Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York) is a Jewish-American actress and tabloid talk show host, best known for her long-running Ricki Lake talk show.
Career
Lake first appeared to audiences when she played the hefty
Tracy Turnblad, the main character of the
John Waters film
Hairspray. 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 the eponymous talk show. At the same time, she publicly went on a
weight loss regime, and wound up losing about 125 pounds (57 kg).
Talk show
Ricki Lake debuted on
13 September 1993. While it avoided the worst excesses of
The Jerry Springer Show, it was not especially serious in tone either. 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 yoself a hero." Once Lake became a mother, feel-good mother-and-child shows became common.
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