Ruth Westheimer

Karola Ruth Westheimer, widely known as Dr. Ruth, was born on June 4, 1928, in Germany to a Jewish family. As the Nazi regime rose to power, her parents made the difficult decision to send her to a school in Switzerland for safety, while they remained behind due to her elderly grandmother. Tragically, both parents perished in concentration camps. After World War II, she emigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine, where at the age of seventeen, she joined the Haganah and received training as a sniper. On her twentieth birthday, she was wounded during the 1947–1949 Palestine War, narrowly escaping the loss of both feet.

In the years that followed, Westheimer moved to Paris to study psychology at the prestigious Sorbonne. In nineteen fifty-six, she immigrated to the United States, working as a maid to support her education. She earned a Master of Arts in sociology from The New School in nineteen fifty-nine and later obtained her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, at the age of forty-two in nineteen seventy. During the next decade, she taught at various universities while establishing a private practice in sex therapy.

Westheimer's media career took off in nineteen eighty with her radio call-in show, Sexually Speaking, which ran until nineteen ninety and became the top-rated show in the largest radio market by nineteen eighty-three. She launched The Dr. Ruth Show, which captivated two million viewers weekly by nineteen eighty-five. Known for her candid yet warm and humorous approach, she became a cultural icon, recognized for her catchphrase, 'Get some.' Her influence extended to several television series on the Lifetime Channel and other networks, as well as appearances in commercials and films, including a co-starring role with Gérard Depardieu.

Throughout her career, Westheimer authored forty-five books on sex and sexuality, contributing significantly to public discourse on these topics. Her life inspired the one-woman play Becoming Dr. Ruth, written by Mark St. Germain, and the documentary Ask Dr. Ruth, directed by Ryan White. She received numerous accolades, including induction into the Radio Hall of Fame and prestigious awards such as the Magnus Hirschfeld Medal and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, solidifying her legacy as a pioneering figure in sex education.