Brothers, Joyce

Brothers, Joyce (b. Joyce Diane Bauer)

(1927– ) psychologist, television radio personality; born in New York City. She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University (1953). She memorized volumes of information on boxing and then appeared on the $64,000 Question (1955) and the $64,000 Challenge (1956), which gained her considerable publicity—a female intellectual who knew all about boxing! She soon had her own Dr. Joyce Brothers radio program (1958–63) on which she dispensed instant counsel, and over the years she managed to maintain her reputation as a knowledgeable but no-nonsense counselor through years of appearances on radio and television and in a syndicated newspaper column. Her books on popular psychology include How to Get Whatever You Want Out of Life (1979) and What Every Woman Should Know About Men (1982). Although traditional psychologists were sometimes skeptical, she seemed to satisfy her public audience.