Louis L. Knickerbocker -- the ex-husband of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County second-season star Tammy Knickerbocker -- reportedly died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack.
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"He always believed in the art of the possible," Real Housewives creator Scott Dunlop, Louis' friend, told The Orange County Register, which reported the passing.
Tammy replaced original Real Housewives cast member Kimberly Bryant prior to the series' second season premiere this past January and is a longtime friend of one of the series' other stars, Jeana Keough. However Tammy wasn't living as lavish a lifestyle as some of the other housewives, since the business she and Louis co-owned went bankrupt in 2000 and the couple lost their 9,000 square-foot house in Coto de Caza and divorced.
While he admitted that his current businesses had benefited from his family's The Real Housewives appearances, Knickerbocker had said the show also generated some negative exposure for him -- including a public disclosure that, while they had been married, he had cheated on Tammy with one of his assistants.
"One of my customers in Singapore called and said, 'You cheated on your wife.' That was now 15 years ago," Knickerbocker told The Los Angeles Times in March. "It's true, I did have an affair, I can't deny it."
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After his company bankrupt, The Register reported Louis attempted to reinvent himself at 62, starting a real-estate company, mortgage company, and also owning a 50% share in another real-estate company. He also remarried and started an "OC Energy" brand of energy drinks. Part of Real Housewives' second season showed Louis hiring some of The Real Housewives stars' daughters as "OC Angels" for the drinks, and he displayed photos of them on the label.
"He believed it was all possible. He was a unique guy," Dunlop told The Register.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio