Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax, 2007

Ruby Wax (born April 19, 1953 in Evanston , Illinois , USA ; actually Ruby Wax) is an American - British comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as a member of alternative comedy in the 1980s and before in the 1990s particularly through its interview - shows the Full Wax and Ruby Wax meets ... with the BBC became famous. Interviewees included Donald Trump , Madonna and Imelda Marcos .

Life

Ruby Wax was born on April 19, 1953 in Evanston, her parents were Austrian Jews who had fled the Nazis in 1939. Her father was a manufacturer, her mother an accountant.

Ruby Wax studied psychology at the University of California, Berkeley . She later studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where she befriended actor Ian Charleson , to whom she dedicated a chapter in the book For Ian Charleson: A Tribute (1990) after he died of AIDS in 1990 . Wax began her acting career at the Crucible Theater in Sheffield , where she met director Alan Rickman , who inspired her to write comedy. He later directed many of her stage shows and was a close friend. Ruby Wax is married to TV producer and director Ed Bye. Wax and Bye have three children together: a son, Max (born 1988), and two daughters, Madeleine (born 1990) and Marina (born 1993).

The actress

In 1978 she was accepted by the Royal Shakespeare Company and worked alongside Juliet Stevenson in Measure for Measure , by Michael Hordern in Lost Love Labor , as Jane in The Way of the World , where she replaced Zoë Wanamaker , and appeared in the Three-person play Sore Throats by Howard Brenton. Wax starred in the British television series Die Profis in 1980 as the American student Lonnie in the episode "A Sportsman Dies" with. In 1981 she appeared in the sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show called Shock Treatment . There she played the role of Betty Hapschatt. Wax also had a brief appearance as a secretary in Barbara's Baby - Omen III .

The comedian

Her comedy popularity arose from her particular interview technique: she was always open, cheeky and loud, in accordance with the British stereotype of an American. Her physical appearance matched this picture: red hair and blood red lipstick. She underpinned this trademark in 1985 when she appeared as loudmouthed American actress Shelley DuPont on the British sitcom Girls On Top , which she wrote herself. According to a BBC Arena documentary, Wax rose for her role as a backstage interviewer in the Amnesty International - benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball 1987 much in her career.

Many of her early television shows were based on meeting people in certain situations and then simply interviewing them, but mostly exceptional citizens, including one in the Soviet Union just before its collapse. In 1987, Wax got her own comedy talk show Don't Miss Wax on Channel 4 . She has also been hired as a radio host for The Superstation , an overnight service for commercial radio in the UK. In 1989 she appeared in the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides" as an American reporter.

Wax began her work for the BBC in 1991 with television documentaries and interview programs. Alternative health programs and prime-time interviews culminated in the mid-1990s with the 1996 Ruby Wax Meets series , in which she interviewed public figures such as Imelda Marcos and Pamela Anderson . Wax was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 1996 for her interview with Sarah, Duchess of York - an interview that was watched by over 14 million viewers. She also had several guest appearances in the sketch series Absolutely Fabulous , for which she also worked as a dramaturge throughout the series.

From November 2001 to June 2002, Wax presented a TV quiz show on BBC 1 entitled The Waiting Game . Her last BBC interview series aired in 2003.

The years after 2002

In 2002, Wax wrote her memoir , How Do You Want Me? Which, according to the bestseller list of The Sunday Times into a bestseller was.

In March 2003, Wax was one of the celebrity contestants on the Comic Relief does Fame Academy talent show, a spin-off of the BBC talent show Fame Academy , where all proceeds went to the Comic Relief charity . Although not a singer, Wax made it to the finals, finishing second just after Will Mellor .

Wax had a supporting role in the 2005 film A House in Ireland . In 2005, she appeared as a prominent contestant on Ant & Dec's game show Marathon and made it to the Show Sales of the Century before being beaten. In the summer of 2006, she was a celebrity tournament rider for the BBC sports fundraiser Only Fools On Horses . She presented the 2006 reality television show Cirque de Celebrité on Sky One. Wax also starred in an episode of Jackass where she took part in Gumball 3000 . While the race was stopped at the Latvian border, she struggled with the Jackass personality Chris Pontius in wrestling . In 2009, Wax returned to Comic Relief to join Comic Relief does the Apprentice . Also in the 2010 emitted comic relief -Issue Comic Relief Does Masterchef she participated and prepared a starter for the Prime Minister David Cameron to.

In 2009 the show Ruby Wax Goes Dutch premiered on the Dutch TV channel N et 5 .

Wax's stand-up show Losing It , first shown in 2010 , deals with her experience of depression . The show was played at The Duchess Theater in London in 2011 . Wax launched a website in the same year in response to the numerous audience reactions. In addition, Wax coaches communication in both the public and private sectors.

Wax has been attending Kellogg College at the University of Oxford since 2011 to complete her Masters in Cognitive Psychotherapy, having previously obtained a Graduate Certificate in Psychotherapy and Counseling from Regents College, London.

Controversy

Popetown

The cartoon series Popetown, commissioned by the BBC in 2004, satirized the Catholic Church and the Vatican . Ruby Wax mimed the voice of the Pope, who was portrayed as infantile. After violent protests, the BBC decided against broadcasting it. In Germany , the first episode appeared on May 3, 2006 on MTV . A total of ten episodes were shown.

Libel case

In February 2004, Irish television personality Patricia Danaher reached an out-of-court settlement with Wax, who initially claimed that Danaher had made racist comments about her Jewish origins in an interview for Ulster TV. Ruby Wax's Legal Department apologized and announced that the case could be settled with a severance payment .

Opposition to the handicapped accessible ramp

In November 2005, Wax was criticized by Richard Kay, a columnist for the Daily Mail , for taking opposition to the proposal for an accessible ramp near the Couper Collection non-profit art gallery . The British Sunday newspaper The Observer also covered the controversy , as did the music band I, Ludicrous in the song "The Ruby Wax Song", which appeared on their 2008 album Dirty Washing .

Interview shows and 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
• Ruby Takes a Trip , BBC, 1991
• The Full Wax , BBC, 1991-1993
• Ruby Wax Meets ... , BBC, 1994-1998
• Ruby's American Pie , BBC, 1999
• Ruby Gets Streetwise , BBC, 2000
• Ruby , BBC, 1997-2002
• Ruby Wax With ... , BBC, 2003

publication

• How do you want me? Ebury Press, London, 2002, ISBN 0-09-188662-7 .

Web links

• Ruby Wax in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Wax in the RSC performance database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BBC Radio 4 - Factual - Desert Island Discs - Ruby Wax
2. ↑ theage.com.au - The Age
3. ↑ How we met: Ruby Wax and Ed Bye The Independent
4. ^ The Guardian: Comic Ruby Wax runs workshops for Home Office staff
5. ↑ Ruby Wax: Training and Education ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ BBC's banned satire on Vatican released Guardian Online
7. ↑ Staff: Ruby Wax apology over 'racist' claims . In: The Stage . February 13, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
8. ^ It's Wax versus Max in battle of the art barges | UK news The Observer