NEW YORK – Pioneering sexual health educator, radio and television personality and therapist Ruth Westheimer died Friday in New York City at the age of 96.
Westheimer’s death was first reported to The New York Times by her spokesman, Pierre Lehu.
A Holocaust survivor, Westheimer escaped from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, served as a sniper in the Israeli Defense Forces during the state’s founding in 1947 and 1948, and later lived and trained in Paris and New York. She received her master’s degree in sociology from The New School for Social Research and a doctorate in education from Columbia Teachers College in 1970.
Westheimer then attended Cornell University Medical College in New York and trained for five years with the pioneering sex therapist Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan, where he became an adjunct associate professor. She also taught at Lehman College, Brooklyn College, Adelphi University, Columbia University and West Point before opening her own sex therapy practice in 1975.
In the 1980s, when she was in her 50s, Westheimer began giving sex advice on radio, later moving to television. There, her popularity with the general public, who were charmed by her lively, aunt-like personality, quickly made her a national household name.
“Westheimer seemed the least likely person to give explicit sex advice,” the Hollywood Reporter obituary said. “But that only increased her appeal. She happily started candid discussions about the penis, condoms and how to get the ultimate satisfaction from making love.
“Well, they don’t tune in for excitement,” Westheimer joked in an interview. “At 1.70 meters tall and 57 years old, I am not a sex symbol. I am well educated. I don’t talk around problems, I talk in the right terminology. I’m a bit brave.”
Her radio show “Sexually Speaking” was an instant hit, attracting a quarter of a million listeners weekly in 1983, the year before it went into national syndication, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
In 1982, Westheimer began appearing regularly on late-night talk shows, becoming a decades-long favorite of audiences and top hosts such as Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Joan Rivers, Howard Stern, Arsenio Hall, Tavis Smiley, Jimmy Kimmel and Rachel Ray.
Her own hit TV shows include Lifetime’s ‘Good Sex!’, ‘Dr. Ruth Westheimer,” “The All New Dr. Ruth Show”, “What’s going on, Dr. Ruth?” and “Dr. Ruth is never late.”
Westheimer published more than 30 books, starting with “Dr. Ruth’s Guide to Good Sex” in 1983. Other titles include “Dr. Ruth’s Guide for Married Lovers,” “Sex for Dummies,” “Grandma on Wheel,” “52 Lessons on Communicating Love,” and “Myths About Love.”
In the 21st century, Dr. Ruth communicates science-based information about human sexuality online, developing a thriving Twitter account and a popular YouTube channel.
“I am not against the use of erotic material, which I do not necessarily consider pornography,” wrote Dr. Ruth in a recent column. “My definition of erotic material would be: photos, videos or written stories that you both find arousing and that may introduce new concepts to your sex life, but that are not offensive.
“I would say that, as with almost anything else to do with your sex life, establishing good communication on this topic is critical,” she added.
A documentary about her life, ‘Ask Dr. Ruth,” premiered at Sundance in 2018.