Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist known as ‘Dr. Ruth,’ dead at 96

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the iconic sex therapist whose cheerful and disarming advice helped educate millions of Americans about sexual desires and practices, has died, her publicist Pierre Lehu told CNN on Saturday. She was 96.

The diminutive, grandmotherly Westheimer was a leading advocate of sexual education for decades, dispensing colorful, witty advice in her distinctive German accent.

“Dr. Ruth” – as she was more commonly known – died while her two children sat alongside at her home Friday around 11:30 p.m., Lehu said.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer poses for a portrait in Pasadena, California, in January 2016.

At age 10, on the eve of World War II, Westheimer was sent to Switzerland by her parents.

As a teenager, Westheimer lived in Jerusalem and trained as a sniper with the Haganah, a?controversial?Zionist?militant?group?which later became?part of?the?Israel Defense Forces.

Westheimer speaks during an American Society of Newspaper Editors convention in April 1986.

Westheimer with singer Cyndi Lauper in New York in January 1985.

Westheimer holds a copy of one of her books in Beverly Hills, California, in 1986. She ended many of her shows by urging her audience to “have good sex!”

Westheimer poses for a portrait in Los Angeles in 1990.

Westheimer on the set of "Quantum Leap" with actor Dean Stockwell and director Stuart Margolin in 1993.

Westheimer reaches for the top of the cake at a surprise birthday party in New York in 1993.

Westheimer rides on the back of a motorcycle during New York's Salute to Israel Parade in May 1996.

President Bill Clinton greets Westheimer at a state dinner for King Mohammed VI of Morocco at the White House in June 2000.

Westheimer lights a candle during a Holocaust remembrance event in New York in April 2006. Her mother and father perished during the Holocaust, and Westheimer has said she believed they were killed at Auschwitz.

Sir Paul McCartney shakes hands with Westheimer at Yale University's commencement ceremonies in New Haven, Connecticut, in May 2008. McCartney was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree.

Westheimer watches President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama dance during an inaugural ball in January 2009 in Washington, DC.

Westheimer attends an event celebrating 50 years of the birth control pill in October 2010 in New York.

Westheimer attends a press preview for "Becoming Dr. Ruth" in September 2013 in New York. The off-Broadway play chronicled Westheimer's life.

Inductee Westheimer signs a plaque at the 2019 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York.

Westheimer sits with former President Bill Clinton at the 2022 US Open.

Westheimer poses for a portrait in her New York apartment in March 2023. The therapist was appointed in 2023 as New York state’s honorary ambassador to loneliness, a role that was the first of its kind in the nation.

In pictures: Dr. Ruth's life and career

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Westheimer’s first radio call-in show, “Sexually Speaking,” debuted in New York in 1980 and proved so popular that it quickly became syndicated around the country.

It also catapulted her to TV fame in the mid-1980s with her eponymous “The “Dr. Ruth Show,” on the Lifetime network. Over the next several decades, she hosted a handful of other TV shows in which Westheimer took calls from fans around the country and spoke candidly about a wide range of taboo sexual topics.

She ended many of her shows by urging her audience to “have good sex!”

Westheimer appeared on programs aimed at the general education of children and teens and became a cultural figure, authoring more than 37 books and becoming a regular guest on late-night talk shows.

She continued to joyfully dole out sex advice to the public well into her 90s.

Ruth Westheimer arrives at the Governors Awards on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, at the Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Related article Sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer appointed New York state’s first loneliness ambassador

The therapist was appointed in 2023 as New York state’s honorary ambassador to loneliness, a role that was the first of its kind in the nation.

Westheimer wrote a book on loneliness, outlining 100 ways to beat loneliness and live a happier and more meaningful life, that will be released posthumously in September, according to the book publisher’s?website.

Westheimer, who was Jewish, was born in Germany in 1928. When she was 10, on the eve of World War II, Westheimer was sent to Switzerland by her parents. Her mother and father perished during the Holocaust, and Westheimer has said she believed they were killed at Auschwitz.

As a teenager, Westheimer lived in Jerusalem and trained as a sniper with the Haganah, a?controversial?Zionist?militant?group which later became?part of?the?Israel Defense Forces.

In her 20s, Westheimer studied in Paris and then immigrated to New York City, where she attended graduate school, eventually earning a degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Westheimer was a member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage and regularly funded and attended events related to Holocaust remembrance.

“To allow the joy to come front and center in your life, you also have to feel your emotions, even the sad ones,” she wrote in her 2015 book, “The Doctor Is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life, and Joie de Vivre.”

“You have to mourn, let the tears pour out. If you bottle the sadness in, the joy gets bottled right along with it.”