Saturday, September 8, 2012

Ricki Lake

Lake made her film debut as Tracy Turnblad, the lead character in John Waters' 1988 cult-classic Hairspray. Lake also starred in other Waters films including Cry-Baby (with Johnny Depp and Susan Tyrell), Cecil B. Demented (with Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff), and Serial Mom (with Kathleen Turner and Sam Waterston). She starred in Mrs. Winterbourne with Shirley Maclaine andBrendan Fraser, Cabin Boy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Cookie, and Inside Monkey Zetterland.

She joined the cast of the Vietnam War drama series China Beach as a Red Cross volunteer, Holly "the Donut Dolly" Pelegrino, for the show's third season. She also had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom King of Queens as Doug's sister Stephanie. She guest-starred on television series including Drop Dead Diva and a voice role on King of the Hill, and starred in the television movieBaby Cakes. She has a cameo appearance in the 2007 remake of the original cult-classic Hairspray as a William Morris talent agent, and teamed up with star Nikki Blonsky, who had played the role of Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 movie musical remake, and Marissa Jaret Winokur, who had played the role of Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical 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 later reunited with original Hairspray co-star Deborah Harry for the film Grammercy Park Hotel which was released in 2008. Lake is currently filming her next feature film titled "Angel" to be released in theaters in 2012.[citation needed]

[edit]Talk shows

Main article: Ricki Lake (TV series)

Ricki Lake was Lake's first daytime talk show. The wildly successful show specialized in topics involving invited guests and incorporated questions and comments from a studio audience.[6][7][8]

The show debuted in syndication on September 13, 1993 and ended first-run episodes on May 25, 2004. 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 Californiawhen taping was complete. Lake will return to the talk show platform when she hosts a second talk show newly premiering in September 2012.[citation needed]

[edit]2006–2010: Other projects

Lake at the premiere of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story in 2007.

After her talk show had wrapped production on its final season, Lake went on to host the 2006 CBS limited series Gameshow Marathon, which re-created classic game shows with celebrity contestants.[9] She also signed a development deal with Gameshow Marathon production company FremantleMedia for other ventures, including creating and producing future programs and projects. In October 2007, Lake appeared in the Lifetime TV movie Matters of Life and Dating.

The Business of Being Born, Lake's documentary about home birth and midwifery, was released in limited markets on January 18, 2008.[10] The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and Red Envelope released the film in New York, L.A. and San Francisco in October[11] and it also screened in Australia.[12] The Business of Being Born included footage and details of Lake's own "life-changing" home-birthing experience and followed a midwife going about her work. Tribeca called it "The Inconvenient Truth of Childbirth."[12] Lake described it as her life's work for the last three years and expressed hopes that the film educated and empowered people to really know their choices in childbirth.[13]

She performed in a CBS television special, Loving Leah in January of that year. Lake also jointly wrote a book on the world ofnatural childbirth and birthing options, along with Abby Epstein and Jacques Moritz, Your Best Birth, which was published by Wellness Central on May 1, 2009.[14] Lake and Epstein also launched MyBestBirth.com, an online social network, powered by Ning, intended to allow parents and medical professionals to dialogue about varying birthing options and resources.

Lake returned to television on May 11, 2009, succeeding Sharon Osbourne as host for the third season of VH1's Charm School.[15][16] On November 10, 2010, Lake joined fellow talkers Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo Rivera, and Montel Williams as guests of Oprah Winfrey on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This marked the first time these hosts ever appeared together on one show since their programs left the air.[17]

[edit]2011–present

In March 2011 it was reported that three television studios, Twentieth Television, Universal Media Studios and CBS Television Distribution, were interested in bringing Lake back to the talk show realm in 2012. This after Lake began appearing on various programs in which she expressed a desire to return to the genre.[18]

On April 20, 2011, Lake signed with Twentieth Television to develop The Ricki Lake Show, slated to premier in fall 2012. The new program will have more of an "Oprah"-like format than that of her former talk show.[19]

Lake competed on the thirteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with three-time champion Derek Hough and cited Kirstie Alley's appearance as an inspiration to do the show. Lake achieved tremendous success on the show, not only by consistently scoring high, but she also lost 20 pounds due to her dancing. After making the finals, Lake was announced as the contestant in third place, losing to TV personality Rob Kardashian and actor and Army veteran J.R. Martinez, despite having higher scores than both.

[edit]In pop culture

Lake's first talk show was repeatedly featured during the 1990s on Saturday Night Live, with male cast member Jay Mohr impersonating Lake in drag. In the music video for the song "Perfect Match" by the hip hop group Cella Dwellas, Lake's shows about cheating spouses was also satirized.

Her show is mentioned in various songs, such as:

It was also mentioned in an episode of the TV show Family Guy titled "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater," in which Brian, attempting to rehabilitate Peter in the ways of a gentleman, electrically shocks Peter every time he looks at a television showing an episode of Ricki Lake. In the Warner Bros. show Gilmore Girls, Rory mentions feeling like she is on The Ricki Lake Show, with Lorelai then replying, "Go, Rory! Go, Rory!" which alludes to the first talk show in which the audience chanted along to the show's opening theme and closing credits with, "Go, Ricki! Go, Ricki!" It is referenced briefly in the 1996 films Scream and The Nutty Professor.

[edit]Personal life

Lake married illustrator/bartender Rob Sussman in Las Vegas in March 1994.[21] They have two sons.[22] Lake and Sussman separated in August 2003,[23] and divorced in 2005.[24] Lake began dating Christian Evans in the summer of 2009.[25] They were engaged in August 2011,[26] and married on April 8, 2012.[27]

In early 2007, Lake pursued a "new routine" resulting in 150 pounds of weight loss, taking her down to 120 pounds (55 kg) from a high of 270 pounds (122 kg).[28] In November 2007, Lake cited sexual abuse as a child as a reason for her problems with obesity.[29]

On September 18, 2010, Lake's rented Malibu home was destroyed by fire. She and her sons escaped without injury.[30]

On January 15, 2011, Lake finished in sixth place in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Luxury Ladies Poker Event, collecting $5,587 of the prizepool.[31]

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