Ricki Lake Pictures & News

Trained at various professional schools for youngsters, actress Ricki Lake completed her education at Ithaca College. While her excessive weight precluded ingenue roles on stage and screen, Lake enjoyed some success as a cabaret singer and off-Broadway performer; she was also a gifted musician, adept at several instruments. Her film career began in 1988 as a member of director John Waters' eccentric stock company. She garnered fine reviews for her work in Waters' Hairspray and the made-for-TV Babycakes (1989) and in the regular role of Red-Cross volunteer Holly Pergerino on the weekly TV series China Beach. Sensing that her poundage was holding her back professionally, Lake lost 115 pounds over a 36-month period. It was a svelte, sexy Ricki Lake who in 1993 launched the popular daily TV talkfest The Ricki Lake Show. In 1996, she returned to the big screen playing a leading role in Mrs. Winterbourne opposite Shirley MacLaine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Early life

Lake was born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York to Jill, a homemaker, and Barry Lake, a pharmacist.[1] She attended Ithaca College and the Professional Children's School.[2]. She also attended Farragut Middle School in Hastings-on-Hudson, and her sixth-grade grade math teacher, Rosemary Reihman, was featured on her talk show.

[edit] Early career

Lake first appeared to audiences when she played the hefty Tracy Turnblad, the main character of the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. She also had a cameo role in the film Working Girl. It's in the formal wedding party scene when star, Harrison Ford, asks her for the bridesmaid's nickname. She responds with her only line in the movie, just one word, "Bitsy". Her role as the overweight Red Cross recreation worker "Holly the Donut Dolly" in the television series China Beach gave her additional visibility, and she was eventually chosen to host her eponymous talk show. At the same time, she publicly began a weight loss regimen, ultimately losing around 125 pounds (57 kg).

[edit] Talk show

Ricki Lake debuted on September 13, 1993. A typical show might present several lower middle class women, each claiming to be "all that" (the show's catchphrase for someone with high fashion and personal appeal) with others debating the assertion. Other shows would present someone in an obviously bad relationship and have Lake recommend, "Dump that zero and get yourself a hero!" Once Lake became a mother, feel-good mother-and-child shows became common.

Lake's talk show has often been the butt of satire. It was repeatedly parodied during the 1990s on Saturday Night Live, with male cast member Jay Mohr impersonating Lake in drag. In addition, it was mentioned in the chorus of the hit 1998 song "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring: "So if you don't rate, just overcompensate, at least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake."

In 2000, Lake told Rosie O'Donnell in an interview that she had signed on for four additional years. Although Sony Pictures Television had many stations contracted through the 2004-2005 season, Lake decided to end the show in August 2004, citing (among other things) a desire to spend time with her family. She moved from Los Angeles to New York to tape the 11th season of the show, then returned to California when taping was complete.

[edit] Other roles

Lake was in talks to star in an untitled CBS comedy, but no further episodes were commissioned after the filming of the pilot. Most recently, she has appeared in a recurring role on CBS's long-running sitcom The King of Queens, playing Doug Heffernan's sister, Stephanie.

She has also appeared in the films Cabin Boy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Cookie, Mrs. Winterbourne, and Inside Monkey Zetterland, and she often appears in small roles in John Waters films, such as Cecil B. Demented, Cry-Baby, and Serial Mom. She also starred in the TV movie Baby Cakes.

[edit] Currently

According to Broadcasting & Cable magazine Lake was crafting a talk-show comeback, which would have been somewhat similar to The Ricki Lake Show, but more mature. Rumors suggested the new show might have launched as early as September 2006. However, there have been no more developments released publicly on any sort of deal, and Lake wasn't at NATPE 2006, where most new shows are pitched. An associate producer from The Ricki Lake Show stated that Sony Pictures Television/Columbia TriStar, the company that syndicated her previous show, was not involved. Sources say other companies, including TelePictures, which syndicated Jenny Jones' show, were in play. Lake was the host of CBS' Gameshow Marathon, which re-created classic game shows with celebrity contestants. The series premiered on May 31, 2006 and ran through the end of June. She also inked a development deal with Gameshow Marathon production company FremantleMedia for other ventures, including creating and producing future programs and projects. Because of her work on Gameshow Marathon, Lake holds the record for hosting the most game shows, with seven.

On March 16, 2007, several sources reported that Lake was supposed to a star in a comedy produced by Warner Bros. Television for ABC titled "The Middle," which was set to begin in 2007. The show centered on an extended lower-middle-class family in the Midwest; Lake would've played the central character and the narrator of the show, a harried but game mom. Also cast in the pilot is Brenna O'Brien as the family's middle child. ABC had green-lighted the pilot for the fall 2007-2008 TV season, only to pass on the project at first,[3] but at the last minute changed its mind in July 2007 and might go forward as a possible midseason replacement.[4]

Ricki made a cameo appearance in the 2007 movie musical Hairspray as a Willam Morris talent agent and teamed up with star Nikki Blonsky (who plays Tracy in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (who played Tracy in the Broadway musical version that inspired the films adaptation of the musical) to record "Mama I'm A Big Girl Now" for the soundtrack, which is played at the film's end credits. She will reunite with original Hairspray co-star Deborah Harry for the upcoming film "Grammercy Park Hotel", set for a 2008 release.

In March 2007, at the World Poker Tournament, when asked, "What's happening currently?", Lake said, "Now I have a documentary I have been working on for 3 (years) that's coming out in a couple months." "It's about the politics of birth, it's called "The Business of Being Born", and it's my first executive producing gig." "It's been my passion for a long time since I had my children. In some ways I feel like it's the best thing I've ever done".[5] The Business of Being Born her documentary about home birth and midwifery, promises "shocking facts regarding the historical and current practices of the child birthing industry" is due for limited release January 18, 2008[6]. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and Red Envelope released the film in New York, L.A. and San Francisco in October [7] and it also screened in Australia[8]. The Business of Being Born, includes footage and details of her own "life changing" home birthing experience and follows a midwife going about her work. Tribeca called it "The Inconvenient Truth of Childbirth"[9] Ricki, describing it as her lifes work for the last 3 years, hopes the film educates and empowers people to really know their choices in childbirth. [10]

In early 2007, Ricki pursued an intense "new routine" resulting in over 125 pounds of weight loss, taking her to 120 pounds, down from a high of 260 pounds.[11]


Also in October 2007, Lake will appear in a Lifetime original movie with Holly Robinson Peete titled "Matters with Life And Dating".

On December 6, 2007 while appearing on The Howard Stern Show, Lake described her recent encounter with musician, John Mayer. She claimed that Mayer has had a "crush" on her for quite some time, and that they have swapped phone numbers, and continuously text message one another. Mayer is currently dating a different woman.