Ruby Wax
{{Short description|British-American comedian (born 1953)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Ruby Wax
| honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100|OBEh}}
| image = Ruby Wax in 2016 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Wax at the 2016 Hay Festival
| birth_name = Ruby Wachs
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1953|4|19}}
| birth_place = Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
| citizenship = {{hlist|United States|United Kingdom}}
| education = University of California, Berkeley
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (BA)
Regent's College (PgDip)
Kellogg College, Oxford (MSt)
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|comedian|writer|television presenter|mental health campaigner}}
| years_active = 1970–present
| spouse = {{ubl
| {{marriage|Andrew Porter|1976|1980|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Trevor Walton|1981|end=div}}
| {{marriage|Ed Bye|1988}}}}
| children = 3
| website = {{url|rubywax.net}}
| signature = Ruby Wax signature.svg
}}
Ruby Wax {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE||size=100%}} ({{nee|Wachs}};{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2002/dec/14/weekend7.weekend1 |title=Q&A: Comedian Ruby Wax |last=Greenstreet |first=Rosanna |date=14 December 2002 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=14 June 2010 |location=London}} born 19 April 1953){{cite book |title=Who's Who|date=December 2009|publisher=A & C Black|location=Oxford, England|title-link=Who's Who}} is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television presenter, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986), and 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).{{Cite web |title=Ruby Wax OBE - Honorary Graduate - Staffordshire University |url=https://www.staffs.ac.uk/about/honorary-graduates/ruby-wax-obe |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=www.staffs.ac.uk}}{{Cite web |date=26 September 2019 |title=Ruby Wax OBE |url=https://speakerideas.com/speaker/ruby-wax/ |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=Speaker Ideas |language=en-GB}} She was a script editor for the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), also appearing in two episodes.
Wax holds both American and British citizenship and has resided in the United Kingdom since the 1970s.{{Cite web |last=Fulton |first=Rick |date=2011-07-22 |title=TV star Ruby Wax on why she never wants to return to 'favourite city' Glasgow |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/tv-star-ruby-wax-on-why-she-never-1108663 |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Daily Record |language=en}} In 2013, she 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.
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.{{cite web |title=Ruby Wax: "I've spent a lifetime giving the illusion all is well. It wasn't and it isn't" |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/07/ruby-wax-not-as-well-as-i-thought-i-was-depression-interview-cast-away |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 October 2023 |date=7 May 2023}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20050626.shtml |title=Desert Island Discs - Ruby Wax |website=BBC Radio 4 |date=26 June 2005}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/26/ruby-wax-the-kids-didnt-know-i-had-depression-until-they-were-older-my-husband-covered-for-me |title=Ruby Wax: 'The kids didn't know I had depression until they were older. My husband covered for me' |first=Nikki |last=Spencer |date=26 May 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=7 October 2017}} Her father was a sausage manufacturer{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/28/1017206134483.html |title=Ruby waxes lyrical about life |first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |date=29 March 2002 |newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne |access-date=27 December 2014}} and her mother qualified as an accountant. Once settled in Chicago, her father changed the spelling of the family surname from Wachs to Wax.{{cite web|url=https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/episode/ruby-wax/|title=Ruby Wax|publisher=Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine|access-date=2 December 2021}}
Wax majored in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, leaving after a year without completing her degree.{{cite web |url=http://www.personallyspeakingbureau.com/speaker/ruby-wax/ |title=Ruby Wax |website=Personally Speaking Bureau |access-date=7 August 2015}}{{ Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/17/ruby-wax-depression-interview |title=Ruby Wax: 'I think I became a cartoon to escape how ill I was'|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=24 October 2017|date=2011-07-16|last1=Day|first1=Elizabeth}}
Career
File:Ruby Wax.jpg awards]]
