Dr. Ruth Westheimer: Pioneering Sex Therapist and Media Personality Dies

Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a German-born American sex therapist, author and television and radio host who brought frank discussion of sexuality into American homes. Born Karola Ruth Siegel on June 4, 1928, in Wiesenfeld, Germany, she was sent on a Kindertransport to Switzerland at age 10 and lost her family in the Holocaust.

Westheimer earned a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1970, and began the radio call-in show Sexually Speaking in 1980. She launched Good Sex! and The Dr. Ruth Show on Lifetime in the mid-1980s, wrote dozens of books and in 2023 was named New York's first Loneliness Ambassador.

Westheimer joined the Haganah in Mandatory Palestine and trained as a sniper, and she was seriously wounded by a mortar shell in 1948. She stood 4 feet 7 inches tall and married Manfred Westheimer in 1961, and he died in 1997. She had two children, Miriam and Joel, and four grandchildren. She died at her home in Manhattan on July 12, 2024, at age 96. Remembered for her warmth and humor, she opened a national conversation.

Achievements: Earned a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University (1970), began the radio show Sexually Speaking (1980), launched The Dr. Ruth Show (1984-1985), named New York's Loneliness Ambassador (2023).

Birth: June 4, 1928 - Wiesenfeld, Germany.

Profession: Sex therapist, author, educator and media personality.

Interesting Facts: She stood 4 feet 7 inches tall and trained as a sniper in the Haganah. Her radio show was the top-rated in New York by 1983.