Jamie Rix (born 27 April 1958)
is an English
children's author
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
, television comedy writer, and media producer. He is best known for the book series ''
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (often nicknamed ''Grizzly Tales'') is the generic trademarked title for a series of award-winning children's books by British author Jamie Rix which were later adapted into an animated television series of the s ...
'' and ''
The War Diaries of Alistair Fury''; both were adapted into award-winning children's television programmes.
Career
Rix studied Drama and English at the
University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
, and worked as an assistant stage manager at
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
to learn how to direct plays.
On holiday in France, he created a
white lie
A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deception, deceiving or Deception, misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a l ...
story, ''The Spaghetti Man'', in order to make his four-year-old son eat his dinner.
It was about a little boy who refused to behave at the kitchen table and is kidnapped by an invisible force, that takes him to a factory to turn him into
lasagne
Lasagna (, also , also known as lasagne, ) is a type of pasta, possibly one of the oldest types, made of very wide, flat sheets. Either term can also refer to an Italian dish made of stacked layers of lasagna alternating with fillings such as ...
. Rix took note of how the lie had made his four-year-old eat all of his meals without hesitations, which would inspire a series that could scare children into behaving themselves.
An unspecified time later, Rix was hired by
the BBC
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
to write and produce comedy, such as ''
Radio Active'', ''The Michael Bentine Show'', ''The Wow Show'', and ''The History of Rock'' for
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
, and, for television, ''
Alas Smith and Jones
''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring comedy duo and namesake Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smi ...
''.
''The Spaghetti Man'' would be included in Rix debut book ''
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (often nicknamed ''Grizzly Tales'') is the generic trademarked title for a series of award-winning children's books by British author Jamie Rix which were later adapted into an animated television series of the s ...
'',
which was published in 1990 by André Deutsch. Its popularity led to a
Smarties Prize
Smarties are colour-varied sugar-coated chocolate confectionery. They have been manufactured since 1937, originally by H.I. Rowntree & Company in the United Kingdom, and now by Nestlé.
Smarties are oblate spheroids with a minor axis of abo ...
Children's Choice Award and three sequels: ''
Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids
''Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids'' is a 1992 children's fantasy horror book of cautionary tales written by British author Jamie Rix and is the second book in the ''Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'' series. It was published by André Deutsch and ...
'' (1992), ''
Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids
''Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids'' is a 1996 children's black comedy horror literature, horror book written by British author Jamie Rix. It is the third book in the ''Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'' series. It was published by Hodder Children ...
'' (1996), and ''
More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
''More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'' is a 2001 children's horror short-story collection from Scholastic UK by British author Jamie Rix and is the fourth book in the ''Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids'' book series. It was the first book to b ...
'' (2001), followed by a revived book series in 2007, now named ''Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!''. These were later adapted into
two award-winning television animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
series. He has written many books for many age groups, such as ''Johnny Casanova - the Unstoppable Sex Machine'' for older readers, and ''
The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury'', originally called ''
The War Diaries of Alistair Fury'', an account of an eleven-year-old boy desperate for revenge on his older brother and sister. This series includes (in order): ''Bugs on the Brain'', ''Dead Dad Dog'', ''Kiss of Death'', ''Tough Turkey'', ''Summer Helliday'' ''Exam Fever''. The series was adapted into a successful
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
series, which won a BAFTA in 2008.
Little Brother Productions
In 1994, Rix founded a production company with
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, novelist and playwright. He played Neil in the BBC comedy '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in ''Filthy Rich & Catflap''. He has appeared in many West End mu ...
, at the time named Elephant Productions.
It produced the two book-to-TV adaptations of Rix's bibliography, as well as the children's programmes ''Animal School'' and ''Popskool'' for the BBC, ''Father Christmas'', and the 2005 ''
Willo the Wisp
''Willo the Wisp'' is a British cartoon series originally produced in 1981 by the BBC and narrated by Kenneth Williams. It became popular with children and adults, as it bridged the gap between the end of weekday children's programming and t ...
'' revival for
Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Televis ...
,
and the adult programmes ''
Not Going Out
''Not Going Out'' is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006, and has 12 series making it the second longest running British sitcom (in series) behind the longest running sitcom worldwide, Last of the Summer Wine. It sta ...
'', ''
Faith in the Future'', and ''Let's Get Divorced with Jonathan and Libby Hughes''.
Personal life
Jamie Rix is the son of actor-turned-
Mencap
The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the United Kingdom that works with people with a learning disability. Its Charity Number is 222377.
History
Established by Judy Fryd in 1946 as The National Association of Parents of Backwards Chi ...
President
Brian Rix
Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, (27 January 1924 – 20 August 2016) was an English actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage, including ''Dry Rot'', '' Simple Spymen'' and ''One for ...
and actress
Elspet Gray
Elspet Jean Gray, Baroness Rix (née Gray; 12 April 1929 – 18 February 2013) was a Scottish actress, who first became known for her partnership with her husband, Brian Rix, and later was cast in many television roles in the 1970s and 1980s. S ...
, and was raised in
Richmond Park
Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...
with his two older sisters (one of them being
Louisa) and younger brother.
Rix admitted that Alistair Fury's odd relationship with his bullying siblings were based on the arguments he used to have with his siblings during childhood.
As a child he was involved with sports: he had a
football trial with
Chelsea FC
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...
and ran
marathons
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
until he hurt his back.
At school, an English teacher inspired him to write fiction: Rix realised how fun creating stories was when he wrote about
mutilated
Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...
bodies after the teacher encouraged him to write whatever he liked.
Gory humour might have been linked to his obsession with creating bloody monsters out of
Airfix
Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...
.
Rix married BBC secretary Helen Murray in 1980.
They have two sons and live in
Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. His aunt is
Sheila Mercier
Sheila Betty Mercier ('' née'' Rix; 1 January 1919 – 4 December 2019) was an English actress, of stage and television, best known for playing Annie Sugden in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'' for over 20 years, from the programme's first episode i ...
, who famously portrayed
Annie Sugden
Annie Sugden (also Pearson, Kempinski and Brearly) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale''. She was played by Sheila Mercier as a regular character between 1972 and 1994, with occasional guest appearances in ...
in the long-running soap opera ''
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...
''. He is the son-in-law of
John Middleton Murry Jr. and the grandson-in-law of
John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rix, Jamie
1958 births
British children's writers
Living people
Alumni of the University of Kent
British producers
British television producers
British television writers
British radio writers
British radio producers
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
Sons of life peers