=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{{cite book | last=Trowbridge | first=Simon | title=Stratfordians, a dictionary of the RSC | chapter= Ruby Wax | publisher=Editions Albert Creed | location=Oxford, England | year=2008 | page=509 | isbn=978-0-9559830-1-6}} and appearing in the Howard Brenton three-hander Sore Throats.{{cite book |first=Howard |last=Brenton |title=Plays One |publisher=Methuen |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-413-40430-5}} 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.{{cite book |first1=Ian |last1=McKellen |first2=David |last2=Puttnam |first3=Ruby |last3=Wax |first4=Vanessa |last4=Redgrave |first5=Alan |last5=Bates |display-authors=3 |isbn=0094702500 |title=For Ian Charleson: A Tribute |location=London |publisher=Constable and Company |year=1990 |pages=55–61}} In 1981, Wax appeared as an American track fan in Charleson's breakthrough film, Chariots of Fire.Hugh Hudson Commentary on Chariots of Fire DVD, Warner Bros. media. She originally had a much larger role in the film, but it was cut down in editing.{{Cite web |date=2009-10-27 |title=Ruby Wax |url=https://metro.co.uk/2009/10/27/ruby-wax-2-636390/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Metro |language=en |quote="I was cut out but it wasn’t my fault. I played the girlfriend to the whole American running team. There was a scene where I snuck into their dorm. But that hit the floor because my friend was playing Ian Charleson’s girlfriend and they didn’t think her acting was great (though they told her it was because she didn’t shave her armpits). So both our careers ended. We went down like kingpins."}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.usp-group.com/record.jsp?type=teamMember&ID=5 |title=Team Member |website=Usp-group.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221164351/http://www.usp-group.com/record.jsp?type=teamMember&ID=5 |archive-date=21 February 2009}} 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".{{Citation|last=Bye|first=Ed|title=Timeslides|date=1989-12-12|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0684185/|type=Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi|others=Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Hattie Hayridge|access-date=2021-03-19}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115340/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast |title= Ruby Wax Meets... (1996– ): Full Cast & Crew |website=IMDb}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/i-thought-you-could-have-it-all-7245967.html |title=I thought you could have it all |first=Emine |last=Saner |date=13 February 2006 |newspaper=Evening Standard |location=London |access-date=27 December 2014}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/tv_film/newsid_2852000/2852107.stm |title=Will beats Ruby in Celeb Fame Academy |date=14 March 2003 |website=CBBC Newsround}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/sep/24/bbc.broadcasting?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 |title=BBC drops controversial Pope cartoon |first=Stephen |last=Bates |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 September 2004}}
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.{{cite journal |date=13 February 2004 |title=Ruby Wax apology over 'racist' claims |journal=The Stage |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2004/ruby-wax-apology-over-racist-claims/ |access-date=16 December 2008}}
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.{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1664656,00.html |title=It's Wax versus Max in battle of the art barges |first=Alice |last=O'Keeffe |date=11 December 2005 |newspaper=The Observer}} 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.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Southampton, commencing duties on 1 May 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2019/04/new-chancellor-appointment.page|title=Ruby Wax appointed Chancellor of the University of Southampton - University of Southampton|website=www.southampton.ac.uk}}
Wax teaches business communication in the public and private sectors. Clients include Deutsche Bank, the UK Home Office and Skype.{{cite news |date=22 March 2010 |title=Comic Ruby Wax runs workshops for Home Office staff |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/mar/22/ruby-wax-workshops-home-office}}
In September 2013, Wax graduated from Kellogg College, Oxford, with a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.{{cite news |date=17 September 2013 |title=Hats off to comic Ruby |newspaper=Oxford Mail |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10678444.Hats_off_to_comic_Ruby/ |access-date=27 December 2014}} She had previously earned a postgraduate certificate in psychotherapy and counselling from Regent's College in London.{{cite web |title=Training and Education |url=http://rubywaxleadership.co.uk/index.php/training-and-education/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228024319/http://rubywaxleadership.co.uk/training-and-education/ |archive-date=28 December 2014 |access-date=27 December 2014 |website=rubywaxleadership.co.uk}}
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.{{Cite web |date=2017-01-10 |title=Ruby Wax: 'I wanted to find a method to defuse my depression' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/10/ruby-wax-defuse-my-depression-a-mindfulness-guide-for-the-frazzled |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Ruby Wax |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/and-now-for-the-good-news/ruby-wax/9780241400647 |website=www.waterstones.com}} Her book A Mindfulness Guide For Survival was published in August 2021.{{Cite web |title=A Mindfulness Guide for Survival |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-mindfulness-guide-for-survival/ruby-wax/9781787399594 |website=www.waterstones.com}}
