Celebrity sex therapist, author, television and radio presenter Dr Ruth Westheimer dies at 96
Radio host turned sex guru Ruth Westheimer - none as Dr Ruth - has died at the age of 96.
The prolific author, television host and radio star was best known for her advice and willingness to talk openly about sex.
She was born in Germany and survived the Holocaust before building her career in America. She was sent to Switzerland by her parents in a bid to keep her safe from Nazis at the age of 10. She never saw them again and believed the were killed at Auschwitz.
Dr Ruth died in New York on Friday but her cause of death has not yet been confirmed. She was 96.
The sex therapist campaigned throughout her career for people to have conversations about sex without fear of being judged. Her rise to fame started with a local radio show called Sexually Speaking which was quickly syndicated across the US in the 1980s.
She went on to become a regular guest on the many of the biggest television shows and had her own series called The Dr Ruth Show.
During an interview with Johnny Carson in 1982, she summed up her drive for more open discussions on sex. She said: “If we could bring about talking about sexual activity the way we talk about diet — the way we talk about food — without it having this kind of connotation that there’s something not right about it, then we would be a step further. But we have to do it with good taste.”
She also wrote approximately books including Sex for Dummies, All in a Lifetime and Musically Speaking: A Life Through Song.
Dr Westheimer was married three times, had two children and four grandchildren.