Dr. Ruth Westheimer, TV Sex Therapist, Dies at 96

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the television sextherapist who captivated audiences with her matter of fact approach to talking about the topic, died July 12 in her home in New York City. She was 96.

Westheimer’s career began in the 1980s with her radio show “Sexually Speaking.” in 1983 she published “Dr. Ruth’s Guide to Good Sex,” the first of 40 books she wrote. She was a regular on the late night show circuit, and her own talk show debuted in 1984.

In a 2016 interview with the Harvard Business Review, Westheimer said career path wasn’t planned from the start. She was training to become a sex therapist at Cornell University Medical Center when a law was passed in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey that required radio programs to include community affairs in their broadcasts. The school received a letter from a local station that asked if any of the students would be interested in fulfilling the role, and Westheimer said she would.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would turn into a program,
she said. “But within a week I got a request from Betty Elam at WYNY to do an interview on a Sunday morning show. I did it, and right after that she called and gave me 15 minutes of airtime just after midnight on Sundays. So I did that for one year. I built it up.”

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