Ruby Wax
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Ruby Wax. Born April 19th, 1953. Actress, comedian, writer, presenter, and a fierce advocate for mental health. She honed her craft in classical theatre, even spending years with the legendary Royal Shakespeare Company. But it was on the small screen, with her sharp wit and unapologetic American style, that she truly captured our attention. Shows like "The Full Wax," "Ruby Wax Meets..." and "The Ruby Wax Show" became iconic for their candid interviews and hilarious observations. She's an American-British dual citizen, calling the UK home since the 70s. And in a testament to her dedication to well-being, she holds a Master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Oxford and serves as a Visiting Professor in Mental Health Nursing. Her memoirs, "How Do You Want Me?" and "Sane New World," both soared to the top of the bestseller lists. You might even remember her as a script editor for the iconic "Absolutely Fabulous" or the upcoming contestant on "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" in 2025.
Born Ruby Wachs in Evanston, Illinois, her parents, Austrian Jews, fled Vienna in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Her father later Americanized their surname to Wax. She began her acting journey in the UK, studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Her early career saw her as a "straight" actress at the Crucible Theatre, where she forged a vital creative partnership with Alan Rickman, who would go on to direct many of her groundbreaking comedy shows. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978, sharing the stage with luminaries like Juliet Stevenson and Michael Hordern. It was also during this time she met and befriended Ian Charleson, even appearing in his breakthrough film, "Chariots of Fire." Her early screen credits include an episode of "The Professionals" and the cult classic "Shock Treatment."
In 1985, she hit the sitcom scene as the vivacious Shelley DuPont in "Girls on Top." Her own comedy chat show, "Don't Miss Wax," debuted on Channel 4 in 1987, followed by a stint as a radio presenter. She made a memorable appearance in the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides" as the glamorous Blaize Falconberger. Her collaboration with the BBC began in 1991 with "The Full Wax." Then came the unforgettable "Ruby Wax Meets Madonna," and the series "Ruby Wax Meets..." where she fearlessly interviewed figures like Imelda Marcos and O. J. Simpson. Her interview with Sarah, Duchess of York, garnered over 14 million viewers and earned a BAFTA nomination. She also graced "Absolutely Fabulous" with her presence, both as a guest star and script editor. From 2001 to 2002, she hosted the BBC quiz show "The Waiting Game."
In 2002, Wax took the helm of "Commercial Breakdown" and published her bestselling memoir, "How Do You Want Me?" She bravely participated in "Comic Relief Does Fame Academy" in 2003, reaching the final. In 2004, she voiced the Pope in the controversial animated series "Popetown." She later settled an out-of-court dispute with broadcaster Patricia Danaher. In 2005, she appeared in the film "Tara Road" and was a contestant on "Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon." She also showcased her sporting prowess in the BBC's "Only Fools on Horses" and presented "Cirque de Celebrité." Her adventurous spirit led her to participate in an episode of "Jackass." In 2009, she returned for "Comic Relief Does The Apprentice" and later, in 2011, showcased her culinary skills on "Comic Relief Does Masterchef." In 2009, "Ruby Wax Goes Dutch" premiered on Dutch television. She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Southampton in 2019 and teaches business communication to a range of high-profile clients. Her academic pursuits continued with a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Oxford in 2013, following a postgraduate certificate in psychotherapy and counselling. Her groundbreaking mindfulness books, "A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled" and "And Now for the Good News...", have offered solace and practical advice to many. Her latest mindfulness guide, "A Mindfulness Guide for Survival," was published in 2021. She lectures at Bangor University and received an honorary degree from them in 2022. And in November 2025, we'll see her back in the jungle on "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!"
Ruby Wax has been a powerful voice in mental health campaigning, bravely sharing her own struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. Her online series for the BBC and her work with mental health charities have been instrumental. Her 2010 stand-up show, "Losing It," delved into her mental health journey, leading to the founding of a mental health website, now part of the SANE charity. "Sane New World" became a number-one bestseller, followed by "A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled" and "How to Be Human: The Manual," co-written with experts. In 2015, she was appointed visiting professor in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey and received an OBE for her services to mental health. Her 2023 book and audiobook, "I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was," candidly chronicles her recent experiences with psychiatric treatment and her ongoing battle with depression.
