Ricki Lake was born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York as a blonde.
She has one sister, Jennifer who is one year her junior. Their father
Barry is a pharmacist and their mother Jill is a homemaker; the two
currently reside in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ricki attended Hastings
Elementary, went on to Farragut Middle, then attended Hasting
High for two years.
At the end of her sophomore year, Ricki transferred to the Professional
Children's School in New York City to focus on perfecting her acting
craft. She had also starting singing professionally at age 9, in cabarets
and clubs.
After finishing high school, Ricki attended Ithaca College for
one year; during her final exams, she received a call from her agent,
telling her to audition for the lead in a
John Waters film. Unsurprisingly,
she landed the role as "Tracy Turnblad." Thus,
Hairspray (1988) marked Ricki Lake's movie debut. She went on to
act in 15 more movies, and she had a recurring role in ABC's
China Beach (1988) for one
season.
At one point in her life, she hit rock-bottom, then decided to take
charge of her life and make a dramatic change. She began to eat
right and exercise, and soon she had lost 125 pounds.
In 1993 Ricki was chosen out of 100 people to host her own daytime
talk show, and after only three years,
Ricki Lake (1992) became rated
second in its time frame. Also in 1993, she met the man of her dreams.
At a Halloween party, she locked eyes with Rob Sussman, a political
illustrator who was to become her husband. It was love at first sight,
on both sides. The two married in Las Vegas in March 1994--but divorced
in 2004.
