Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Tia From ‘Witch Mountain’?
Moms and dads who grew up in the 1970s may have fond — or at least pleasantly fuzzy? — memories of the “Witch Mountain” movies, the Disney flicks about a pair of orphaned siblings with extraordinary powers. This weekend, Disney — with a little help from The Rock — attempts to revive that franchise with “Race to Witch Mountain,” an updated
version that casts Alexander Ludwig as Seth (a character called Tommy in the original movies) and AnnaSophia Robb in the role of Sara (the superpowered sister formerly known as Tia).
Of course, before there was Ludwig and Robb, we ’70s kids had Ike Eisenmann (a former subject in Rich or Rehab) and Kim Richards, a pretty young child star who, in addition to doing her “Witch Mountain” time, appeared in the series “James at 15″ and another sitcom that stands as one of the finest of its era: “Hello, Larry.” (Okay, I was exaggerating with that “finest of its era” line. But, um, I remember the theme song.) So whatever happened to Richards? And is it possible she may show up in the new “Witch Mountain”?
To answer that first question, Richards continued acting for a while, doing guest stints on TV shows like “CHIPS,” “Magnum, P.I.” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.” In the mid ’80s, she also made appearances in the films “Meatballs, Part II” and “Tuff Turf,” which also starred James Spader, Robert Downey Jr., and their respective heads of moussed-up ’80s hair. (Watch this totally awesome clip, and revel in Kim’s fashionable headband, as well as Spader’s singing talent.)
If imdb is to be believed, Richards decided to take a long hiatus from acting to raise her four children. But she made a comeback a few years ago by playing the role of Christina Ricci’s mom in “Black Snake Moan.” And as the above teaser implied, she and her old “Witch Mountain” bro Eisenmann do indeed pop up in this new “Witch Mountain” movie.
It’s unclear if she has any other projects in the works, but I can share this fun fact that connects her to yet another previous Rich or Rehab subject: she is the sister of Kyle Richards (another former child star best known for her role in “Halloween”) and Kathy Hilton, which makes her Paris Hilton’s aunt. So does that mean that, by the transitive property of child stars who played people with otherworldy powers, Paris Hilton also has otherworldly powers by association? I’ll let you make that call.
Images: childstarlets.com and celebritynooz.com
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