Jamie Rix facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jamie Rix
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| Born | 27 April 1958 England
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| Education | University of Kent |
| Occupation | author, producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1981–present |
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| Spouse(s) |
Helen Murray
(m. 1980) |
| Children | 2 |
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Jamie Rix, born on April 27, 1958, is a well-known English author for children. He also writes and produces comedy for television. He is most famous for his exciting book series, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. Another popular series he wrote is The War Diaries of Alistair Fury. Both of these book series were turned into fun children's TV shows.
Contents
Jamie Rix's Career
Jamie Rix studied Drama and English at the University of Kent. He started his career learning how to direct plays. He worked as an assistant stage manager at the Royal Court Theatre.
How Grizzly Tales Began
The idea for his famous books came from a holiday in France. Jamie Rix made up a story called The Spaghetti Man. He told it to his four-year-old son to get him to eat dinner. The story was about a boy who wouldn't behave at the kitchen table. An invisible force took him to a factory to turn him into lasagne. Jamie Rix saw how this funny, scary story made his son eat all his food. This gave him the idea for a series of stories that could gently scare children into behaving better.
The Spaghetti Man was in Jamie Rix's first book, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. It came out in 1990. The book became very popular and won a Smarties Prize Children's Choice Award. He then wrote three more books in the series:
- Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids (1992)
- Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids (1996)
- More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (2001)
The Grizzly Tales series was later brought back in 2007. It was renamed Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!. These books were also made into two award-winning animated TV shows.
Jamie Rix also wrote another popular book series, The War Diaries of Alistair Fury. This series was made into a successful TV show for CBBC. The show even won a BAFTA award in 2008.
Working in TV and Radio
The BBC hired Jamie Rix to write and produce comedy shows. He worked on radio shows like Radio Active and The History of Rock. For television, he helped create shows like Alas Smith and Jones.
Little Brother Productions
In 1994, Jamie Rix started his own production company. It was first called Elephant Productions. This company helped turn his books into TV shows. They also produced other children's shows for the BBC, such as Animal School and Popskool. They even made the 2005 revival of Willo the Wisp for Playhouse Disney.
Jamie Rix's Personal Life
Jamie Rix grew up in Richmond Park, England. His father was Brian Rix, a famous actor and president of Mencap. His mother was actress Elspet Gray. He has two older sisters, including Louisa Rix, and a younger brother. Jamie Rix has said that the arguments Alistair Fury had with his siblings in the books were based on his own childhood.
When he was a child, Jamie Rix loved sports. He even had a football trial with Chelsea FC. He also ran marathons until he hurt his back. At school, his English teacher encouraged him to write stories.
Jamie Rix married Helen Murray, a BBC secretary, in 1980. They have two sons. They live in Tooting, London. His aunt is Sheila Mercier, who played Annie Sugden in the TV show Emmerdale.
