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British American comedian (born 1953)

Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is a British American actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986). Wax 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). 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. In 2013, she gained a master's degree in mindfulness based cognitive therapy from Kellogg College, Oxford. 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 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 majored in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, leaving after a year without completing her degree.

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. 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. 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. Wax also appeared briefly as a secretary in Omen III: The Final Conflict.

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. 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 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.

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.

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.

+YearTitleRoleNotes1981Chariots of FireBuntyShock TreatmentBetty HapschattOmen III: The Final ConflictU. S. Ambassador's SecretaryUncredited1982Things Are Tough All OverRestaurant Patron1985Romance on the Orient ExpressSusan LawsonTelevision filmWaterSpenco Executive1986Come DancingHerselfDocumentary film1998Ruby Wax's Miami Memoirs1991Ruby Takes a Trip 1992Wax Acts1997The BorrowersTown Hall Clerk2000Ruby Wax Gets StreetwiseHerselfDocumentary film2005Tara RoadCarlotta2008Agent CrushCharleen Chinstubble (voice)2011The British Guide to Showing OffHerselfDocumentary film2012Sir BilliPatty Turner (voice)2021Ron's Gone WrongMs. Hartley (voice)

+YearTitleRoleNotes1979Not the Nine O'Clock News1 episode1980The ProfessionalsLonnieEpisode: "Blood Sports"1985Happy FamiliesWaitressEpisode: "Cassie"1985–1986Girls on TopShelley13 episodes1986–1992WoganHerself5 episodes1987–1988Don't Miss WaxHerself Host16 episodes1988–1989Wax on WheelsHerself1988–1993Count DuckulaVarious (voice)15 episodes1989Red DwarfBlaize FalconbergerEpisode: "Timeslides"East Meets WaxHerselfClass of '69Presenter1990Hit and Run1 episode1991–1994The Full Wax23 episodes1992The Comic Strip Presents SueEpisode: "Wild Turkey"Wax ActsPresenter1993Wax Cracks Hollywood1994–1998Ruby Wax Meets 21 episodes1995, 2001Absolutely FabulousCandy / Beth De WoodiAlso script editor (39 episodes)1996Oscar's OrchestraHannah the Harp (voice)1997–2000RubyPresenterBBC talk show; 48 episodes1999–2000Ruby's American Pie12 episodes1999RubyTalk reality show airing on Lifetime; 10 episodes2001Hot Wax2001–2002The Waiting Game2002Commercial Breakdown8 episodesThe Ruby Wax Show2002–2003V Graham NortonHerself Guest4 episodes2003Ruby Wax With Presenter6 episodesComic Relief Does Fame AcademyHerselfSeries oneThe Big Read2 episodesHave I Got News for You1 episode2004Ruby Does the BusinessMini seriesPlanet CookRoxie (voice)French and SaundersThe Executive1 episode2005JackassHerselfEpisode: "Gumball 3000 Rally Special"Gameshow MarathonHerself Contestant4 episodes2006Cirque de CelebritéPresenter10 episodesPopetownThe Pope (voice)10 episodesDawn French's Girls Who Do ComedyHerself3 episodes2009Taking the FlakCandidaEpisode: "Black Gold"2012Ruby Wax's Mad ConfessionsHerself2013Anna & Katy1 episodeCollege TourThe SpaEpisode: "Christmas Special: Strangers in the Night"2014CrackanoryHost PresenterEpisode: "Let Me Be the Judge & I'm Still Here"2017Who Do You Think You Are?Herself1 episodeHead TalksThunderbirds Are GoHayley Edmonds (voice)Episode: "Bolt from the Blue"2018Ruby Wax: How to Be HumanPresenterMini series2020Question TimeHerself1 episode2021When Ruby Wax Met 3 episodes2022CountdownDictionary corner; 5 episodesThe Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer1 episodeGoggleboxTrailblazers: A Rocky Mountain Road Trip 3 episodes2023Ruby Wax: Cast Away2 episodesThe Weakest LinkCelebrity Contestant1 episode