Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist, talk show host, and author, has died, her publicist announced. She was 96. Karola Ruth Westheimer, popularly known as Dr. Ruth, was a German and American sex therapist and talk show host. She was born as a Jewish during the nazi reign.
Due to this unfortunate coincidence, she was sent to a school in Switzerland for safety reasons. Her parents stayed in Germany because of her elderly grandmother. Both her parents were killed in concentration camps.
At the age of 17, After World War II, she emigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. She joined the Haganah (the IDF) and was trained as a sniper. On her 20th birthday, she was wounded in action by an exploding shell during a mortar fire on Jerusalem during the 1947–1949 Israeli War of Independence and almost lost both feet.
Despite a very unfortunate childhood and incidents, two years later, Westheimer moved to Paris, France, where she studied psychology at the Sorbonne. Immigrating to the United States in 1956, she worked as a maid to put herself through graduate school, earned a Master of Arts in sociology from The New School in 1959,
She earned a doctorate at age 42 from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1970. Over the next decade, she taught at a number of universities and had a private sex therapy practice.
Media Career and Influence of Dr. Ruth
Dr. Ruth’s medical career began in the 1980s. She ran a top-rated call-in radio show named Sexually Speaking, which ranked as no.1 for ten years. After that, she started her television show, The Dr. Ruth Show, which, by 1985, attracted two million viewers a week. She became known for giving serious advice while being candid, but also warm, cheerful, funny, and respectful, and for her tag phrase: “Get some.”
She hosted several series on various channels from 1983 to 1993. Soon, she became a household name and a major cultural figure for everyone. She appeared in several national TV shows, co-starred in movies, and also hosted Playboy videos. She wrote 45 books on sex and sexuality.
A Life Dedicated to Sexual Health
After surviving the Holocaust, she dedicated her life to helping others understand and embrace their sexuality. Her candid approach broke down barriers, making her a trusted voice in sexual education.
She was one of the first media figures to use her platform to discuss the AIDS epidemic, urging audiences not to stigmatize people living with the disease. Being a Jewish, she found the pain of the AIDS patients relatable.
“I took that very seriously because of my background as a German-Jewish refugee … I certainly had a sensitivity for the people who were really regarded as subhuman,” Westheimer told ABC’s “Nightline” in 2019 about her support for people with AIDS in the 1980s.
After her immense fame and success, she decided to live in the same Manhattan apartment raising her two children. Life itself has been the greatest gift, she told ABC’s Linsey Davis.”Hitler is dead and my grandchildren are alive and I’m very successful,” she said. Westheimer is survived by her children, Joel and Miriam, and four grandchildren.
