Ruth Cox

Ruth Cox was born in northern California on February 6,1953 to a teacher and a forest ranger and is a fifth-generation Californian. Her early performing ambitions leaned toward the stage: she started acting at age 10 in school plays and with a number of theater companies in her hometown of Sacramento. She began her formal acting studies in high school at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. After graduating from Cal Arts (where classmates included Paul Reubens, Ed Harris, and David Hasselhoff), Ruth worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and performed in Los Angeles with the improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings. She soon broke into television stardom with a steady stream of guest-starring roles in such series as "The Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew Mysteries," "Soap," "Knots Landing," "The Runaways," and "Happy Days." In the 1980's Ruth decided to pursue a graduate degree in psychology. She received her Ph.D. and married Milton Chen in 1985. In 1986 they were blessed with a daughter, Maggie. Ruth has remained in San Francisco where she teaches at SF State and continues to perform. She also enjoys writing and creating botanical art, and works actively with SAG's BookPals program in the public schools.