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

Ruth Westheimer, the taboo-shattering sex therapist who built a career in TV and radio as “Dr. Ruth,” died Friday at her home in New York City, according to The New York Times . She was 96 years old.

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A cause of death has not been disclosed as of press time.

Westheimer was 52 when her media career began in 1980. She was hired to host Sexually Speaking , a 15-minute call-in show that aired after midnight on New York radio station WYNY. Within three years, it was the top-rated show in the nation’s largest market.

In 1984, she became host of an eponymous Lifetime talk show, which ran for seven years and ended in 1991. In that time, she also hosted several additional programs across basic cable. Additional TV credits included episodes of Ally McBeal, Head Cases, Love Boat: The Next Wave, Melrose Place, Moonlighting and the original Quantum Leap .

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On the big screen, she starred opposite Gérard Depardieu and Sigourney Weaver in the 1985 French film One Woman or Two , which received a Stateside release in 1987.

Dr. Ruth used her platform to advocate for speaking openly about sexual issues. During a 2019 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , Westheimer claimed that, “when it comes to sex, the most important six inches are the ones between the ears.”

In 2019, she was the subject of the Hulu documentary Ask Dr. Ruth .

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