Denise Lee Richards is an American actress, former fashion model, and television personality. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in Wild Things (1998) and Bond girl Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Denise Lee Richards was born to Joni, a coffee shop owner and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer, in Downers Grove, Illinois. Her mother died of kidney cancer in November 2007. Her ancestry is German, French-Canadian, Croatian, Irish, English, Welsh, and distant Dutch.