On March 24, 2020, Judith Sheindlin sat down on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and made an announcement that would end one of the most extraordinary runs in television history. The twenty-fifth season of Judge Judy, she said, would be her last. “Twenty-five is a good round number,” she explained. After more than two decades of presiding over the most successful courtroom show ever broadcast, she was walking away from the bench that had made her a household name and one of the richest women on television.

The decision came after years of frustration, mounting behind-the-scenes battles, and a public feud with the very network that had carried her show for a quarter of a century. But even as she prepared to close that chapter, she was already planning her next move. The woman who would become the most trusted judge in America began as Judith Susan Blum, born in Brooklyn, New York, into a family rooted in German and Russian Jewish traditions. Her father, Murray, was a dentist, a man she once called “the greatest thing since sliced bread.

” Her mother, Ethel, worked as an office manager and was what Judy described as “a meat and potatoes kind of gal. ” The family’s values were straightforward, and so was their daughter. She graduated from James Madison High School in 1961, then studied government at American University in Washington DC, earning her degree in 1963. From there she went on to New York Law School and became a lawyer in 1965.

After passing the New York Bar exam, she took a job as a corporate lawyer for a cosmetics company. But the work brought her no joy, so she quit and devoted herself to raising her two children, Jaime and Adam. In 1972, a friend told her about a job opening for a prosecutor in New York’s family court. The role suited her far better than anything she had tried before.

She stepped into the courtroom and found her voice. The sharp tongue and no-nonsense attitude that would later define her television persona took root in those years, as she argued cases involving families in crisis. Her reputation grew quickly. In 1982, New York Mayor Ed Koch noticed her aggressive style and appointed her a judge in the criminal court.

Just four years later, she became the supervising judge for Manhattan’s family court. Some called her tough. Some called her harsh. She rejected both labels.

But no one doubted that she did not play around. The path to television fame began in 1993, when the Los Angeles Times ran an article about her. The story came about partly through the influence of writer Josh Gotlib and his wife Heidi. That piece led to an appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes, and the segment introduced her to the country.

Viewers responded to her direct way of speaking and her commanding presence in the courtroom. In 1995, she was offered the chance to star in her own courtroom television show. She accepted. In 1996, the same year she retired as a family court judge, she published her first book, Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining.

That year also marked the premiere of Judge Judy, which hit television screens on September 16th, 1996. The show featured real small claims cases and real decisions. Viewers were immediately hooked. Judy brought along her real-life bailiff from family court, Petri Hawkins Byrd, known simply as Byrd.

He would go on to become the longest-serving bailiff in courtroom television history. The ratings were staggering from the start. Judge Judy drew between nine and ten million viewers every day, frequently outperforming even The Oprah Winfrey Show. From 2009 until it ended in 2021, it was the number one daytime show on television.

The appeal was simple. People loved watching Judy handle cases swiftly and decisively. Writer Brendan I. Koerner once observed that viewers enjoyed seeing wrongdoers publicly humiliated by a strong authority figure.

They did not want complex legal battles. They wanted Judy’s firm rulings, delivered with speed and certainty. The show’s cultural impact was immense. A 2013 Reader’s Digest poll found that Americans trusted Judge Judy more than they trusted all nine justices of the United States Supreme Court.

She became a fixture in pop culture, referenced in shows like The Simpsons, Will & Grace, and Saturday Night Live. In 2003, VH1 placed her on their list of the 200 greatest pop culture icons. The money followed the fame. By 2005, she was earning twenty-five million dollars a year.

In 2007, her net worth reached ninety-five million dollars, and she was named one of the richest women in entertainment. The following year, her salary jumped to forty-five million dollars. But even at the height of her success, she considered walking away. Her contract was set to end in 2014, and in 2010 she told reporters she was thinking about retiring.

“I think 2013 would be a nice time,” she said. “It’s nice to leave on top. ”

Yet she kept going. In 2011, during a taping of her show, she fainted and was rushed to the hospital.

Doctors later revealed she had suffered a mini-stroke. She recovered quickly and returned to work. That same year, CBS extended her contract again, this time at forty-seven million dollars a year. Because she only filmed fifty-two days a year, her daily rate exceeded nine hundred thousand dollars.

