(ProsperNews.net) – Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous American therapist and TV personality, has died at age 96. The best-selling author’s publicist confirmed that she died peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by family.
Westheimer was one of America’s most famous therapists, known for her advice on intimate and marital relations. Renowned for her humor and candor, she enjoyed international fame in the 1980s and 1990s, and her sexual advice columns and books were best-sellers worldwide.
Born Karola Ruth Siegel in Karlstadt am Main, Germany, in 1928, her Jewish family sent her to Switzerland to escape the Nazis, and after the war, she discovered they had been murdered in the Holocaust. Ms. Siegel subsequently left Switzerland and moved to British-controlled Palestine, where she campaigned for an independent and secure Jewish state.
The therapist later returned to Europe, where she lived in Paris, before moving to the United States. She settled in New York and soon obtained a sociology degree, followed by a doctorate in education from Colombia University. At the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, she subsequently trained as a sexuality therapist.
After marrying fellow Holocaust orphan Manfred Westheimer at age 32, Dr. Ruth had two children before embarking on a hugely successful media career two decades later. Her fame began in 1980 with her radio show Sexually Speaking, which broadcast on WYNY-FM in the Big Apple.
Westheimer’s celebrity grew in subsequent decades, and in 2019, she published her 45th book while a regular on the late-night talk show circuit, where she discussed sexual matters in open and frank language and attracted criticism from some quarters.
In 2008, the renowned therapist’s name was added to the Bronx Walk of Fame to recognize her community work in the borough. Two years later, she entered the Women in Technology Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame in 2019. Westheimer was also a board member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan.
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