Joyce Brothers

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Joyce Brothers

Dr. Joyce Brothers in 1957
Born Joyce Diane Bauer
October 20, 1927 (1927-10-20) (age 81)
New York City, New York
Occupation Psychologist, advice columnist, Writer, Actress
Years active 1955—present
Spouse(s) Dr. Milton Brothers (1949-1989) (his death)

Joyce Brothers (born October 20, 1927) is an American psychologist and advice columnist, publishing a daily syndicated newspaper column since 1960. She is professionally known as Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Brothers was born Joyce Diane Bauer in New York City, New York, the daughter of Estelle (née Rapaport) and Morris K. Bauer, both of whom were attorneys and had a law practice together.[1] Her family is Jewish.[2] Brothers graduated from Far Rockaway High School in Far Rockaway, Queens in 1943.[3] She earned her PhD degree in psychology from Columbia University after completing her undergraduate work at Cornell University. She married Dr. Milton Brothers, an internist, in 1949, and they had a daughter, Lisa. Milton Brothers died of cancer in 1989.

Joyce Brothers is a resident of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

[edit] Career

Brothers gained fame in late 1955 by winning The $64,000 Question game show, on which she appeared as an expert in the subject area of boxing. Originally, she had not planned to have boxing as her topic, but the sponsors suggested it, and she agreed. A voracious reader, she studied every reference book about boxing that she could find; she would later tell reporters that it was thanks to her good memory that she assimilated so much material and answered even the most difficult questions.[4] In 1959, allegations that the quiz shows were rigged began to surface and stirred controversy. Despite these claims, Brothers insisted that she had never cheated, nor had she ever been given any answers to questions in advance. Subsequent investigations verified her assertions that she had won honestly.[5] Her success on "The $64,000 Question" earned Brothers a chance to be the color commentator for CBS during the boxing match between Carmen Basilio and Sugar Ray Robinson. She was said to be the first woman to ever be a boxing commentator.[6]

By August of 1958, she was given her own TV show on a New York station, but her topic was not sports; she began doing an advice show about relationships, during which she answered questions from the audience.[7] She would later claim that she had been the first television psychologist, explaining to the Washington Post that "...I invented media psychology. I was the first. The founding mother."[8] She went on to explain how what she did on TV was unique for its time. The '50s were a very conservative era, and she was answering questions from viewers about subjects that were still considered taboo, such as impotence or menopause. Sponsors were nervous about whether a TV psychologist could succeed, she recalled, but viewers expressed their gratitude for her show, telling her she was giving them information they couldn't get elsewhere. She went on to do syndicated advice shows on both TV and radio, during a broadcasting career that has lasted more than four decades. Her shows went through a number of name changes over the years, from "The Dr. Joyce Brothers Show" to "Consult Dr. Brothers" to "Tell Me, Dr. Brothers" to "Ask Dr. Brothers" to "Living Easy with Dr. Joyce Brothers." But by whatever name, her audience found her a valuable resource, and she became an iconic figure, the TV psychologist whose name everyone seemed to know.[9]

In addition to her radio and TV work, Brothers is also a prolific writer. She had a monthly column in Good Housekeeping magazine for almost four decades, and a syndicated newspaper column that she began writing in the 1970s, and which at its height was printed in more than 300 newspapers.[9][10] She has published several best-selling books, including the 1982 "What Every Woman Should Know About Men," and a 1992 book called "Widowed," inspired by the loss of her husband; the book offered practical advice for widows and widowers, helping them to cope with their grief and create a new life for themselves. Today, Brothers continues to do guest appearances on television and radio talk shows.

In addition to being called upon for her expertise in psychology, she also has done comedic cameo appearances, including on such TV shows as Ellery Queen, Mama's Family, Taxi, Happy Days, Police Squad, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Police Woman, Night Court, The Nanny, Frasier, The Andy Dick Show, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, One Life to Live, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Married... with Children, Entourage, The Simpsons, All That, Kenan & Kel, The Steve Harvey Show, Melrose Place, The Lonely Guy and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. She has also appeared as an occasional celebrity guest on game shows such as Match Game, the 1968 revival of What's My Line?, The Gong Show and Hollywood Squares. She also appeared in a Sunday strip of the comic strip Blondie, where she was referred to by Dagwood Bumstead as "Brother Joyce Doctors". Brothers was the ninth most frequent guest on the Tonight Show when Carson retired.

As a psychologist, Brothers has been licensed in New York since 1958.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joyce Brothers Biography (1927-)
  2. ^ Joyce Brothers
  3. ^ Weinberg, Sydney Stahl. Joyce Brothers, Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed August 20, 2007. "After graduating from Far Rockaway High School in 1943, she entered Cornell University, majoring in psychology. She was a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority."
  4. ^ "Quiz Winner Credits Memory for Success." Christian Science Monitor, 14 October 1959, p. 6
  5. ^ "The Quiz Show Scandal" website [1]
  6. ^ "CBS Radio to Give Male Fan Assist in Airing Basilio, Robinson Fight." Hartford Courant, 25 March 1958, p. 18A
  7. ^ John Crosby. "'Sis' Series Looks Good." Hartford Courant, 3 August 1958, p. 6.
  8. ^ Henry Allen. "The Mother of Media Psychology." Washington Post, 14 December 1989, p. B1.
  9. ^ a b Paley Center for Media website [2]
  10. ^ "Joyce Brothers' Column to Be Daily." Chicago Tribune, 7 September 1974, p. 7.
  11. ^ [New York License verification record]

[edit] External links

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