Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax
Birth name	Ruby Wachs
Born	(1953-04-19) April 19, 1953 Evanston, Illinois, USA
Nationality	American
Years active	1970's-present
Genres	Alternative comedy
Spouse	Ed Bye
Notable works and roles	Cirque de Celebrité

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

Career

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, and replacing Zoe Wanamaker as Jane in The Way of the World.

Wax made a one-off appearance in a 1980 episode of The Professionals, Bloodsports, playing Lonnie, an American student. Another acting newcomer, Pierce Brosnan appeared in the same episode in an unrelated scene. In 1981, she appeared in the sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, called Shock Treatment. 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.

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).

In 1987, Wax was 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. She is married to Ed Bye who produced Red Dwarf's first few series.

Recent Work

More recently she has made a career from interviewing celebrities such as Imelda Marcos and Pamela Anderson, where she again applies her interviewing style, often to jaw-dropping effect. Critics have called her 'abrasive' and 'vulgar'. She also made several guest appearances in Absolutely Fabulous (a programme on which she was script editor).

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.

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 will not be returning for the second series.

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

Biography

Early life

Wax was born in Evanston, Illinois, 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 majored in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

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.

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 spoilt 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.

Disabled Access Ramp Opposition

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.

References

• Trowbridge, Simon A Dictionary of the RSC
• RSC performance database

External links

• Ruby Wax at IMDb

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