Judge Judy Biography

Judge Judy is the stage name of New York retired judge Judith Sheindlin, the star of her own daytime TV show since 1996.

Sheindlin passed the New York bar in 1965 after graduating from New York Law School. She worked as a prosecutor in New York’s family court system from 1972 until 1982, when Mayor Ed Koch appointed her to the bench.

She became nationally famous after a 1993 profile of her in the Los Angeles Times and a segment about her on the television show 60 Minutes, both of which portrayed her as feisty, funny and firm. That led to her first book, 1996’s Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining, which in turn led to her own TV show, a courtroom reality show alá The People’s Court.

Since then, Sheindlin has become a pop culture icon and multimillionaire, with a daytime viewing audience that routinely puts her at the top of the ratings. She hears real court cases (for which she has prepared in advance) in a TV courtroom full of paid extras, quickly handing out judgments and sarcastic barbs meant to teach those in her court personal responsibility through public humiliation — and they love it.

Sheindlin has written more than half a dozen books, including Win or Lose by How You Choose (2000) and What Would Judy Say? A Grown-Up Guide to Living Together With Benefits (2013). In 2015, Judge Judy won it’s first Daytime Emmy Award, after 15 nominations.