Ricki Lake Ricki Lake Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American actress, television presenter and producer. Lake is best known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. She is also known for her talk show which was broadcast internationally from September 1993 until May 2004. When Lake's show debuted, she was 24 and credited as being the youngest person to host a syndicated talk show at the time. In autumn 2012, Lake embarked on a second syndicated talk show project "The Ricki Lake Show" (dubbed as "The New Ricki Lake Show"), which aired on
Ricki and the Flash New York. TriStar Pictures financed, and released the film on August 7, 2015. The film received mixed reviews from critics who praised the performances of the cast but criticised its screenplay, tone and execution and grossed $41.3 million at the box office against its $30 million budget. Ricki chased her dreams of becoming a famous rock star by abandoning her family. She gets a chance to put things right when her ex-husband Pete asks her to visit Indianapolis and help their estranged daughter Julie through a difficult time. Ricki has a rock band that plays a regular gig at a