Author Jerry Oppenheimer is known for his scandalous tell-all books. From his unauthorized Martha Stewart biography called “Just Desserts” to his take on a presidential marriage in “State of the Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton," Oppenheimer is a master at researching and finding enough disgruntled people to give up the dirt. So when it was time to release a tabloidy tell-all about the Hilton clan, Oppenheimer gave it his all.
The most famous Hilton, by far, is Paris Hilton. But Oppenheimer’s “House of Hilton" talks surprisingly little about the celebutante and her sister Nicky. Instead, the book focuses on the maternal and paternal family heritage, supposedly to explain why Paris and Nicky ended up being famous for no apparent reason. The book, which is divided into two parts, focuses mostly on Paris Hilton’s grandparents on each side of her family tree.
The maternal side of the book has its share of scandalous family tidbits, although the key players aren’t all that well known. Kathy Hilton (the former Kathy Avanzino Richards) is the mother of Paris. According to the story, she was conceived in the back of a Chevy, resulting in a short-lived shotgun wedding between her mother and dad, Larry Avanzino. Little Kathy married well, tying the knot with rich boy Rick Hilton in 1979. But it was no CInderella story, at least not according to this book.
As a young girl, Kathy Hilton dabbled in modeling and acting. Her mother, dubbed Big Kathy, insisted on it. Big Kathy had two more daughters, Kim and Kyle, with her second husband, Ken Richards. Both Kim and Kyle Richards were hugely successful child actors, appearing in 1970’s Disney movies and TV series like “Nanny and the Professor” (Kim) and “Little House on the Prairie” (Kyle). Poor Kathy never measured up to her kid sisters'success, so she fell back on her mama’s supposed advice: Marry rich.
Indeed, Big Kathy married four times, seeking out rich men who could provide her with the lifestyle she craved. She was also a relentless stage mother, according to Oppenheimer’s sources. Some of the scoops revealed (like how Big Kathy hired a young man to give her daughter Kathy "lessons” in a van) are pretty outrageous. The bulk of the first section of the book is about Big Kathy, her antics, and the fallout for her daughters. Since Big Kathy was the grandmother of Paris and Nicky Hilton, the information is relevant, but it’s also overkill, since most of the first half of the book focuses on her and she wasn’t even a Hilton.
Part 2 of the book isn’t much better, focusing on the paternal Hilton side, most notably Paris’ great uncle, bad boy Conrad “Nicky “Hilton Jr. Linked with such beauties as Natalie Wood and Elizabeth Taylor, Nicky Hilton lived hard and died young. His hard partying antics are detailed, as well as his struggles with alcohol abuse. The most interesting part of his story is his ill-fated marriage to Elizabeth Taylor. There are also some tidbits about hotel founder Conrad Hilton and his marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor, the former ‘Green Acres” star.
The book includes a very short section of photographs, including a promo for Paris Hilton’s infamous bedroom tape from a few years back.
Basically, “House of Hilton” is a mindless read, maybe a good beach read when you’re not really trying to retain too much information. The writing style is fine, as Oppenheimer has it down to a formula, it’s just the material that's a little weak.
And when all is said and done, most of the Hiltons are no different from Paris. With the exception of hotel founder Conrad and the Richards child stars, the rest of the bunch are all really famous for….nothing.
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