RIP Maria Richwine

 

Former Playboy Bunny, Buddy Holly Movie Wife, Found Dead In PS Hot Tub

​Maria Eugenia Richwine, 71, of Los Angeles was discovered unresponsive Tuesday morning in the residential Palm Springs hot tub.

Patch

By Toni McAllister

March 13, 2024

 

PALM SPRINGS, CA — A Colombian-born actress — who became a Playboy Bunny and was later cast as Buddy Holly's wife in a 1978 biopic about the famous American 1950s rock-and-roller — was found dead Tuesday in a Palm Springs hot tub.

Maria Eugenia Richwine, 71, of Los Angeles was discovered unresponsive in the residential hot tub in the 400 block of E. Valmonte Sur shortly before 7:30 a.m., according to Palm Springs police Lt. Gustavo Araiza.

Foul play is not suspected, Araiza said.

The Riverside County coroner will rule on Richwine's cause and manner of death.

Born María Agudelo on June 22, 1952, in Cali, Colombia, Richwine was lured to the stage during her formative years. In a 2010 interview published by La Prensa, Richwine said her father brought the family to the United States when she was a child. Early on she saw famous productions at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, like the Rockettes and the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn, "Breakfast At Tiffany’s."

"When I walked into Radio City Music Hall with my dad, the auditorium felt like a microcosm of the universe. The stage and the lights were like the stars and planets floating by me. It looked like the sun was illuminating the long-legged ladies dancing in unison — it was breathtaking," Richwine said. "I was inspired by them to learn to dance but Audrey Hepburn’s performance left such a lasting impression on me that I wanted to grow up to be just like her."

Richwine worked as a Playboy Bunny for Hugh Hefner for four years during the 1970s, and she said her family approved.

"My dad was very supportive," Richwine said. "He thought it was a great opportunity. The reality is that a Playboy Bunny is basically cocktail waitress in a sexy costume with ears and a tail. I loved the costume; we all looked beautiful, sophisticated and elegant in it. The biggest misconception is that folks often mistake a Bunny for a Playmate. Playmates are models who pose nude for the magazine. Bunnies worked at the Playboy Clubs as cocktail and food servers."

Richwine told La Prensa she enjoyed her Playboy experience.

"That was probably the best and most fun job that I have ever had, and I would do it again in a nanosecond," she said.

During her Bunny stint Richwine studied acting, and she got her big break when she was cast as Buddy Holly's wife in 1978's "The Buddy Holly Story." The Columbia Pictures film co-starred Gary Busey as the iconic singer and songwriter.

"It didn’t take very long from the time I began to study and get an agent, to the time I was hired to play Maria Holly," Richwine said. "When I heard I got the job, after having gone to four callbacks, I was floating on air. I really had to pinch myself. Sometimes I fell asleep with the script in my arms. I knew I had to just get on that train and ride it all the way and never look back. There was no room for fear or insecurities; I just had to step up to the plate."

Her film performance received positive reviews. Newsweek critic David Ansen said, "Her attractive performance suggests complexities of character that the script fails to explore."

Richwine's other acting gigs included a regular role in Norman Lear's 1984 television series "a.k.a. Pablo." She also appeared in the television series "Three's Company," "Sledge Hammer!" and "Freddy's Nightmares."

RICHWINE, Maria (Maria Eugenia Agudelo)

Born: 6/22/1952, Cali, Colombia

Died: 3/12/2024, Palm Springs, California, U.S.A.

 

Maria Richwine’s westerns – actress:

Incident at Crestridge (TV) 1981 (Vicky Castillo)

Desperado: The Outlaw Years (TV) – 1989 (