Laura Schlessinger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Laura Schlessinger
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Schlessinger in 2007
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| Born |
Laura Catherine Schlessinger
January 16, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
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| Other names | Dr. Laura |
| Education | Stony Brook University (B.S.) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Occupation | Physiologist, marriage and family therapist, radio talk show host |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Known for | Advice on relationships, moral and ethical issues, counsellor, political commentator, talk radio host, columnist, author |
| Spouse(s) |
Michael F. Rudolph
(m. 1972; div. 1977)Lewis G. Bishop
(m. 1985; died 2015) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | NAB Marconi Radio Award, Genii, National Heritage, National Religious Broadcasters, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Exceptional Public Service |
Laura Catherine Schlessinger (born January 16, 1947), known as Dr. Laura, is an American talk radio host and author. Her show, The Dr. Laura Program, is broadcast on Sirius XM Radio. On her show, she gives advice to callers about their personal problems. She also shares her thoughts on social and ethical topics. Her website says her show helps people learn about morals and values. Dr. Laura is a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago.
Dr. Laura used to work as a family counselor in Los Angeles. She also had a local radio show. Later, her radio show became available across the country. This is called radio syndication. She then focused mainly on The Dr. Laura Program and writing self-help books. Some of her popular books include Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives. In 2000, she had a short-lived TV talk show. In 2010, she moved her radio show to Sirius XM Stars satellite radio. Her show moved again in 2018 to Sirius XM Triumph Channel 111.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Laura Schlessinger was born in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up there and on Long Island. Her father, Monroe Schlessinger, was a Jewish American civil engineer. Her mother, Yolanda Schlessinger, was a Catholic from Italy. Laura has a younger sister named Cindy. She has said her childhood was difficult.
Laura went to Westbury High School and Jericho High School. She was very interested in science. She earned a bachelor's degree from Stony Brook University. Then, she went to Columbia University for graduate studies. She earned a master's and a PhD in physiology in 1974. Physiology is the study of how living things work. Her PhD research looked at how insulin affects laboratory rats. Later, she also trained to be a marriage and family counselor. She got her license from the State of California. She also had a part-time job as a therapist.
Radio Career
Dr. Laura first appeared on radio in 1975. She called into a show on KABC and impressed the host. This led to her having her own shows on smaller radio stations. By 1979, she had a show on KWIZ in Santa Ana, California.
She got a big opportunity when she filled in for another talk show host, Sally Jessy Raphael. This led to her own daily show on KFI. In 1994, her show became nationally syndicated. This meant it was broadcast on many radio stations across the country. At its most popular, The Dr. Laura Program was one of the highest-rated radio shows in the U.S. It was heard on over 450 stations.
By 2002, her show's audience had decreased. This was partly because she started focusing more on morality and politics. Some groups also protested her views, which led to some sponsors leaving the show.
On August 17, 2010, Dr. Laura announced she would end her syndicated radio show. She said she wanted to be able to speak freely without pressure from certain groups. Her show then moved exclusively to Sirius XM Radio on January 3, 2011. Today, she also offers a short podcast of her daily show.
Television Show
In 1999, Dr. Laura signed a deal to create a TV talk show called Dr. Laura. It was set to air in many major cities. Before the show started in September 2000, Dr. Laura faced some controversy. She had made comments about LGBT people that were seen as offensive by some groups. An online campaign called StopDrLaura.com was started to try and stop the show from airing. Protests were held in many cities.
On Yom Kippur in 2000, Dr. Laura said she was sorry for the hurt her comments had caused. However, she did not change her views.
Dr. Laura premiered with low ratings and was not well-received by critics. Viewers felt the show was too harsh compared to other daytime talk shows. The show also faced a problem when a newspaper reported that some guests on the show were actually staff members pretending to be guests.
By November 2000, many advertisers had stopped supporting the show because of its low ratings. The show aired its last new episode in March 2001. Reruns continued until September 2001. Dr. Laura later said that working in television was a "terrible experience" for her.
Charitable Work
In 1998, Dr. Laura started the Laura Schlessinger Foundation. This foundation aimed to help children who had been abused or neglected. She often asked her listeners to donate items for "My Stuff" bags. These bags were given to children in need. In 2004, she announced that the foundation was closing. She said it had become too difficult to manage.
In 2007, Dr. Laura began raising money for Operation Family Fund. This group helps families of military members who were seriously injured or died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She helped raise over $1 million for them in 2008.
Since 2017, Dr. Laura has donated money from selling her handmade jewelry and glass art. These donations go to the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation. This charity provides college scholarships to children whose parents died while serving in the military.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Laura was the first woman to win the Marconi Award for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year in 1997. In 1998, she received the Genii Award from American Women in Radio & Television. In 2000, Forbes magazine listed her among the top 100 celebrities.
In 2002, Talkers named her the seventh-greatest radio talk-show host of all time. She also received awards from the National Council of Young Israel and the National Religious Broadcasters. In 2007, she received an Exceptional Public Service award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Most recently, Dr. Laura was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2018. She and Nanci Donnelan were the first two women with their own national radio shows to receive this honor.
Personal Life
Dr. Laura married Michael F. Rudolph in 1972 while studying at Columbia University. They divorced in 1977. In 1975, she met Lewis G. Bishop, a professor. They married in 1985. Their son, Deryk, was born in November 1985. Dr. Laura's husband, Lewis, passed away in 2015 after being ill for some time.
In the late 1980s, Dr. Laura started training in Hapkido, a Korean martial art. She earned a black belt in 1993.
Dr. Laura was not close with her sister or her mother for many years. Her mother passed away in 2002. Dr. Laura has said she did not feel a strong emotional connection to her parents.
Religious Beliefs
Laura Schlessinger was born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. She was not raised with a specific religion. In 1996, she began practicing Conservative Judaism. In 1998, she, her husband, and son converted to Orthodox Judaism. During this time, she sometimes used Jewish teachings to help callers with their moral problems.
In 2003, Dr. Laura announced that she was no longer an Orthodox Jew, but she remained Jewish. Over the years, she has shared views on various topics, sometimes based on religious scripture.
Controversies and Public Statements
In 2010, during her radio show, Dr. Laura used a racial term while discussing a caller's experience with racism. She later apologized for her comments. This incident led to some of her radio stations and sponsors dropping her show. She then moved her show to satellite radio.
Fictional Portrayals
Dr. Laura has been portrayed in several TV shows.
- In 1992, she played herself in an episode of Quantum Leap.
- In 1999, she was parodied as "Dr. Nora" on the sitcom Frasier. This character had strong social views and was not close with her mother.
- A fictional version of her appeared briefly in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror X" in 2000.
- In 2000, the show The West Wing featured a character named "Dr. Jenna Jacobs." This character was criticized by the President for her views, especially on homosexuality. The show's creator said this character was inspired by Dr. Laura.
- She was also featured as a character in the animated series Queer Duck in 2000.
- In 2001, she was portrayed on the claymation show Celebrity Deathmatch in a fight against Ellen DeGeneres.
See also
- Culture war
- Talk radio in the United States
- Joy Browne – radio psychologist
- Toni Grant – radio psychologist
- Santa Barbara News-Press controversy
Images for kids
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Hot Talkin' Big Shot
Album cover for "Hot Talkin' Big Shot"