Her personal life is anchored by her marriage to television producer Ed Bye, with whom she has three children: Max, Madeleine, and Marina. A poignant episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" revealed a family history of mental health challenges. In 2019, a serious back injury from a fall off a horse forced her to cancel a show. Ruby Wax is a naturalized British citizen, proudly holding onto her American roots.
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Ruby Wax (née Wachs; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television presenter, and mental health campaigner. After training in classical theatre and spending several years with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, Wax co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986). She came to prominence as a comic interviewer, playing up to British perceptions of the strident American style on television shows including The Full Wax (1991–1994), Ruby Wax Meets... (1994–1998), Ruby (1997–2000), and The Ruby Wax Show (2002).
Wax holds both American and British citizenship and has resided in the United Kingdom since the 1970s. In 2013, Wax gained a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Kellogg College, Oxford. In 2015, she was appointed a Visiting Professor in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey. Wax was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Special Honours for services to mental health. Her memoirs How Do You Want Me? (2002) and Sane New World (2013) both reached number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list.
Wax was a script editor for the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), also appearing in two episodes. In 2025, she was announced as a contestant on the twenty-fifth series of the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
== Early life ==
Wax was born Ruby Wachs and raised in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Edward and Berthe Wachs (née Goldmann). Her parents were Austrian Jews who left Vienna in 1938 because of the Nazi threat. Her father was a sausage manufacturer and her mother qualified as an accountant. Once settled in Chicago, her father changed the spelling of the family surname from Wachs to Wax.
Wax attended Evanston Township High School. She majored in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, leaving after a year without completing her degree.
== Career ==
=== Early career ===
Wax moved to the UK and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. She started 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 directed many 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. In 1981, Wax appeared as an American track fan in Charleson's breakthrough film, Chariots of Fire. She originally had a much larger role in the film, but it was cut down in editing.
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 married Ralph Hapschatt in the first film. The same year, she Wax also appeared briefly as a secretary in Omen III: The Final Conflict.
=== Comedy work ===
In 1985, she starred as loud-mouthed American actress Shelley DuPont on the British sitcom Girls on Top.
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 the television host Blaize Falconberger of the fictional show "Lifestyles of the Disgustingly Rich and Famous".
Wax began working with the BBC in 1991, with the show The Full Wax (1991–94). In 1994, Ruby Wax Meets Madonna aired on the BBC, followed by the series Ruby Wax Meets... (1996–98), in which she interviewed public figures such as Imelda Marcos, O. J. Simpson, and Pamela Anderson. Ruby Wax Meets... was nominated for a 1997 BAFTA Award (credited to Clive Tulloh and Don Boyd), for an interview with Sarah, Duchess of York, an interview which attracted over 14 million viewers. She also made two guest appearances in Absolutely Fabulous, a programme on which she served as script editor throughout the run of the series.
From November 2001 to June 2002, Wax presented a TV quiz show on BBC One, The Waiting Game. Her final BBC interview series aired in 2003. In 2005 Wax appeared as a cleaner in the music video to McFly's Comic Relief song All About You.
=== Writing, academia, corporate training and returns to television and stage ===
In 2002, Wax became the host of Commercial Breakdown. In that year, Wax published her memoir How Do You Want Me?, which topped The Sunday Times best-seller list.
In March 2003, Wax was one of the celebrity contestants on Comic Relief does Fame Academy, a spin-off from the BBC's Fame Academy, with all proceeds donated to Comic Relief. Although not a good singer, Wax made it to the final, taking runner-up position to Will Mellor.
In 2004, the BBC planned to show the cartoon series Popetown, poking fun at the Catholic Church. Wax portrayed the Pope as a spoiled child. After protests, the BBC did not broadcast the show.
In February 2004, Irish broadcaster Patricia Danaher reached an out-of-court settlement with Wax, who had falsely claimed Danaher had made "racist" and "anti-Semitic" remarks about her in an interview for Ulster Television. Wax's legal team apologised in court, accepted Danaher had made no racist or anti-Semitic statements, and announced there had been a financial settlement.
