Judith Sheindlin, Beloved As Judge Judy, Celebrates Her Birthday

Judith Sheindlin, AKA Judge Judy, television personality, series producer, best-selling author, and arbitrator of the highest-rated court series on television is about to found herself guilty on a charge of being a birthday girl today.

Happy Birthday, Judith Sheindlin!

And that’s because she was born on October 21, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, which means that this tough-but-fair adjudicator is turning 78 years old today! Sheindlin earned her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School and passed the New York state bar examination in 1965.

She spent two years working as a corporate lawyer for a cosmetics firm before briefly retiring from the judicial system. She returned in 1972 and took up a vacant post as a prosecutor in family court.

Ten years later, she was appointed as a criminal court judge by New York Mayor Ed Koch. She remained in the position for four years at which time she was promoted to supervising judge in Manhattan’s family court.

A Los Angeles Times profile of her and her particular style of judging led to Sheindlin being featured in an episode of 60 Minutes – it was a segment that would bring her national attention and result in her being offered the opportunity to preside as a judge on the reality courtroom series.

Sheindlin would eventually accept, and Judge Judy made its debut on September 16, 1996. The show would quickly establish itself a ratings winner, and since 2010, it has become the highest-rated show in all of daytime television.

Outside of her popular series, Sheindlin is also a published writer, whose work includes Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining as well as Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever. She is also the creator of the nontraditional, panel-based court series Hot Bench, which has been in production since September 15, 2014, and the one season and done gameshow IWitness.

Sheindlin has been married to Judge Jerry Sheindlin (who served as the arbitrator on The People’s Court from 1999 to 2001) since 1991. She has three stepchildren from that marriage as well as two children (Jamie and Adam) from a previous marriage to lawyer Ronald Levy. Sheindlin is a grandmother of 13.

Entertainment Hub would like to wish Judith Sheindlin a very happy birthday. Judge Judy is syndicated twice daily Monday-Friday. Check your local listings for airtimes.