Ricki Lake

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Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake in December 2007
Born	Ricki Pamela Lake September 21, 1968 (1968-09-21) (age 41) Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, television personality, television and film producer
Years active	since 1987
Spouse(s)	Rob Sussman (1994-2003) (divorced/annulled)

Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American actress and television personality, best known for her talk show and starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray.

Early life

Lake was born to a Jewish family in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, the daughter of Jill, a housewife, and Barry Lake, a pharmacist.^[1] She attended Ithaca College and the Professional Children's School.^[2]

Career

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.

In 2000, Lake told Rosie O'Donnell in an interview 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.

Acting

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 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. She can often be seen playing small roles in John Waters films, such as Cecil B. Demented, Cry-Baby and Serial Mom; however, she was given the lead in his original Hairspray movie. She has also starred in the television movie Baby Cakes.

Lake made a cameo appearance in the 2007 movie musical Hairspray as a William Morris talent agent and teamed up with star Nikki Blonsky (who plays Tracy in the 2007 remake) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (who played Tracy in the Broadway musical was based on the original 1988 film) 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 October 2007, Lake appeared in the Lifetime original movie with Holly Robinson Peete titled Matters with Life and Dating.

Current projects

Lake at The Business of Being Born premiere, 2007

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 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.^[3] 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.

On March 16, 2007, several sources reported 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^[4] but at the last minute changed its mind in July 2007 and might go forward as a possible midseason replacement.^[5] Lake would be replaced by Patricia Heaton in the lead role after ABC announced it had greenlighted the series as a midseason 2009 replacement.^[6]

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".^[7]

The Business of Being Born, Lake's documentary about home birth and midwifery, was released in limited markets on January 18, 2008.^[8] The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and Red Envelope released the film in New York, L.A. and San Francisco in October^[9] and it also screened in Australia.^[10] 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".^[10] Lake describes it as her life's work for the last three years, hopes the film educates and empowers people to really know their choices in childbirth.^[11]

In 2009, Lake returned to television. Her first project was in a CBS special that aired in January called Loving Leah. On February 5, it was announced that she will replace Sharon Osbourne as host for the third installment of VH1’s Charm School.^[12] The new installment began May 11, 2009.^[13] In addition to her hosting duties on Charm School, Lake has added author to her list of accomplishments. She wrote a book on the world of natural childbirth and birthing options, along with Abby Epstein and Jacques Moritz, called Your Best Birth, published by Wellness Central on May 1, 2009.^[14] Lake and Abby Epstein also launched MyBestBirth.com, an online social network, powered by Ning, that allows parents and medical professionals to dialogue about varying birthing options and resources.

Personal life

Lake met artist/illustrator Rob Sussman at a Halloween party in 1993. The couple married shortly after in Las Vegas.^[15] Their two sons are Milo Sebastian Sussman (March 22, 1997) and Owen Tyler Sussman (June 18, 2001).^[16] The two divorced in 2003 after ten years of marriage.

In early 2007, Lake pursued a "new routine" resulting in over 125 pounds of weight loss, taking her down to 120 pounds from a high of 260.^[17] In November 2007, Lake cited sexual abuse as a child as a reason for her problems with obesity.^[18]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ricki Lake

• Ricki Lake at the Internet Movie Database
• Ricki Lake at TV.com
• RickiLake.net