In November 2005, Wax was criticised by the Daily Mail columnist Richard Kay for allegedly opposing a proposed disabled-access ramp for the Couper Collection charitable art gallery. The UK Sunday newspaper The Observer also reported the controversy. In 2006, Wax responded to the claims in the London Evening Standard: "Oh no, that's not true. That's so off the wall. Why would I object to a disabled ramp? It wasn't even about that."
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. Wax also appeared in an episode of Jackass, 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. Wax appeared in the 2011 Comic Relief in Comic Relief Does Masterchef in which Wax prepared an appetiser for then Prime Minister David Cameron.
On 1 April 2009, Ruby Wax Goes Dutch premiered on Dutch television network NET 5.
She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Southampton, commencing duties on 1 May 2019.
Wax teaches business communication in the public and private sectors. Clients include Deutsche Bank, the UK Home Office and Skype.
In September 2013, Wax graduated from Kellogg College, Oxford, with a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. She had previously earned a postgraduate certificate in psychotherapy and counselling from Regent's College in London.
In 2016, Wax published her first mindfulness book, A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled, within which she sets out her own six-week mindfulness course with the blessing of Mark Williams, her professor at Oxford and co-creator of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
After the 2020 lockdown period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, her book And Now for the Good News... was published. Still related to mindfulness, it discusses her discovery of new ways for education, community, self-sustainability, business or volunteering to improve lives internationally. Her book A Mindfulness Guide For Survival was published in August 2021.
She lectures at Bangor University and in 2022 received an honorary degree from the university.
In November 2025, Wax was announced as a contestant on the twenty-fifth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
== Mental health campaigning ==
Wax has been open about her struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. She made an online series on mental health issues for the BBC and has worked with mental health charities.
Wax's 2010 stand-up show Losing It dealt with her mental health, including time she spent in a psychiatric clinic. Wax founded the mental health website (which is now part of the SANE mental health charity) in 2011 in response to the audience reaction from her theatre show.
In 2013, Wax published Sane New World, which became a number-one best-seller. It was followed in January 2016 by A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled. In 2018 her third book on the subject of mental health came out: How to Be Human: The Manual, written with the help of a neuroscientist and a monk.
In June 2015, Wax was appointed visiting professor in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey. In the 2015 Special Honours, she was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to mental health.
In May 2023, Wax released her new book and accompanying audiobook I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was, which details her recent life including further time spent receiving psychiatric treatment and battles against depression. She toured a one-woman show based on the book.
== Personal life ==
Wax studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Later, during her six years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, she began writing comedy. Alan Rickman, her flatmate and best friend, directed her comedy shows, casting Zoe Wanamaker, David Suchet, Richard Griffiths, and Jonathan Pryce.
"I made him laugh, and he made me think,...If I could make him laugh, it was a triumph. In fact, the only reason I went into comedy was to make Alan laugh".
Wax is married to television producer and director Ed Bye. They have three children: Max (born 1988), Madeleine (born 1990), and Marina (born 1993).
In an episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? in 2017, Wax revealed her great-grandmother and great-aunt had been committed to mental asylums in Brno and Vienna as they were incurably "agitated".
In 2019, Wax fell off a horse while on holiday, severely injuring her back. She had to cancel her show How to Be Human at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a result of her injuries.
Wax has been a naturalised British citizen since the 1970s, while retaining her American citizenship.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Stage ==
== Bibliography ==
How Do You Want Me? (2002)
Sane New World (2013)
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled (2016)
How to Be Human: The Manual (2018)
And Now for the Good News...: The Much-needed Tonic for Our Frazzled World (2020)
Mindfulness Guide for Survival (2021)
I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was (2023)
== References ==
== External links ==
Ruby Wax – official site
Ruby Wax discography at Discogs
Ruby Wax at IMDb
"Ruby Wax discusses the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung". Great Lives. Series 18. Episode 4. 1 May 2009. BBC. Radio 4.
"What's so funny about mental illness?". TED Talks. 10 October 2012.
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