# Dr. Ruth has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152 "2024-07-13T15:12:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/1 "2024-07-13T15:12:55Z")
> **[Dr. Ruth Westheimer, celebrity therapist whose grandmotherly charm and blunt...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dr-ruth-westheimer-celebrity-therapist-obituary-rcna132883)** > > As a 50-something psychiatrist, she found sudden fame by talking honestly in public about intimate subjects that few others dared to utter even in private. I have great affection for Dr. Ruth. As I became a teenager I somehow found her radio show and listened to it covertly on a walkman at night. Her forthright manner, openness and acceptance was important for me to hear at that age. She was a wonderful lady. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/2 "2024-07-13T15:30:47Z")
She spoke honestly and openly about sexual relations publicly before everyone was doing it. I enjoyed listening to here on the radio as a teenager, and learned more from her than I ever could learn talking to friends. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/3 "2024-07-13T15:40:28Z")
I remember her, too. Not only did her content and delivery seem inherently positive and helpful, it also put in stark contrast how Puritanical our society remains. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/4 "2024-07-13T16:24:08Z")
n.m. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/5 "2024-07-13T16:33:05Z")
She was also very funny and a frequent guest on David Letterman and Conan O’Brien’s shows: [Dr. Ruth Tackles The Tough Questions About Sex | Letterman](https://youtu.be/8b_fmxbl_ow?si=HaaHEIarZrB2m4ZC) [Ruth Westheimer on Late Night December 27, 1996](https://youtu.be/HhUq5cNYBWE?si=2_MxWKphf3alv_HL) (That’s the only one I can find with Letterman and looks like her first time as a guest but [IMDb.com](http://IMDb.com) lists 22 appearances on _Late Night With David Letterman_ and one on _The Late Show_, with an additional 8 appearances on \*Late Night with Conan O’Brien.) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/6 "2024-07-13T16:34:17Z")
I met her in 1986, shortly after she became a nationally-known figure. She gave a presentation at my college, and several of my friends and I were able to get tickets to a reception afterwards. I got the chance to talk with her for some time, and she was every bit as kind and funny as she came across on her show. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/7 "2024-07-13T17:06:53Z")
She was deadly with a rifle. > **[Dr. Ruth, Sniper](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/dr-ruth-sniper)** > > The play “Becoming Dr. Ruth” chronicles Westheimer’s life: Holocaust survivor, soldier, sex therapist, grandma. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/8 "2024-07-13T17:09:00Z")
According to Wikipedia, “When she was 90 years old, she demonstrated that she was still able to put together a Sten gun with her eyes closed.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/9 "2024-07-13T18:44:13Z")
She made a better conductor for sexual enlightenment, both as an old cutie and as a link to Viennese psychology; especially when compared to opportunists like Hefner and Gurley-Brown. But of course her message fell behind along with theirs, especially after 2015 as MeToo was emerging; when she claimed that, once both parties are present and aroused, consent can’t be withdrawn. And she cited Jewish tradition for credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/10 "2024-07-13T18:56:02Z")
I remember her telling the story of taking her grandchild to a carnival where there was a shooting game, and she won multiple prizes until, as I remember, the game operator asked her to go away. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/11 "2024-07-13T21:52:50Z")
Was just reading her Wiki page. Wow, what a life she had. A movie should be made about her. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/12 "2024-07-13T22:03:14Z")
There was an off-Broadway play about her life, in which she was portrayed by the woman who played Kitty Foreman on That '70s Show. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/13 "2024-07-13T23:34:08Z")
I saw her in some old episodes of _ **Hollywood Squares** _ recently, alongside Richard Simmons and Martin Mull. It seems a remarkable coincidence that they should all have died within days of each other. (I wonder if Shelly Duvall was in any of those episodes too…) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/14 "2024-07-13T23:41:24Z")
Debra Jo Rupp. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/15 "2024-07-13T23:41:50Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > (I wonder if Shelly Duvall was in any of those episodes too…) I had to look; according to IMDB, no, she never appeared on _Hollywood Squares_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/16 "2024-07-13T23:45:06Z")
Unless I was hallucinating, she did in the Tom Berenger iteration, around 2003–2004. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/17 "2024-07-13T23:47:08Z")
There is a biography on her at libraries, its got to be fascinating. She will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/18 "2024-07-13T23:48:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Unless I was hallucinating, she did in the Tom Berenger iteration, around 2003–2004. If so, it didn’t make it into her IMDB profile. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/19 "2024-07-13T23:49:29Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Debra Jo Rupp. I know; I figured more people would know the character than the actor’s name. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152/20 "2024-07-13T23:50:19Z")
I think those episodes have all been archived, so I’ll go through them when I have the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-ruth-has-died/1004152.md?page=2)