Bold & Beautiful Alum Denise Richards Breaks Silence On Patrick Muldoon’s Death: ‘You Were My Best Friend’
Tributes continue to pour in from the friends and past co-stars of Patrick Muldoon (ex-Austin Reed, Days of Our Lives), who passed away suddenly at the age of 57 on April 19 after suffering a heart attack. Now, his longtime friend, frequent screen partner and former real-life love interest, Denise Richards (ex-Shauna Fulton, Bold and Beautiful), is breaking her silence about his tragic death.
Final Farewell
“This is so hard for me to put into words,” she shared in an Instagram post full of photos and video clips from their decades of knowing one another. “I am deeply heartbroken and devastated losing you. You were my best friend and my family. We met in our first acting class. I was 19, never had an acting job, and you were 21, a student at USC doing a recurring role on Who’s the Boss.”
Back in 2015, Muldoon told Soap Opera Digest, “Denise and I did not grow up together, but we met early in our careers in acting class. Our families have known each other for a long time. Denise and I have been friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, movie co-stars.”
“My whole adult life and I don’t know it without you,” Richards continued in her post. “The friendship, love, support, respect, and loyalty we had was unconditional and rare. You lit up every room you walked into. You are larger than life and everyone was drawn to you. So talented and most underrated actor. And most humble. Everything you did was infectious. Your laugh, your kindness, your wit, your strength, your loyalty, your passion, and your zest for life.”
Muldoon and Richards’s best-known project together would be the 1997 sci-fi hit Starship Troopers, and in 2019, when Richards appeared as a guest on Digest‘s podcast, Dishing with Digest, she shared that she was the one who recommended Muldoon for the role. The two actors continued to appear in television movies over the years, such as 2015’s A Christmas Reunion, 2019’s My Adventures With Santa, and 2020’s Timecrafters: The Treasure of Pirate’s Cove.
But before all of that, they very nearly starred together on DAYS: Muldoon revealed to Digest in 2015 that when the soap let go of Tracy Middendorf as Carrie, Austin’s love interest, in 1992, Richards auditioned for the role that ultimately went back to Carrie’s original portrayer, Christie Clark.
In her post, Richards went on to write, “We’ve been each other’s rock. Our memories together are endless. You’ve had my back and protected me more than anyone. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you here. You’re my voice of reason and pillar of strength. Especially during this last year of pain and heartache. And now I need you more than ever, for this pain and heartache losing you.”
Richards’s daughter, Lola Sheen, not only commented on her mother’s post, calling her and Muldoon “endgame forever,” but also penned her own heartfelt tribute, explaining the impact that his presence had on their family. “I always begged my mom, I’m sure she told you, that you guys would end up back together,” she shared. “Ha ha. But I guess staying best friends was better anyway.”
Richards closed out her message, “Schweetbabe, we’ve had those conversations… We thought we’d live forever, or at least into our 90s. Schweetbabe, I will be looking for those signs. I need to know you’re still here with me. I love you so much and miss you dearly, schweetbabe. 💔🙏”
Conversation
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