What Happened to Chris Rich? The ‘Reba’ Alum Has Had Significant Health Battles

Few would blame actor Christopher Rich for being too busy counting his blessings to focus on his health and longevity. The actor who rose to fame on Another World in the ‘80s, followed by a starring role as Brock Hart on Reba, has seen multiple highs and lows throughout his career.

Besides the general rejection from the entertainment industry, Chris has endured some personal battles. He briefly took a break from acting for nearly a decade when he faced a significant health scare that forever changed his life.

So, what happened to Chris Rich? Here’s everything to know.

Chris’s health declined in 2018. The actor has been candid about having a stroke and traumatic brain injury during that time.

“So, a year ago, I went to sleep the night before Easter, and when I woke up, I couldn't walk or really talk,” Chris explained in an interview with his hospital for Stroke Awareness Month in 2019. “I’d had a stroke in the middle of the night, Easter Morning.”

The actor added that the stroke caused “complete left side paralysis” that prevented him from lifting his left arm and walking on his own. He spent a year recovering at the Centre for Neuro Skills and underwent multiple rounds of rehab and physical therapy to be able to walk again. Chris shared that stem cell treatment to heal the right side of his brain also helped his prognosis.

One of his early victories was putting on deodorant using his left hand for the first time in over a year.

“Putting on deodorant one-handed has always been interesting, but you can't you develop a lot of different, but this morning, first time in over a year, I was able to use my left hand to put on my deodorant,” he said. “so I was really happy.”

“I called Eva (his wife) and I said look at this, and she went, ‘yeah, so what?’” Chris added while laughing. “I'm like, ‘OK, thanks for the support, I can't wait to get to rehab.”’

After suffering a stroke and traumatic brain injury, Chris left the glitz and glamour of Hollywood behind for a quieter life in Texas with his wife and three children. However, seven years after his health battle, he returned to the small screen with a role on Spiked in 2021 and a guest appearance on his former Reba co-star, Reba McEntire’s NBC sitcom, Happy’s Place. The latter also reunited Chris with his other Reba wife, Melissa Peterman.

While discussing his time on Happy’s Place, where he played a tattoo artist named Maverick, the Murphy Brown actor credited Reba and Melissa for supporting him through his health journey and were the ones who convinced him to come out of retirement. Chris also shared with Us Weekly that he hopes his guest role shows Hollywood he’s ready to return to work.

“It’s great to be able to be a disabled person and play a disabled person,” he said. “I’m hoping that when some of this gets out there, that people that I’ve worked with in the past are going to say, ‘OK, let’s bring him back. We can work with him.’”

We’re glad to see Chris is doing well!