Riva was born on June 28, 1948 in Manhattan, New York City, New York to William Riva and Maria Sieber. He studied at Institute Le Rosey and at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was married to Wendy Riva until his death in 2012. They had four children. Riva died of a stroke in New Orleans, Louisiana while filming Django Unchained, aged 63.