Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist, known as Dr. Ruth, dies at the age of 96

Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist better known to millions of Americans as Dr. Ruth, died Friday night surrounded by family at her home in New York City. She was 96. Her press agent confirmed the news to CNN on Saturday. Westheimer first rose to fame when she spoke openly about taboo sexual topics on a radio call-in show that debuted in New York in 1980 and later became a syndicated hit across the country. “I made it clear on WYNY, on my show ‘Sexually Speaking,’ that women need to take responsibility for their sexual satisfaction,” Westheimer explained to Vulture in 2019. “That takes away the whole idea of ​​the ‘dumb lover’ who doesn’t know (what he’s doing).” She also gave advice on several television shows, including Lifetime’s The Dr Ruth Showwhose episodes often ended with Westheimer encouraging her audience to “have good sex!” The 4-foot-10 sexpert maintained her influence in pop culture for decades, appearing regularly on late-night shows, authoring dozens of books, and once providing Vulture with a list of sex bets for Oscar night.

Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1928, Westheimer was sent to Switzerland to escape the Nazis at age 10. Her parents, who remained there, died in the Holocaust. After World War II, teenager Westheimer moved to what was then British-controlled Palestine and trained as a sniper for the Haganah, a Zionist militant group that later became part of the Israel Defense Forces. After studying in Paris, she left Europe for New York, where she earned a master’s degree in sociology from the New School and a doctorate in education from Columbia University. Her life and career as one of the country’s most trusted voices on sex were chronicled in the 2019 Sundance documentary. Ask Dr. Ruth.