Judy Sheindlin
Judith Susan Sheindlin (née Blum; born October 21, 1942),[1] known professionally as Judge Judy, is an American attorney, court-show arbitrator, media personality, television producer, philanthropist, and former prosecutor and Manhattan family court judge.
Judy Sheindlin
- Author
- court show arbitrator
- judge
- lawyer
- producer
- television personality
- 1965–1982 (attorney)
- 1982–1996 (judge)
- 1996–present (television personality)
- Judge Judy (1996–2021)
- Judy Justice (2021–present)
2
For 25 seasons, from September 16, 1996, to July 23, 2021, Sheindlin starred in her eponymous top Nielsen-rated court show, Judge Judy.[1][2] Sheindlin became the longest-serving television arbitrator in courtroom-themed programming history, a distinction that earned her a place in the Guinness World Records in 2015.[3] She received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2019 for her work.
On November 1, 2021, Sheindlin launched the spinoff streaming series Judy Justice on IMDb TV (now Amazon Freevee), another arbitration-based reality court show in which she handles legal disputes.[4][5] After winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program in 2022 for the first season of Judy Justice, she became the only television arbitrator to have won the award for more than one court show: three for Judge Judy and one for Judy Justice.[6]
Early life and education[edit]
Sheindlin was born Judith Susan Blum in Brooklyn to German-Jewish and Russian-Jewish parents.[7][8][1][9] She describes her dentist father, Murray,[10][11] as "the greatest thing since sliced bread". Sheindlin describes her mother Ethel, an office manager,[12] as "a meat and potatoes kind of gal".[13]
Sheindlin graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn in 1961 and American University in Washington, D.C., receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in government. She next attended New York Law School, earning her Juris Doctor degree in 1965.[14]
Legal career[edit]
Sheindlin passed the New York state bar examination in 1965 and was hired as a corporate lawyer for a cosmetics firm. Within two years, she became dissatisfied with her job and left to raise her children Jamie and Adam. In 1972, she became a prosecutor in the New York family-court system after hearing about the job from a friend. In her role as a lawyer, Sheindlin prosecuted cases involving child abuse, domestic violence and juvenile offenders.[1]
By 1982, Sheindlin's attitude inspired New York mayor Ed Koch to appoint her as a criminal-court judge. Four years later, she was promoted to supervising judge in the family court's Manhattan division.[1] She earned a reputation as a tough New York City judge (although she has disagreed with the labels "tough" and "harsh").[15]
External media appearances and participation[edit]
Sheindlin has been interviewed on many talk and news broadcasts over the course of her career, on programs such as Entertainment Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Wendy Williams Show,[66] Katie,[67] Larry King Live,[68] The Roseanne Show, The View, Donny & Marie,[69] The Talk,[70] The Tonight Show, Dateline NBC, 20/20 and[71] Good Morning America.[72] On October 17, 1998, Sheindlin made a surprise guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, comedically interrupting Cheri Oteri's parody of her on Judge Judy.[73] That same year, Sheindlin appeared as herself in a cameo scene from the Judge Judy show in the 1998 American made-for-television crime drama film CHiPs '99.[74] She also served as a judge for the 1999 Miss America pageant.[66]
On February 21, 2000, a 60-minute documentary film about Sheindlin's life and career titled Judge Judy: Sitting in Judgment aired as part of the Biography series.[75][76] On December 23, 2008, Sheindlin was a guest on Shatner's Raw Nerve.[77] In December 2009, Sheindlin again told her story in a two-hour interview for the Archive of American Television.[78] She launched a short-lived advice-sharing website, whatwouldjudysay.com, in May 2012. In a September 17, 2013 interview with Katie Couric for the 92nd Street Y, Sheindlin elaborated on previously undisclosed facts of her life story and career in the family court.[79][80]
In 2014, Sheindlin founded her own production company, Queen Bee Productions, which produced the arbitration-based reality courtroom series Hot Bench.[81] Sheindlin had originally desired the title of Hot Bench for her Judge Judy show.[82][83][84] Hot Bench, which debuted on September 15, 2014, featured a panel of three judges debating and deciding on courtroom cases. Sheindlin stated, "When my husband Jerry and I were in Ireland recently, we visited the courts and watched a three-judge bench, which I found both fascinating and compelling. I immediately thought what a terrific and unique idea for a television program that brings the court genre to the next level. We have assembled three individuals with extremely varied backgrounds to serve as the judges. They are smart and talented, with terrific instincts and great chemistry, and are sure to create a hot bench." The original panel of judges consisted of New York State Supreme Court judge Patricia DiMango and Los Angeles attorneys Tanya Acker and Larry Bakman, but Bakman was replaced by Michael Corriero. As with Judge Judy, Hot Bench was produced by Randy Douthit and CBS Television Distribution.[85][86]
On August 31, 2016, it was reported that CBS had planned a scripted, semi-autobiographical drama series based on the life of Sheindlin titled Her Honor. The show was described as following the youngest judge in New York who, while proficient at handling family court cases, has a personal life that needs work. Executive producers of the program were to include Sheindlin, Chernuchin, Arnold Kopelson and Anne Kopelson. Chernuchin was a writer for the legal drama series Law & Order.[87][88][89]
In 2017, Sheindlin created a game show titled IWitness that debuted on July 10 and ran for six weeks. The show tested contestants' observational skills, requiring them to view video clips and recall what they have witnessed faster than do their competitors.[90] On September 17, 2017, Sheindlin appeared on the series premiere of Fox News' Objectified, hosted by Harvey Levin. The program's first episode took an inside look at Sheindlin's life.[91]
In September 2017, the National Enquirer issued a formal apology for having published false statements defaming Sheindlin as having cheated on her husband and having suffered from Alzheimer's disease and brain damage. The magazine also apologized to Sheindlin's daughter Nicole for having stated that she had a prison record.[92]
Sheindlin and her program appeared on a November 26, 2017, episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, presiding over a sketch-comedy court case with Larry David as the plaintiff. The case took the appearance of an actual case from Sheindlin's program, with its courtroom set, voiceover briefs, theme music and audience response.[93]
In 2018, Sheindlin appeared as a guest on Norm Macdonald Has a Show on Netflix.[94]
Non-media projects and community work[edit]
Sheindlin, along with her stepdaughter Nicole Sheindlin, is the creator, director and spokesperson for an alliance designed to empower young women entitled "Her Honor Mentoring."[95][96]
In September 2017, Sheindlin funded a space for public debate at the University of Southern California. The purpose of the forum was for "free exchange of ideas by well-meaning people."[97]