What to Know About Dr. Ruth: Fascinating Facts About the Trailblazing Sex Therapist

Few doctors have ever achieved celebrity status quite like Dr. Ruth. The celebrated sex therapist, TV personality and author became a cultural icon in the '80s, thanks to her distinctive mix of grandma-like charm and her dedication to speaking unapologetically about subjects that many of us would find too embarrassing for polite conversation.

Sadly, Dr. Ruth passed away on July 12 at 96, and countless tributes to her humor, intelligence and courage have been pouring in from all over the world. Dr. Ruth lived an incredibly long and fascinating life, and her enduring appeal goes far beyond just the novelty of a sweet little old lady talking about sex. Read to learn some revealing facts about the doctor's life and legacy.

Entertainment

Honoring The Life and Death of Fitness Mogul Richard Simmons

Learn all about his fitness empire and what inspired him to create one in the first place.

Dr. Ruth lived through historical trauma

Born Karola Ruth Siegel to a Jewish family in Germany in 1928, Dr. Ruth lived through immense historical trauma, and was a true survivor. The young Dr. Ruth was orphaned when her parents were killed in the Holocaust, and she had no surviving family. Before they were killed, her mother and grandmother managed to help her escape to a school in Switzerland. She never saw her family again after that, and endured unfathomable heartbreak, which makes the fact that she lived to 96 all the more stunning.

Dr. Ruth was a military veteran

Dr. Ruth stood less than 5 feet tall and spoke in a cute, squeaky voice — in other words, she didn't fit the typical image of a military veteran. After immigrating as a young woman, she joined the Haganah, predecessor to the modern Israel Defense Forces, and was trained as a scout and sniper. While she never shot anyone, she learned how to expertly assemble a rifle and throw hand grenades.

Reflecting on her experience in the military in a 1990 New York Times article, she said, "though I am only 4 feet 7 inches tall , with a gun in my hand I am the equal of a soldier who's 6 feet 7 — and perhaps even at a slight advantage, as I make a smaller target."

Entertainment

Celebrities in the Military: 14 Beloved Stars We Never Realized Were Veterans!

God bless these amazing actors, musicians and comedians served our country before they were famous!

She became a doctor without a high school education

In 1950, after her military service during the Palestine War, Dr. Ruth moved to France, where she studied psychology at the Sorbonne. Six years later, she immigrated to the US, settling in New York and ultimately earning a sociology degree from the New School. She was granted US citizenship in 1965, and in 1970, at age 42, she earned her doctorate in education from Columbia University.

She then did postdoctoral work in human sexuality at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and began to work as a professor at various universities, as well as beginning a private practice in sex therapy.

Dr. Ruth's achievements in her field are even more impressive when you consider she never even had a high school education. Because of the devastating conditions in which she grew up, she only received an eighth-grade education.

Entertainment

Vanna White Young: A Look Back at the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Beauty’s Early Days

Check out looks that spell '80s fashion

Dr. Ruth was married three times

Given the fact that Dr. Ruth was an expert in analyzing people's most intimate affairs, you might be wondering about her own personal life. She first married in 1950, to a man who was, as she put it, " the first guy who offered to marry me ," and the union was short-lived. Dr. Ruth then married a man she met while studying in France, but that marriage also didn't last.

The third time was the charm: In 1961, she married Manfred Westheimer , a telecommunications engineer who was also a Holocaust survivor. They had two children and four grandchildren, and remained married until Westheimer's death in 1997.

She didn't become famous until the '80s

Dr. Ruth's path to fame was unconventional, to say the least, and she didn't become a public figure until she was in her 50s. In 1980, she was given a radio show with the New York station WYNY after someone who worked there heard her give a lecture.

The show, Sexually Speaking , became a hit, and listeners were charmed by her sass and smarts. She knew being funny made a big impact, saying, "If a professor leaves his students laughing , they will walk away remembering what they have learned."

Sexually Speaking kept getting more and more popular, and in 1984 she got her own TV show, Good Sex! With Dr. Ruth Westheimer (later called The Dr. Ruth Show ) on the then-new Lifetime channel.

As the '80s continued, Dr. Ruth became a frequent late-night TV guest and pop culture icon. She wrote dozens of books, and remained a household name for the next four decades. It's easy to see why: There's truly never been another celebrity like her before or since, and while her unique presence will be missed, her legacy of destigmatizing conversations around sex with frankness and humor lives on.