Lynn Ruth Miller
Feisty, free and funny late -comer to the world of stand-up comedy
Ifirst met Lynn Ruth Miller a few years ago while walking with my son in our local park, in Brighton. He recognised her and told me she was “the oldest Jewish stand up comedienne in the world”. During the next few months — before she left Brighton for London, where she said “I get more gigs, and find commuting back to Brighton at 1 am a few times a week a bit tiring” — we saw a lot of each other.
Lynn Ruth who has died aged 87, lived in a small, rented flat above Bardsley’s, Brighton’s famous fish & chips restaurant which, rather symbolically, boasts a large collection of memorabilia of comedian Max Miller. I would often pop over there and help her carry a suitcase filled with flamboyant outfits and accessories that she would wear at a performance. We would walk together to the nearby Open Market, or to my house for something to eat. Everyone knew her and although she wasn’t too keen on the flat — (“too small and smells of chips”) — she charmed and entertained the neighbourhood and the local market stall holders, who were always delighted to display posters of her forthcoming performances.
She, herself, liked the attention and loved performing, which she began at the age of 70, after a career as a teacher and a journalist back in the US. There were performances in local pubs, clubs, small theatres and private houses. She had written a few comedy shows and tried them out on friends before performing to the public.
One such trial took place at my house where she invited some ten or 15 would-be critics and made us laugh — or not — in which case she wanted to know why not.These were often intertwined with more poignant stories about her childhood in the US, unhappy family life, loneliness and eating disorders whose impact remained through Lynn Ruth’s life. But she had a great capacity to laugh at life’s challenges and be self deprecating, outrageous, saucy and oh so naughty.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Lynn Ruth graduated from Stanford University at the age of 30 with a masters in journalism. Twice divorced and having experienced domestic abuse and rejection she worked as a journalist and teacher, but it was with stand-up comedy that she felt she had found her vocation. She took part in America’s Got Talent in 2008 and Britain’s Got Talent in 2012. She also appeared on First Date on Channel 4, had a film made about her life by Brighton’s Latest TV director and was a regular on the comedy scene in Edinburgh and Brighton Festivals, delighting audiences and receiving many awards.
Rosie Blackwell-Sutton, Lynn Ruth’s friend, shared some memories: “A truly remarkable woman with a lust for life, like no other. “She invited me and my friend Aaron Otaku round for dinner when she was living above Bardsley’s in Brighton. We arrived, and she let us know that it would be us cooking for her, a stir fry, if I remember correctly. We ate and talked late into the night. When we thought it was time to go (way past midnight) Lynn Ruth instead decided it was time to head over to The Level, the park, and spend some time on the swings. So over we went, swinging and laughing away into the early hours”.
Julian Caddy, chief executive of the Brighton Fringe, remembers his first encounter with Lynn Ruth :“rather appropriately, after midnight in a dark alley (Castle Steps, just above Grassmarket in Edinburgh) in 2008, when I was running Sweet Venues.
“She was walking with a friend between venues and I was heading back to my flat. I’ve no idea what we said but we were all joking around and she was talking about how old she was — from that point on, we seemed to click. She was like an adopted mother, older sister, mentor, super fan and ego booster”.
Well into her 80s Lynn Ruth Miller had many ambitions and plans for the future, and when she started travelling the world as well as performing in the UK, she moved to Stamford Hill.
It could not have been a bigger contrast to her previous Brighton neighbourhood, but she expressed her determination to make friends with her Charedi neighbours, even though she knew it would be a challenge for a single, somewhat eccentric woman to break into their rather closed circles.
One of her aspirations was to perform in Israel, and a few years ago she asked me if I could think of somewhere she could stay for a while, perhaps entertaining people in exchange for accommodation.
Lynn Ruth liked the company of people and enjoyed chatting to friends and fans after her shows, but her deepest and fondest emotions were reserved for dogs. She loved them with all her might and included anecdotes and tales of love and friendships with her own dogs from way back in her shows. In hospital, towards the end of her life, she found comfort from receiving many photos of friends’ pets. Lynn Ruth wrote six books, two of them, Thoughts While Walking the Dog and More Thoughts While Walking the Dog. Other books included Starving Hearts, about her early life and Getting the Last Laugh, about her career as a comedian.
We did not see much of each other after she left Brighton, and a few recent attempts to meet did not come to fruition. I know, however, that she acquired many new and loving friends wherever she went. She remained funny and feisty and was loved and looked after by close, caring friends to the end.
Lynn Ruth Miller: born October 11 1933. Died September 7, 2021