Born: 21 October 1942, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Judith Susan Blum
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Judy Blum Sheindlin is arguably the most famous judge of her time, yet most people wouldn’t know her last name, recognizing her only as “Judge Judy.” Born in 1942, she’d been a lawyer since 1965 and became a judge in 1982, having earned a reputation for her outspoken and straightforward approach as a prosecuting attorney. She brought that same mindset to her work as a family court judge in the Bronx and was promoted to supervising judge of Manhattan’s family court, holding that position for a decade. The show that bore her name premiered in 1996 and ran for 25 years before concluding in 2021. Even then, she wasn’t off the air for long, debuting the spin-off Judy Justice later that year.
Sheindlin also published her first book, Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining: America’s Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks in 1996. Later books include Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever: The Making of a Happy Woman (1999) and a children’s book, Judge Judy Sheindlin’s Win or Lose by How You Choose! (2000). On television, she was an instant hit with audiences as she made rulings on small claims cases with her no-nonsense approach, later saying she based her decisions on common sense rather than any particular precedents or statutes. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys in 2019.