Ruth Westheimer, the legendary sex therapist and talk show host died in her New York City home on Friday, the Associated Press reports. She was 96.
Dr. Ruth, as she was popularly known, is credited with breaking down long-held American taboos around sex and its treatment in popular culture. A Holocaust survivor whose parents were killed under the Nazi regime, she moved to New York City in the late 1950s and stayed in the same Washington Heights apartment for nearly 70 years, according to a profile in The New York Times.
Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Dr. Ruth the state’s Ambassador to Loneliness last November, an honorary title to which Westheimer responded with “Hallelujah!” in a written statement at the time.
“I am deeply honored and promised the Governor that I will work day and night to help New Yorkers feel less lonely!” Westheimer said.
As a child, Dr. Ruth was sent by her parents from their home in Germany to Switzerland to escape the Kristallnacht pogrom carried out by the Nazis in 1938, according to the AP. She did not see her parents again and said she believed they died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
She married three times before settling in New York City with her late husband and raising her family in Washington Heights, according to multiple profiles and the documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth” that chronicles her life.
The AP reports that her death was announced by her publicist and friend Pierre Lehu, who said her final moments were spent with her family.
