Ruby Wax is a woman people find fascinating. She’s a little bit of everything, and it only adds to the fascination that her fans have with her. She’s not just an actress. She’s a writer and a comedian, she gives lectures, and she does things like campaign for mental health. She’s a woman who is not afraid to think outside the box. She is not afraid to do things her own way, to do things how she sees fit, and to do things that might not be considered the norm. If you are unfamiliar with Ruby Wax, we highly recommend you stick around and get to know her.
1. She is a 50s Gal
Born and raised in the 50s, she knows a thing or two about growing up in a much different time and age. She is fortunate she got to grow up when she did because she has fond memories of her life that don’t involve being constantly connected and having her nose in her phone all the time. It is a beautiful thing. Ruby was born Ruby Wachs on April 19, 1953, in Evanston, Illinois.
2. Her Parents Escaped Nazi Germany
Her parents, Edward and Berthe (Goldmann), were from Austria. Both Jewish, they were forced to escape their home and flee to America when the Nazis from Germany began threatening the Jewish people in what is now known as the holocaust. They left in 1938 after spending five years watching Adolf Hitler begin building concentration camps in which to imprison those who were considered his political opponents as well as undesirable. In those days, being an undesirable person meant being Jewish. Hitler viewed the Jewish as “not really human at all,” according to Dan Stone. Ruby Wax’s family left their home and fled to America before they were sent to a concentration camp and killed alongside nearly six million of their fellow Jews and those who had the misfortune of having a different political point of view than their dictator.
3. She Went to College
When Wax was ready to go to college, she enrolled in courses at the University of California, Berkeley. She began studying psychology, but she did not finish her education. She stuck with it for approximately one year, but she had some bigger dreams to attend to. She did, however, go back to college. She graduated from Kellogg College, Oxford, in 2013. She holds her Master’s degree in cognitive therapy.
4. Her Family Changed Their Surname
As previously mentioned, Ruby Wax was born Ruby Wachs. However, her family changed their last name after escaping the Nazis and moving to Chicago. Once they were settled, her father found it important to make the change legal, and they officially became the Wax family.
5. She’s a Married Mother of Three
Wax married her husband, Ed Bye, in 1988. He is a television director and producer, and they share three children. They have a son, Max, a daughter Madeleine, and a daughter Marina. Their kids were born in 1988, 1990, and 1993.
6. She Suffers from Depression
Wax is nothing if not entirely open and honest about her life. She suffers from depression, and she’s talked about it extensively over the years. Her own experience is a large part of the reason she’s gone into the line of work that she is in. She works with mental health charities and programs, and she does what she can to give back.
7. She Suffered a Back Injury
While vacationing in 2017, she had a horrible accident. She was thrown from the back of her horse – or she fell, we don’t actually know – and she injured her back. Her injury was serious enough that she had to cancel her own show at an upcoming festival, and we imagine she still has issues with it four years later. Back injuries are not to be taken lightly.
8. She Didn’t Really Live With Her Husband During Lockdowns
She might not care if people find it odd, and she’s very open about it. She and her husband spent much of their lockdown time alone in their own separate homes. She holds up in her own one-room lodge while her husband was in their London home. She admits she doesn’t call or text much, but that their alone time is very important to them both. They are accustomed to it because of their own work schedules, and being apart allowed her to finish writing a book.
9. She Believes She’d Be Unhappy if She Were Still in Television
She feels that her time distancing herself from show business has been good for her. She was on the decline when she left, and she was having many difficulties. She wasn’t herself, she couldn’t think of humorous lines any longer, and she was being fed lines through a mic. She was replaced, and it just so happens to have been good for her. She thinks she’d be a tragic mess right now if she were still in show business.
10. She Believes Depression Feels Like Being Out of Town
When she first began experiencing depression, she realized that it’s like being out of town. Therapy was a waste for her. She has to wait it out and hope that it goes away on its own. She focuses on mindfulness as a cognitive therapy because she’s found that it helps her on her own journey. She realizes that when you have depression, your mind no longer works on its own accord, and there is little you can do about it.
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