She lectures at Bangor University and in 2022 received an honorary degree from the university.{{cite web | url=https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ruby-wax-steve-backshall-to-receive-honorary-degrees-from-bangor-university | title=Ruby Wax, Steve Backshall to receive honorary degrees from Bangor University}}
Mental health campaigning
File:Ruby-Wax-2016 (cropped).jpg
Wax has been open about her struggles with bipolar disorder and depression.{{ cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/17/ruby-wax-depression-interview | title=Ruby Wax: 'I think I became a cartoon to escape how ill I was' | date=July 17, 2011 | website=Guardian.com }} 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.{{ cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/feb/27/ruby-wax-losing-it-live | date=February 27, 2011 | title=Ruby Wax, Losing It – review | website=Guardian.com }} 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.{{cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.sane.org.uk |website=SANE, mental health charity - emotional support, research and campaigning}}
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.rubywax.net/blog/an-announcement |title=An Announcement... |website=RubyWax.net |date=25 February 2015}} 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.{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Tanya |date=24 June 2015 |title=Ruby Wax appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey |url=https://www.surrey.ac.uk/mediacentre/press/2015/ruby-wax-appointed-visiting-professor-university-surrey |website=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.{{cite web |date=27 April 2015 |title=Ruby Wax to be awarded OBE for mental health work |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32477545 |access-date=27 April 2015 |website=BBC News}}{{cite web |title=Honorary Awards |date=2015 |publisher=Gov.UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/509363/2015_Honorary_Awards_-_Final.pdf}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/04/im-not-as-well-as-i-thought-i-was-by-ruby-wax-audiobook-review-a-wild-ride-through-depression|title=I'm Not As Well As I Thought I Was by Ruby Wax audiobook review – a wild ride through depression|website=The Guardian|last=Sturges|first=Fiona|date=4 August 2023|access-date=5 March 2024}} She toured a one-woman show based on the book.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/nov/22/ruby-wax-im-not-as-well-as-i-thought-i-was-review|title=Ruby Wax: I'm Not As Well As I Thought I Was review – wandering towards wellness|website=The Guardian|last=Logan|first=Brian|date=22 November 2023|access-date=5 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/what-to-see/ruby-wax-theatre-royal-brighton-review/|title=Ruby Wax offers a confused but charismatic journey around mental health|website=The Telegraph|last=Harding|first=Tim|date=15 September 2023|access-date=5 March 2024}}
Personal life
During her six years at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Alan Rickman, her flatmate and best friend, directed comedy shows written by Wax, casting Zoe Wanamaker, David Suchet, Richard Griffiths, and Jonathan Pryce.{{cite news |last1=Jinman |first1=Richard |title=She's as funny as ever but when Ruby Wax isn't OK, she knows what to do |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/comedy/she-s-as-funny-as-ever-but-when-ruby-wax-isn-t-ok-she-knows-what-to-do-20241127-p5ktz4.html |access-date=3 May 2025 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=3 December 2024 |language=en}}
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).{{cite news |last=McFadyean |first=Melanie |date=17 April 1993 |title=How we met: Ruby Wax and Ed Bye |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-ruby-wax-and-ed-bye-1455941.html |access-date=10 August 2015}}
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".{{cite web |date=4 October 2017 |title=WDYTYA? episode summary: Ruby Wax |url=http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/wdytya-episode-summary-ruby-wax |access-date=7 October 2017 |website=Who Do You Think You Are? |publisher=Immediate Media Company}}
In 2019, Wax fell off a horse while on holiday, severely injuring her back.{{Cite web |title=Ruby Wax pulls out of Fringe show after 'serious accident' on holiday |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17843193.ruby-wax-pulls-fringe-show-39-serious-accident-39/ |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=HeraldScotland |date=16 August 2019 |language=en}} She had to cancel her show How to Be Human at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a result of her injuries.{{Cite news |date=2019-08-16 |title=Ruby Wax cancels Fringe shows after horse fall |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-49377136 |access-date=2019-08-17}}
Wax has been a naturalised British citizen since the 1970s, while retaining her American citizenship.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| rowspan="3" |1981
|Bunty | |
| Shock Treatment
|Betty Hapschatt | |
| Omen III: The Final Conflict
|U.S. Ambassador's Secretary |Uncredited |
| 1982
|Restaurant Patron | |
| rowspan="2" |1985
|Romance on the Orient Express |Susan Lawson |Television film |
| Water
|Spenco Executive | |
| 1986
|Come Dancing | rowspan="4" |Herself | rowspan="4" |Documentary film |
| 1998
|Ruby Wax's Miami Memoirs |
| 1991
|Ruby Takes a Trip... |
