Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Famed Sex Therapist and Talk Show Host, Dead at 96

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famed therapist and talk show host who became one of America’s most prominent voices on sex, has died at the age of 96.

Westheimer died Friday at her home in New York, the sex guru’s spokesperson confirmed to the New York Times. No cause of death was provided.

Dr. Ruth’s unlikely journey to becoming America’s premier sexpert began in Nazi Germany — where she was born in 1928; both her parents were killed in the Holocaust — to Israel, where she moved following World War II, to France, where she studied psychology, and finally New York City where, then in her 40s, she worked under pioneering sex therapist Helen Singer Kaplan.

In Westheimer’s early 50s, she launched the radio talk show Sexually Speaking on New York’s WYNY, where she tackled a wide range of sexual subjects previously too taboo for airwaves. Though it only aired weekly for 15 minutes on Sunday nights, within a year of its first broadcast, the show was attracting a radio audience of a quarter-million listeners. Syndication to dozens more radio stations nationwide soon followed, quickly establishing “Dr. Ruth,” despite her thick accent, Minnie Mouse-esque voice and short (4’7″) stature, as one of the nation’s most popular sex therapist.

In 1982, Westheimer came to the attention of a national audience when she made her first (of 14) appearances on David Letterman’s late-night show:

After guest appearances on many TV talk shows, Westheimer was made host of her own television program, Good Sex!, in 1984; the show was retitled simply The Dr. Ruth Show the following year. As the program rose in popularity, The Dr. Ruth Show became a magnet for unlikely guests who opened up about their own sexual experiences, like Jerry Seinfeld and Kiss’ Gene Simmons:

In addition to her many television programs and radio shows, Westheimer was also the author of dozens of books on love, sex, and marriage. A household name and America’s preeminent sex guru, she also appeared on game shows like Hollywood Squares, and as herself in fictional films and series like Electric Dreams and Quantum Leap.

Westheimer, dubbed “the high priestess of hanky panky,” remained active well into her 90s, and in 2019, was the focus of the documentary Ask Dr. Ruth that served as an overview of her career and legacy. That same year, she talked with Rolling Stone about modern-day sex issues, from the #MeToo movement to her concerns about technology and social isolation even before the COVID pandemic.

“There will be a chapter for the millennials about loneliness, because they are experiencing a tremendous amount of loneliness,” Westheimer told Rolling Stone about her then-forthcoming 4th edition of Sex for Dummies. “Because of cell phones, the art of conversation is getting lost. Because they’re on Facebook, people have the illusion of being connected to the world, but it’s just an impression of being connected, when basically you are connected to nobody. It leads to loneliness. And it’s very, very sad.”

On that subject, in November 2023, Westheimer was named New York State’s first honorary “ambassador to loneliness” by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said in a statement to Rolling Stone Saturday, “Dr. Ruth Westheimer led an extraordinary life. She was brave, funny, candid and brilliant. As New York’s first-ever Ambassador to Loneliness, we worked together to spotlight a mental health crisis impacting our seniors. We will miss her greatly. May her memory be a blessing.” 

That same year, she received the Women’s Entrepreneurship DAy’s Psychology Pioneer Award at the United Nations. Westheimer was also inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2019.