Ruth Westheimer

Karola Ruth Westheimer (née Siegel; June 4, 1928 – July 12, 2024), better known as Dr. Ruth, was a German and American <a href="/facts/Sex_therapist/FeElKmEb">sex therapist</a> and talk show host.
Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish family. As the <a href="/facts/Nazi/JjsMI4lE">Nazis</a> came to power, her parents sent the 10-year-old girl to a school in Switzerland for safety while they remained behind because of her elderly grandmother. Both were killed in <a href="/facts/Concentration_camps/fMT7HaTK">concentration camps</a>. After World War II, she emigrated to British-controlled <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Mandatory Palestine</a>. At 4 feet 7 inches (140 cm) tall and 17 years of age, she joined the <a href="/facts/Haganah/23nxUEpt">Haganah</a>, and was trained as a <a href="/facts/Sniper/jCTJcvwx">sniper</a>. On her 20th birthday, she was wounded in action by an exploding shell during <a href="/facts/Mortar_(weapon)/2vs8xEBx">mortar</a> fire on Jerusalem during the <a href="/facts/1947%E2%80%931949_Palestine_war/lGFHlU7R">1947–1949 Palestine War</a>, and almost lost both feet.
Two years later, Westheimer moved to Paris, France, where she studied psychology at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Paris/yXAx8nlG">Sorbonne</a>. Immigrating to the United States in 1956, she worked as a maid to put herself through graduate school, earned a <a href="/facts/Master_of_Arts/ABQoKTLg">Master of Arts</a> in sociology from <a href="/facts/The_New_School/5X1Xqzbv">The New School</a> in 1959, and earned a doctorate at age 42 from <a href="/facts/Teachers_College,_Columbia_University/oAxDBtHg">Teachers College, Columbia University</a>, in 1970. Over the next decade, she taught at a number of universities and had a private sex therapy practice.
Westheimer's media career began in 1980 with the radio call-in show Sexually Speaking, which continued until 1990. In 1983 it was the top-rated radio show in the country's largest radio market. She then launched a television show, The Dr. Ruth Show, which by 1985 attracted two million viewers a week. She became known for giving serious advice while being candid, but also warm, cheerful, funny, and respectful, and for her tag phrase: "Get some". In 1984 <a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a> noted that she had risen "from obscurity to almost instant stardom." She hosted several series on the <a href="/facts/Lifetime_(TV_network)/wwxv7sUX">Lifetime Channel</a> and other cable television networks from 1984 to 1993. She became a household name and major cultural figure, appeared on several network TV shows, co-starred in a movie with <a href="/facts/G%C3%A9rard_Depardieu/aQap0Ihj">Gérard Depardieu</a>, appeared on the cover of <a href="/facts/People_(magazine)/oMofkIN9">People</a>, sang on a <a href="/facts/Tom_Chapin/MLuSA0tp">Tom Chapin</a> album, appeared in several commercials, and hosted Playboy videos. She was the author of 45 books on sex and sexuality.
The one-woman 2013 play Becoming Dr. Ruth, written by <a href="/facts/Mark_St._Germain/8Lv68GPl">Mark St. Germain</a>, is about Westheimer's life, as is the 2019 documentary, <a href="/facts/Ask_Dr._Ruth/JxTxcvJD">Ask Dr. Ruth</a>, directed by <a href="/facts/Ryan_White_(filmmaker)/qo7XXBkR">Ryan White</a>. She was inducted into the <a href="/facts/Radio_Hall_of_Fame/ur9zta8D">Radio Hall of Fame</a>, and awarded the <a href="/facts/Magnus_Hirschfeld_Medal/TNYWtQ9V">Magnus Hirschfeld Medal</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ellis_Island_Medal_of_Honor/dXc9a7V5">Ellis Island Medal of Honor</a>, the <a href="/facts/Leo_Baeck_Institute/hQX6na70">Leo Baeck Medal</a>, the Planned Parenthood <a href="/facts/Margaret_Sanger_Award/amCEFzvc">Margaret Sanger Award</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Order_of_Merit_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germany/k61E5k2R">Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany</a>.

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Ruth Westheimer