Dr. Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist and talk show host, dies at 96

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist, talk show host and author, has died, her publicist announced. She was 96.

"It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the passing of the iconic Dr. Ruth K Westheimer at the age of 96, whose 'Minister of Communications' I've been since 1981," publicist Pierre Lehu said in a statement to ABC News.

Her family added: "The children of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer are sad to announce the passing of their mother, the internationally-celebrated sex therapist, author, talk show host, professor, and orphan of the Holocaust. She died peacefully at her home in New York City on July 12th surrounded by her loving family, just over a month after celebrating her 96th birthday."

For decades, the witty, diminutive Westheimer -- popularly known as Dr. Ruth -- was one of America's most trusted and popular voices on the topic of sex.

The beloved German-American therapist was born Karola Ruth Siegel in the village of Wiesenfeld, now Karlstadt am Main, Germany, in 1928. The only child of Orthodox Jewish parents, she was sent by her family to a Swiss orphanage to escape the Nazis. She later learned her parents died in the Holocaust.

After World War II, Westheimer immigrated to British-controlled Palestine where she trained as a member of the Haganah, a Jewish militia fighting for Israeli independence. She later moved to Paris and New York, where she earned a master's degree in sociology from the New School and a doctorate in education from Columbia University. She trained as a sex therapist at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

In 1967, she married fellow Holocaust survivor Manfred "Fred" Westheimer after two previous marriages. She worked for Planned Parenthood, as a college professor and in private practice before launching her media career.

Westheimer rose to fame in the early 1980s with her radio show "Sexually Speaking," a live show where she answered call-in questions from listeners. Her popularity and expertise soon spread to television, books and even board games.

She hosted several TV shows throughout the 1980s -- "The Dr. Ruth Show," "Ask Dr. Ruth" and "The All New Dr. Ruth Show." She also became a staple on game shows like "Hollywood Squares" and late-night talk programs including "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and "Late Night with David Letterman."

She was the author of dozens of best-selling books including "Dr. Ruth's Guide to Good Sex," "Dr. Ruth's Guide for Married Lovers" and her autobiography "All in a Lifetime."

She was one of the first media figures to use her platform to discuss the AIDS epidemic, urging audiences not to stigmatize people living with the disease.

"I took that very seriously because of my background as a German-Jewish refugee ... I certainly had a sensitivity for the people who were really regarded as subhuman," Westheimer told ABC's "Nightline" in 2019 about her support for people with AIDS in the 1980s.

Despite her fame, Westheimer remained in the same Manhattan apartment for 50 years, raising her two children. Life itself has been the greatest gift, she told ABC's Linsey Davis.

"Hitler is dead and my grandchildren are alive and I'm very successful," she said.

Westheimer is survived by her children, Joel and Miriam, and four grandchildren.