Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the cheerful sex therapist and author who became a media icon in the 1980s with her popular radio and television shows, has died at 96, NPR reports.
Westheimer was born in 1928 in Germany to an Orthodox Jewish family. When she was 10, her father was imprisoned in Dachau by the Nazis; two months later, her family sent her to Switzerland, where she lived for six years in an orphanage. Both of her parents were later killed in the Holocaust.
She later moved to Mandatory Palestine, where she trained as a sniper with the Zionist organization Haganah, and then to France and the U.S., where she earned graduate degrees at the New School and Columbia University. She worked as a sex therapist and a professor before making her radio debut in 1982 with the show Sexually Speaking.
The show, and its 1984 television follow-up, were massive hits, and she became known as “Dr. Ruth” to millions of Americans who appreciated her witty, plain-talking style.
Westheimer wrote or co-wrote more than 40 books, including Dr. Ruth’s Guide to Good Sex, Dr. Ruth’s Guide to Safer Sex, Sex for Dummies, Heavenly Sex, and The Doctor Is In. Her most recent book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways To Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life, is scheduled for publication by Rodale on Sept. 3.
Westheimer’s admirers paid tribute to her on social media. On the platform X, actor Marlee Matlin wrote, “She was honest, she was funny and she was smart. Best of all she was the nicest. May her memory be a blessing to her family and all who had the pleasure of knowing her.”
And comedian Adam Sandler posted, “Always loved Dr. Ruth. Going to miss her a lot. She always made us smile. Sending love to her family and thanks for everything.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
