Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax (born 19 April 1953) is an American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.

Early life

Wax was born Ruby Wachs, the daughter of Jewish parents who left Austria in 1939 because of the Nazi threat. Her father became wealthy as a sausage manufacturer and her mother qualified as an accountant. Wax elected to major in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. It was at Berkeley that Wax began to immerse herself in the theory of comedy, and also where she laid the groundwork for her own theoretical approach to comedy, which was to make such memorable impressions on future audiences.Vorlage:Citation needed The result of her toils at Berkeley was the humour that quickly became a hallmark of her performances.Vorlage:Citation needed

Early career

Wax came to the UK and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She began her acting career as a straight actress at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, where she began a long-standing writing and directing partnership with Alan Rickman, who later was to direct most of her stage comedy shows. In 1978, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, working alongside Juliet Stevenson in Measure for Measure, as Jaquenetta opposite Michael Hordern in Love's Labours Lost, replacing Zoë Wanamaker as Jane in The Way of the World and appearing in the Howard Brenton three-hander Sore Throats. While at the RSC, Wax also met and befriended Ian Charleson, and later contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.

Wax made a one-off appearance in a 1980 episode of The Professionals, Bloodsports, playing Lonnie, an American student. In 1981, she appeared in the follow up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, called Shock Treatment. In the film, Wax portrays Betty Hapschatt, who got married to Ralph Hapschatt in the first film. Wax also appeared briefly as a secretary in Omen III: The Final Conflict.

Switch to comedy

Her popularity in terms of comedy came from her interviewing technique: she was always forthright, brash and loud, conforming to the British stereotype of an American. Her physical appearance matched this image, with red hair and blood-red lipstick. She cemented this trademark image in 1985, when she starred as loud-mouthed American actress Shelley DuPont on the British sitcom Girls On Top. According to a BBC Arena documentary narrated by Dawn French it was Wax's role as backstage interviewer at Amnesty International's 1987 benefit show The Secret Policeman's Third Ball that eventually boosted her career to a higher level.Vorlage:Citation needed

Many of her early television shows involved her being put into a situation where she simply met and interviewed people, mostly extraordinary members of the public (including a memorable visit to pre-breakup Soviet Russia in which she first hated and then touchingly made friends with her female translator, explaining, in ways that words couldn't, the grim situation in the country at the time).Vorlage:Citation needed

In 1987, Wax was given her own comedy chat show Don't Miss Wax, on Channel 4. She was also hired as a radio presenter by The Superstation, an overnight sustaining service for commercial radio in the UK.

In December 1989, she appeared in the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides" as an American reporter. Vorlage:Expand section

Voice talent

She has also voiced several female characters (except for Nanny) in the popular children's animated cartoon TV series Count Duckula.

Recent work

More recently she has made a career from interviewing celebrities such as Imelda Marcos and Pamela Anderson, in a 1996 series Ruby Wax Meets, for the BBC. She also made several guest appearances in Absolutely Fabulous (a programme on which she was script editor). From November 2001 to June 2002 Wax presented a TV quiz show broadcast on BBC1 called The Waiting Game.

In March 2003, Wax was one of the celebrity contestants on Comic Relief does Fame Academy, which was a spin-off from the BBC's Fame Academy with all proceeds donated to Comic Relief. Although she can't really sing, Wax impressed viewers with her lively songs and made it to the final, taking runner-up position to Will Mellor.

Wax appeared in a supporting role opposite Olivia Williams and Andie MacDowell in the 2005 film Tara Road. In September and October 2005, she appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, progressing through to Sale of the Century before getting knocked out. In summer 2006, she was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools On Horses. She presented Cirque de Celebrité on Sky One in 2006, but did not return for the second series.Vorlage:Citation needed

Wax also appeared in an episode of Jackass where she was participating in the Gumball 3000. While the race was stopped at the Latvian border she was wrestled by Jackass Personality Chris Pontius.

In March 2009, Wax returned to Comic Relief to take part in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice.

On April 1, 2009, Wax's new television show Ruby Wax Goes Dutch premiered on Dutch television network Net5.

Wax's 2010 standup show Losing It deals with her experience of depression.

Wax also teaches business communication, as was said in The Apprentice -You're Fired (BBC 2–6 July 2011). Currently, she is attending Oxford University to obtain a Master's Degree in neuroscience.

Controversies

Popetown

In 2004, the BBC planned to show a cartoon series called Popetown, which poked fun at the Roman Catholic Church. In it, Wax portrayed the Pope as a spoiled child. After protests, the BBC chose not to show the series.

Slander case

In February 2004, Irish broadcaster Patricia Danaher reached an out-of-court settlement with Wax, who had initially claimed that Danaher had made racist remarks about her Jewish origins in an interview for Ulster TV. Wax's legal team apologised and announced that there had been a financial settlement.

Opposition to disabled-access ramp

In November 2005, Wax was criticised by the Daily Mail columnist Richard Kay for opposing a proposed disabled-access ramp for the nearby Couper Collection charitable art gallery. The UK Sunday newspaper The Observer also reported the controversy, as did the act "I, Ludicrous" in "The Ruby Wax Song", from their Dirty Washing 2008 EP.

Personal life

Wax is married to television producer and director Ed Bye, who produces some of the series of her long-time friends and working partners, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Wax and Bye have three children together: one son, Max (b. 1988), and two daughters, Madeleine (b. 1990) and Marina (b. 1993).

Interview Programs & Documentaries

• Don't Miss Wax, Channel 4, 1987-1988
• Miami Memoirs, Channel 4, 1988
• East Meets Wax, Channel 4, 1988
• Class of '69, Channel 4 1989
• Wax on Wheels, Channel 4, 1988-1989
• The Full Wax, BBC, 1991–1993
• Ruby Wax Meets..., BBC, 1994–1998
• Ruby's American Pie, BBC, 1999
• Ruby, BBC 1997-2000, 2002
• Ruby Wax With..., BBC, 2003

External links

• Profile from her agent's page
• Vorlage:IMDb name
• Wax in the RSC performance database
• Ruby's Room, Ruby Wax's web show on BBC Headroom, where she regularly interviewed people with different mental health conditions.
• Ruby Wax discussion her choice of a great life on the BBC Radio 4 program Great Lives, first broadcast on 1 May 2009.