| 1992
|Wax Acts |
| 1997
|Town Hall Clerk | |
| 2000
|Ruby Wax Gets Streetwise |Herself |Documentary film |
| 2005
|Carlotta | |
| 2008
|Agent Crush |Charleen Chinstubble (voice) | |
| 2011
|The British Guide to Showing Off |Herself |Documentary film |
| 2012
|Patty Turner (voice) | |
| 2021
|Ms. Hartley (voice) | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1979
| |1 episode |
| 1980
|Lonnie |Episode: "Blood Sports" |
| 1985
|Waitress |Episode: "Cassie" |
| 1985–1986
|Shelley |13 episodes |
| 1986–1992
|Herself |5 episodes |
| 1987–1988
|Don't Miss Wax |Herself - Host |16 episodes |
| 1988–1989
|Wax on Wheels |Herself | |
| 1988–1993
|Various (voice) |15 episodes |
| rowspan="3" |1989
|Blaize Falconberger |Episode: "Timeslides" |
| East Meets Wax
|Herself | |
| Class of '69
| rowspan="3" |Presenter | |
| 1990
|Hit and Run |1 episode |
| 1991–1994
|The Full Wax |23 episodes |
| rowspan="2" |1992
|Sue |Episode: "Wild Turkey" |
| Wax Acts
| rowspan="3" |Presenter | |
| 1993
|Wax Cracks Hollywood | |
| 1994–1998
|Ruby Wax Meets... |21 episodes |
| 1995, 2001
|Candy / Beth De Woodi |Also script editor (39 episodes) |
| 1996
|Hannah the Harp (voice) | |
| 1997–2000
|Ruby | rowspan="7" |Presenter |BBC talk show; 48 episodes |
| 1999–2000
|Ruby's American Pie |12 episodes |
| 1999
|Ruby |Talk-reality show airing on Lifetime; 10 episodes |
| 2001
|Hot Wax | |
| 2001–2002
| |
| rowspan="2" |2002
|8 episodes |
| The Ruby Wax Show
| |
| 2002–2003
|Herself - Guest |4 episodes |
| rowspan="4" |2003
|Ruby Wax With... |Presenter |6 episodes |
| Comic Relief Does Fame Academy
| rowspan="4" |Herself |
| The Big Read
|2 episodes |
| Have I Got News for You
|1 episode |
| rowspan="3" |2004
|Ruby Does the Business |Mini-series |
| Planet Cook
|Roxie (voice) | |
| French and Saunders
|The Executive |1 episode |
| rowspan="2" |2005
|Herself |Episode: "Gumball 3000 Rally Special" |
| Gameshow Marathon
|Herself - Contestant |4 episodes |
| rowspan="3" |2006
|Presenter |10 episodes |
| Popetown
|The Pope (voice) |10 episodes |
| Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy
|Herself |3 episodes |
| 2009
|Candida |Episode: "Black Gold" |
| 2012
|Ruby Wax's Mad Confessions | rowspan="4" |Herself | |
| rowspan="3" |2013
| rowspan="2" |1 episode |
| College Tour |
| The Spa
|Episode: "Christmas Special: Strangers in the Night" |
| 2014
|Host - Presenter |Episode: "Let Me Be the Judge & I'm Still Here" |
| rowspan="3" |2017
| rowspan="2" |Herself |1 episode |
| Head Talks
| |
| Thunderbirds Are Go
|Hayley Edmonds (voice) |Episode: "Bolt from the Blue" |
| 2018
|Ruby Wax: How to Be Human |Presenter |Mini-series |
| 2020
| rowspan="7" |Herself |1 episode |
| 2021
|When Ruby Wax Met… |3 episodes |
| rowspan="4" |2022
|Dictionary corner; 5 episodes |
| The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer
|1 episode |
| Celebrity Gogglebox for Stand Up to Cancer
|1 episode; Series 20 episode 8 |
| Trailblazers: A Rocky Mountain Road Trip |
| rowspan="2" |2023
|Ruby Wax: Cast Away |2 episodes |
| The Weakest Link
|Celebrity Contestant |1 episode |
| 2025
|Good Morning, Coruscant hosts; 1 episode{{Cite web |title=Ruby Wax {{!}} Actress, Script and Continuity Department, Writer |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915375/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}} |
Stage
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role(s) !Venue !Ref. |
| 1977
|Woman |
| 1977
|Neighbour |
| 1978
|Betty |
| 1978
|Spirit |
| 1978
|performer |
| 1978
|Nun, Whore |
| 1978
|Jaquenetta |
| 1979
|The Johnson Wax Show |performer, writer |
| 1979
|Desperately Yours |performer |
| 1979
|Jaquenetta |
| 1979
|performer |
| 1979
|Suzie |
| 1979
|Jane, Maid |
| 1979
|Sore Throats |Sally |
| 2005
|The Grand High Witch |
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
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://rubywax.net|Ruby Wax}} – official site
- {{Discogs artist}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{cite episode |title=Ruby Wax discusses the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jxhdd |series=Great Lives |network=BBC |station=Radio 4 |date=1 May 2009 |series-no=18 |number=4}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/ruby_wax_what_s_so_funny_about_mental_illness.html |title=What's so funny about mental illness? |website=TED Talks|date=10 October 2012 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wax, Ruby}}
Category:Academics of the University of Surrey
Category:Actresses from Evanston, Illinois
Category:Alumni of Regent's University London
Category:Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Category:Alumni of Kellogg College, Oxford
Category:American emigrants to England
Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Category:American women comedians
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Category:Comedians from Evanston, Illinois
Category:British women comedians
Category:Chancellors of the University of Southampton
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Category:Jewish American actresses
Category:Jewish American comedians
Category:Jewish women comedians
Category:Jewish British comedians
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Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members
Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Category:Honorary officers of the Order of the British Empire