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 talented English author who writes books for children. He also writes comedy for TV and produces shows. He is most famous for his book series Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and The War Diaries of Alistair Fury. Both of these popular book series were turned into children's TV shows.
Contents
Jamie Rix's Career
Jamie Rix studied Drama and English at the University of Kent. He then worked at the Royal Court Theatre as an assistant stage manager. This helped him learn how to direct plays.
How Grizzly Tales Began
While on holiday in France, Jamie Rix made up a story called The Spaghetti Man. He told it to his four-year-old son to encourage him to eat dinner. The story was about a boy who wouldn't behave at the table. An invisible force took him to a factory to turn him into lasagna. Rix noticed how well this story worked. It made his son eat all his meals without fuss. This gave Rix the idea for a series of stories that could gently scare children into behaving better.
The Spaghetti Man was included in Rix's first book, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. This book was published in 1990. It became very popular and won a Smarties Prize Children's Choice Award.
Popular Book Series
The success of Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids led to three more books:
- Ghostly Tales for Ghastly Kids (1992)
- Fearsome Tales for Fiendish Kids (1996)
- More Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (2001)
In 2007, the book series was brought back with a new name: Grizzly Tales: Cautionary Tales for Lovers of Squeam!. These books were later made into two award-winning animated television series.
Jamie Rix has written many books for different age groups. One of his other well-known series is The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury. This series was originally called The War Diaries of Alistair Fury. It tells the story of an eleven-year-old boy who wants revenge on his older brother and sister. This series was also adapted into a successful CBBC television show. The show even won a BAFTA award in 2008.
Work in Television and Radio
Jamie Rix also worked for the BBC. He wrote and produced comedy shows for both radio and television. For BBC Radio 4, he worked on shows like Radio Active. For television, he contributed to shows such as Alas Smith and Jones.
Little Brother Productions
In 1994, Jamie Rix started a production company with Nigel Planer. It was first called Elephant Productions. This company produced the TV adaptations of Rix's books. They also created other children's shows for the BBC, like Animal School. For Playhouse Disney, they produced Father Christmas and a 2005 revival of Willo the Wisp.
Jamie Rix's Personal Life
Jamie Rix is the son of Brian Rix, an actor who later became president of Mencap, and actress Elspet Gray. He grew up in Richmond Park with his two older sisters, including Louisa Rix, and a younger brother. Rix has shared that the funny arguments between Alistair Fury and his siblings in his books were inspired by his own childhood experiences.
As a child, Jamie Rix was very active in sports. He even had a football trial with Chelsea FC. He also ran marathons until he hurt his back. At school, an English teacher inspired him to start writing stories.
Jamie Rix married Helen Murray, a BBC secretary, in 1980. They have two sons and live in Tooting, London. His aunt is Sheila Mercier, who played Annie Sugden in the TV show Emmerdale.
