
In addition to acting in movies, Richards appeared in the 1997 music video "Brick" by Ben Folds Five, portraying a high school student having an abortion. She appeared in the September 2006 issue of the British movie magazine Empire discussing a possible return to acting.
Richards starred in the 2013 film Battledogs, shot in Buffalo, New York.
In February 2014, Richards was voted No. 98 on VH1's 100 Greatest Child Stars.
