Laurence K. Avanzino Is Kathy Hilton's Father Who Eloped With Her Mom

Kathy Hilton is a socialite, fashion designer, actress, and reality star best known as the mother of Paris Hilton -- and the daughter of Laurence K. Avanzino.

Socialite and reality star Kathy Hilton is very open about her life. She often speaks of her children, sisters, husband, and mother, but she rarely mentions her father.

Kathy Hilton's father was Laurence K. Avanzino, her mother's first husband. But the Hilton children never speak or refer to this mysterious personage, even though they often post tributes to their Hilton grandparents.

RHOBH star Kathy Hilton is the only child from Kathleen Dugan's first marriage to the handsome Italian American. Dugan, who is known to her family as Big Kathy, went on to marry three more times and gave Kathy two sisters, Kim and Kyle Richards.

Larry never met any of his Hilton grandchildren.

Laurence K. Avanzino's marriage to Big Kathy was brief, and she went on to marry Ken Richards, Jack Catain, and Robert Fenton -- but Laurence (Larry to his friends) was her first love.

Who He Was and How They Met

Big Kathy met Larry in 1957. He was attending Long Island University, and she first saw him playing football with his brother Ken on the lawn of his family's imposing home in Manhasset's Plandome.

According to Big Kathy's sister Adele, Larry was very handsome, tall, muscular, and blonde. Big Kathy flirted with him. Jane Hallaren said:

"Larry was gorgeous, and a total maniac."

Larry was also spoiled by his parents and used to getting his way. He was charming, charismatic, and manipulative, and Big Kathy fell in love with him at first sight.

Wedding, Marriage, and Birth of Kathy

According to Larry and Big Kathy's friends, Kathy was conceived in the back of Larry's 1957 black Chevrolet convertible. The couple decided to elope, to the distress of the families who'd wanted a big wedding.

Larry and Big Kathy had set off to visit Ken at the hospital when they stopped at a church. Larry got the minister to marry them, and they drove to the hospital. Ken said:

"I was surprised, naturally, but Larry and Kathy were the types of people who would surprise you with whatever they did."

Big Kathy's family immediately organized their daughter's second, big Catholic wedding. The couple led a quiet life until their daughter Kathy was born seven months after the ceremony.

Fail of the Marriage and Life After

According to Ken Avanzino, the two were incompatible from the start. He often witnessed screaming fights between his brother Larry and his bride, then a few minutes later, they'd fall into a passionate embrace.

As for Big Kathy, she would sometimes become violent, even once throwing Kathy's baby bottle at Larry. They divorced, and Larry remarried twice and had three more daughters and two sons. His second wife, Diane Campisi, said:

"Larry didn't bring Kathy up, so nothing in her life has anything to do with him other than the fact that Kathy Hilton has his genes."

Larry never met any of his Hilton grandchildren, but one of his daughters, Elizabeth Avanzino, who had served in prison, offered to teach her privileged nieces some life lessons. She said:

“For Paris, money, fame and fortune can hide addiction. [But] addiction is addiction, whether it’s alcohol or speeding. It runs in the blood, it really does.”

Elizabeth was referring to her dependence on alcohol and that Larry was also an alcoholic. Elizabeth had been a successful art gallery owner until alcohol derailed her life.

Troubles in His Life

Born into an affluent family, Larry was a problematic teen who started drinking early and getting into wild escapades. He was a reckless driver and often escaped death by a hair's breadth.

The drinking would escalate throughout his life. He was in a fight in his late fifties that left him unconscious. Big Kathy would visit him before he died and was saddened to see that the handsome boy she'd loved was toothless.

On February 20, 1997, Laurence K. Avanzino died in the hospital. He was destitute and described as an "independent painter on his death certificate." No one would imagine that the wealthy, glamorous reality star Kathy Hilton was his daughter or the famous Paris Hilton was his granddaughter.