For various reasons, including the difficulty of keeping up with the demanding nature of the industry, several Hollywood child actors like Ariana Richards have disappeared from the limelight. While some abandoned the profession because of the inability to transition to adult roles, others choose to settle for an ordinary life away from public attention or simply pursue another interest. The latter is perhaps true for Richards, who was once named among VH1’s 100 greatest kid stars of all time.
Beginning her career at age seven as a ballerina in a television commercial, the Healdsburg, California native’s acting debut came in 1987 as Ember Swallow in Lesli Linka Glatter’s television movie Into the Homeland. She actively worked as an actress for over a decade before a career decline in the 2000s. While she’s yet to officially announce her retirement, it’s safe to conclude her acting days are over. Ariana Richards has been pursuing her other career interests and is seemingly happy with her decision to quit acting.
Ariana Richards Gained Global Fame As Lex Murphy In Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park
The American former actress was only 14 when she played Lex Murphy in the first film of the Jurassic Park franchise. Her portrayal of a girlchild computer geek in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster introduced her to a global audience, marking her breakthrough in the movie industry. Ariana Richards became a worldwide sensation for moviegoers and was rewarded with some coveted awards for her performance in the sci-fi action adventure. The role won the former actress the 1994 Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Leading Youth Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. She first won the award in 1992 for Best Young Actress Starring in a TV Movie. This was for her role in 1991’s television film Switched at Birth.
For her portrayal of Kelly Gallagher in Locked Up: A Mother’s Rage, Ariana Richards again won the 1993 Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Television Movie. That same year, she was nominated for the same award in two other categories. These were for her performances in David Twohy’s Timescape and Paul Perlove’s Walter & Emily. Her roles in Prancer and Tremors also received the Young Artist Award Nominations in 1990 and 1991, respectively. However, none of these projects matched the success and acclaim of the Lex Murphy role in Jurassic Park. The film grossed over $1 billion against a budget of $63 million to become the highest-grossing film at the time.
She Was Last Seen As Donna Voorhees In 2013’s Battledogs
The enormous success of Jurassic Park was imagined as a launching pad that would catapult Ariana Richards’ career to a greater height. This didn’t happen, as she failed to land any role that came close to the widespread positive reception of the 1993 film. She reprised the Lex Murphy role in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the second film in the Jurassic Park franchise, but it was only a cameo appearance. In between the two movies, she played Melissa Lefevre in Angus (1995), Val Porter in Tommy Lee Wallace’s television film Born Free: A New Adventure (1996), and appeared as Claire Ferguson in the “Dangerous Secret” episode of Boy Meets World.
Ariana Richards’ acting career declined with the turn of the decade. In the 2000s, she was only seen as Mindy Sterngood in Brent Maddock’s straight-to-video action horror film Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001). Her last acting role came in 2013 when she played Donna Voorhees in Alexander Yellen’s television film Battledogs. This was also the year she married her husband, Mark Bolton, in Oregon. While it’s tempting to think her marriage inspired the decision to quit acting, it’s plausible she was exhausted with the demands of the industry and the pressure to pull off another big role; hence, she opted to pursue another passion.
Ariana Richards Now Runs An Art Studio Called Gallery Ariana
Apart from acting, the Lex Murphy actress was also drawn to art from a young age. She studied Fine Art and Drama at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, after which she attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Since she quit acting, Ariana Richards has been occupied with painting and the day-to-day running of her art studio, Gallery Ariana. Although she gave up acting in 2013, she has appeared as herself in a few documentaries, including 2020’s Spiff and Me, Tremors: Making Perfection, and The Legend of Burt Gummer.
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