Dr. Joyce Brothers

 

"I don't give advice.  I can't tell anybody what to do.  Instead, I say this is what we know about this problem at this time.  And here are the consequences of these actions."

Dr. Joyce Brothers was born Joyce Diane Bauer in Brooklyn, New York on October 20, 1927.  Her parents, both attorneys, operated a law practice in Queens, instilling in their children the value of higher education.  To that end, Joyce attended Cornell University, where she double majored in psychology and home economics.  Really.  She later received her doctoral degree in psychology from Columbia University.

Joyce first rose to fame as a contestant on the 1950s game show The $64,000 Question, where her expert category was boxing.  Again, really.  Her popularity on the show ignited her media career, which would continue for the next five decades.

Joyce was a popular media figure who was comfortable playing herself on scripted television shows (Chips, Police Squad!, The Simpsons), as a fictitious character on other shows (JAG, Diagnosis Murder, WKRP in Cincinnati), or as the host of psychology-oriented daytime talk shows (see Trivia below). 

By 2013, Joyce's health was in decline.  She ultimately died of respiratory failure on May 13th of that year.  She was 85 years old.  CBS News broadcast this report following her passing.  She was laid to rest in the Bauer family plot at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York.

Location: Section #4, Path #1, Bauer Plot

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Dr. Joyce Brothers, take a voyage to Amazon.  Its all in books.
  
  
• While there is no museum in her name per se, there is an exhibit at Cornell University, her alma mater, entitled Dr. Joyce Brothers, Mother of Media Psychology.  It is located in the Carl A. Kroch Library in Ithaca, New York.  Check out their website.
  
  
• For more than 40 years, Joyce provided a monthly column for the popular magazine Good Housekeeping.  
  
  
• Throughout her career, Joyce hosted a number of self-titled TV talk shows, including The Dr. Joyce Brothers Program on the Disney Channel.  Check out these clips - Promo #1, Promo #2.
  
  
• Not one to take herself too seriously, Joyce filmed a cute commercial for MCI's "Friends and Family" phone plan in 1995, alongside herself.  Check it out on YouTube.  You might also dig this commercial for Old Navy.