Elder of 2 daughters born to Irv and Joni Richards. She grew up in the Chicago area, until the family relocated to Oceanside, CA when Denise was 15. She began working as a model, and moved to L.A. after she graduated from high school. She landed parts in both TV and movies, and gave breakthrough performances in Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien, Wild Things (1998) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), in which she plays a Bond Girl. She also was in Undercover Brother (2002) with Eddie Griffin and appeared in Scary Movie 3 (2003) with her now ex-husband, Charlie Sheen.

Enjoys kickboxing.Said to have had a crush on John Travolta in her youth.Attended El Camino High School in Oceanside, California located 25 miles north of San Diego, California.Graduated from high school in Oceanside (1989).Former model.Moved from Downer's Grove, Illinois to Oceanside, California when she was 15.Loving animals, she has several cats and dogs.Born to Irv Richards, a telephone engineer, and his wife Joni. Has an older sister, Michelle.Her parents now own a coffeehouse named "Jitters" in San Diego.Was said to have been quiet and shy as a child.Auditioned for the role of Beth in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995).Was a high school cheerleader.Attended Downers Grove North High School in Illinois for her freshman year.Attended Herrick Junior High School in Illinois until she completed the eighth grade.Engaged to Charlie Sheen (January 2002).Was ranked 9th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).Appears with Eddie Griffin, Neil Patrick Harris and Snoop Dogg in Snoop Dogg's music video "Undercova Funk".Gave birth to her daughter Sam Sheen, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces, on 9 March 2004 at 10:57 p.m in Los Angeles.Her mother Joni died from cancer (30 November 2007).Ranked #21 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).Guest-starred in the "Two and a Half Men" (2003) episode "Yes, Monsignor" as a former girlfriend of husband Charlie Sheen's character, who now has a baby girl. The baby was played by the pair's daughter, Sam Sheen.Ex-daughter-in-law of Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen.Ex-sister-in-law of Ramon Estevez and Emilio Estevez.Once worked as a grocery clerk.Filed for divorce from husband Charlie Sheen after less than three years.She and Charlie Sheen both had very small roles in Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) (they do not share on-screen time), years before they met and fell in love on the set of Good Advice (2001).Gave birth to her daughter Lola Rose Sheen, weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces, on 1 June 2005.She and her ex-husband Charlie Sheen have both guest-starred on "Friends" (1994), though not in the same episode.Was romantically linked to Patrick Muldoon and John Stamos.Drives a Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG.Ex-stepmother of Charlie Sheen's daughter Cassandra.One of her first acting roles was in an episode of "Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989), which starred Neil Patrick Harris, in which Richards played a girl being interviewed by Doogie as a potential girlfriend candidate. Several years later, she and Harris co-starred in Starship Troopers (1997) and again in Undercover Brother (2002).Is of Welsh and Croatian heritage.Ranked as #82 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)Bust size 34C.Named #89 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).After a court battle against Charlie Sheen, claiming that he had physically and verbally abused and threatened to kill her, she received a restraining order against him.Voted the "Worst Bond Girl of All Time" by the readers of British newspaper Daily Mail for her performance in The World Is Not Enough (1999) (February 2008).Has admitted to suffering from emetophobia, or the fear of vomiting.