Judith Sheindlin

In 1964, Judge Judy married her first husband, Ronald Levy, and became the mother of two children, Jamie and Adam. After 12 years, the couple ended their relationship with a divorce in 1976.

She chose Judge Jerry Sheindlin, a former Judge of the Supreme Court of New York, as her second husband and tied the again knot in 1977. The couple divorced in 1990 while going through a stressful period.

Soon the couple realized that their divorce was a mistake and remarried in 1991; this marriage is going strong till date. Judith has three step children from Sheindlin, two sons and one daughter named Gregory, Jonathan, and Nicole respectively. The happy couple also has 13 grandchildren together.

Judith Susan Blum was born to Murray Blum and Ethel Silverman in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., on October 21, 1942. She fondly refers to her father as ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread’ and her mother as ‘a meat and potatoes kind of gal’. She has three siblings.

She did her schooling from James Madison High School, Brooklyn. Judith then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in government, from American University, Washington D.C. in 1963. There she was the only woman in her class of 126 students.

She completed her law degree at the New York Law School in New York City. She was bestowed with a J.D (Juris Doctor) in 1965 and passed the New York bar exam as well.

Apart from her academic degrees, she also holds honorary Doctor of Law Degrees from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, University at Albany SUNY, and New York Law School.

In 1965, Judith Sheindlin joined a cosmetic firm as a corporate lawyer and started practicing. She left her job within two years as working as a corporate lawyer was dissatisfying for her and she wanted to devote her time to raise her two children.

She restarted her law career in 1972 in a family court. After a few years, New York Mayor Edward Koch designated her as a criminal court judge in the Bronx branch of the family court in 1982.

In 1986, she was designated the Supervising Judge in the Manhattan branch of the family court. Judge Judith possessed a straightforward nature and was able to attract the attention and respect of common people with her no-nonsense attitude.

In February 1993, a ‘Los Angeles Times’ article profiled Judge Judith, hailing her as a legal super heroine. The story grabbed the attention of people on a massive scale. As a result, she was featured on the iconic TV news magazine show named ‘60 Minutes’.

The CBS news program, ’60 Minutes’ was a hit show, making Judge Judith a popular one in the legal world. In 1996, she published her first book ‘Don’t Pee On My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining’. In the same year, she retired after 25 years of practicing in family court and hearing more than 20,000 cases throughout her career.

Judith Sheindlin is famous for many productive works throughout her career but the highlight of her career is the show, ‘Judge Judy’. The series has been one of the most successful shows on daytime television and won the No. 1 slot for syndicated shows in 1999. Sheindlin has extended her contract to continue with the series through its 22nd season which commenced in September 2017.