Fans are mourning the loss of celebrity therapist, beloved by many, known as Dr. Ruth.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer had become a household name when her illustrious career as a revolutionary sex therapist took off.
According to The New York Times, Dr. Ruth passed away on July 12 at her home in New York City. She was 96 years old.
Dr. Ruth was also “one of the entertainment industry’s last survivors of the Holocaust,” The Hollywood Reporter reported. She escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
The beloved therapist made her radio debut nearly 40 years ago after earning her doctorate degree at Cornell University in sex therapy.
Then in 1983, Dr. Ruth became a late night television staple with her show on Lifetime, Good Sex!
In a 1985 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Dr. Ruth talked about her success, saying, “Well, they don’t tune in for arousal. At 4-foot-7 and age 57, I’m not a sex symbol. […] I’m well trained. I do not talk around issues, I talk in the proper terminology. I’m a little gutsy.”
She went on to say it’s that guts to talk about such a subject so openly that made her so successful. “Despite the fact that we can send a man to the moon, we can’t handle relationships.”
And despite her openness, Dr. Ruth said she’s always respected people’s “religious, ethical and moral beliefs.”
“I’ll often suggest to people that they talk to their priest or minister or rabbi or to a social worker. I think that’s one reason I have such little criticism,” she says. “On the air, I try to educate, give the same advice a well-meaning aunt would give.”