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.
Ruth” — as she was more commonly known — was a leading advocate of sexual education, dispensing colorful, witty advice in her distinctive German accent.
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.”Over the next several decades, she hosted a handful of other TV shows, and continued to joyfully dole out sex advice to the public well into her 90s.
AJ Willingham and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
Persons:
Ruth Westheimer, Pierre Lehu, “ Dr, Ruth ” —, ”, Ruth Show, AJ Willingham, Artemis Moshtaghian
Organizations:
CNN
Locations:
New York