Ruby Wax
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| Ruby Wax | |
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| Born | Ruby Wachs April 19, 1953 Evanston, Illinois |
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.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Wax was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Jewish parents who left Austria in 1939 because of the Nazi threat.[1] Her father became wealthy as a sausage manufacturer [2]and her mother qualified as an accountant. She is married to television producer and director Ed Bye, who produces some of the series of Wax's long time friends and working partners, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
[edit] Career
After majoring in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, she came to the UK and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She began her acting career as a straight actress, working at the Royal Shakespeare Company alongside Juliet Stevenson. Wax made a one-off appearance in a 1980 episode of The Professionals, "Bloodsports", playing Lonnie, an American student. Another acting newcomer, Pierce Brosnan also 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.
Her popularity in terms of comedy came from her interviewing skills in which 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 Ruby's role as backstage interviewer at the annual charity event "The Secret Policeman's Ball" 1987 that finally launched her career.
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 can't, the grim situation in the country at the time).
More recently she's 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' or '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. Regardless of the fact that she can't really sing, Wax impressed viewers with her lively songs and successfully made it to the final, taking runner-up position to Will Mellor.[3]
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 has presented Cirque de Celebrité on Sky One in 2006, however, in 2007 Sky One confirmed that Ruby will not be returning for the second series.
Wax also appeared in an episode of Jackass where she was particapting in the Gum Ball 3000, While the race was stopped at the Latvia border she was wrestled by Jackass Personality Chris Pontius.
She also appeared in the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides" as an American reporter, in December 1989.
[edit] Controversies
In 2004, the BBC planned to show a cartoon series called Popetown. The series poked fun at the Roman Catholic Church. In it, Wax was to portray the Pope as a spoilt child. After protests, the BBC chose not to show the series.[4] In February 2004, Irish broadcaster Patricia Danaher reached an out-of-court settlement with Wax, who apologised after allegedly making slanderous comments.[5]
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.[6]