In 2017, Forbes reported she earned one hundred forty-seven million dollars before taxes, making her the highest-paid television host in the world. She had waited fourteen years for her first Daytime Emmy, finally winning one in 2013. The show won again in 2016 and 2017. In 2015, Guinness World Records recognized her as the longest-serving television judge in history.

But legends, even at their peak, face limits. Judy grew frustrated with CBS and the network’s decisions. She faced lawsuits, including one from Rebel Entertainment, over the show’s profits. Former staff members came forward with accusations of a toxic workplace, alleging sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and unwanted touching by male producers.

Court records referenced a pattern of racist behavior among those in charge. Many former employees said Judy had full control of the set, that she ran the ship and her word was final in most decisions. There were also legal battles of her own making. She sued a personal injury lawyer who had used her face and name in advertisements, making it appear she endorsed his firm.

She fought back against a defamation case involving the National Enquirer, which had falsely claimed she had Alzheimer’s disease, was depressed, and had cheated on her husband. The magazine later retracted the stories and apologized. All of it contributed to her decision to leave. The final Judge Judy episode taped on June 8th, 2021, and the last episode aired on July 23rd, 2021.

She made it clear she was not retiring. She had a new project ready. Judy Justice premiered on November 1st, 2021, on Amazon Freevee, then known as IMDb TV. Production had begun in July of that year, just months after Judge Judy finished taping.

It was the first courtroom show to launch exclusively on a streaming service. She wore a different colored robe, used a more modern set, and brought in new faces, including her granddaughter, Sarah Rose, who added a Gen Z perspective. A court stenographer was introduced to repeat exactly what people said during cases. Episodes were longer and focused on a single case, with bigger cash awards.

Instead of her fast-paced approach, she slowed down, taking more time with each case. Not everyone was pleased. The most significant change upset longtime viewers: Petri Hawkins Byrd was absent. He had been by her side for more than twenty years.

In his place stood Kevin Rasco. Byrd later said he felt confused and dismayed that Sheindlin never spoke to him about the change. She explained that the show was heading in a different direction and praised Byrd as “terrific,” but the move hurt many fans. Byrd said he held no grudge and thanked her for everything.

In April 2022, he joined another Sheindlin creation called Tribunal Justice, which featured two former Hot Bench judges and her own son, Adam Levy. Judy Justice did not match the ratings of Judge Judy reruns, but it made history regardless. It became the most-watched show on IMDb TV in terms of streaming hours and was renewed for a second season. Sheindlin won a Daytime Emmy for the show, making her the only television judge to win the award for two different courtroom shows.

Her media presence went far beyond her own programs. She appeared on Entertainment Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, and The Wendy Williams Show. In 1998, she surprised audiences by appearing on Saturday Night Live, interrupting a sketch that was making fun of her and showing she had a sense of humor. That same year, she made a cameo in the TV movie CHiPs ’99, playing herself in a courtroom scene.

She served as a judge for the Miss America pageant in 1999. A one-hour documentary about her, Judge Judy: Sitting in Judgment, aired on February 21st, 2000. In 2014, she started her own production company, Queen Bee Productions. One of its biggest projects was Hot Bench, a courtroom show featuring three judges instead of one.

She got the idea while watching court proceedings in Ireland with her husband. “We watched a three judge bench, which I found both fascinating and compelling,” she said. She selected Patricia DiMango, Tanya Acker, and Larry Bakman for the panel. Bakman was later replaced by Michael Corriero.

In 2016, CBS announced a drama series based on her life called Her Honor, about a young judge in New York who excelled at work but struggled with her personal life. The show never made it to air. She also created a short game show called Eyewitness, which ran for six weeks in 2017, testing people’s ability to remember details from video clips. Throughout it all, she gave back.

With her stepdaughter Nicole Sheindlin, she started Her Honor Mentoring, a program helping young women build confidence and explore career paths. In 2017, she opened the Sheindlin Forum at the University of Southern California, a debate space where people could share different ideas. “When one searches for the truth, one should be armed with all available information,” she said. “A closed mind is a dangerous thing.

”

She also wrote books. In 2013 she released What Would Judy Say? A Grown-Up Guide to Living Together with Benefits, followed the next year by What Would Judy Say? Be the Hero of Your Own Story.

Her personal life followed a path as rocky as her career. She married her first husband, Ronald Levy, in 1964, when she was just twenty years old. He was a young attorney, a nice guy, a good dancer. Most of her friends were getting married, and she wanted children in her twenties.

She never saw herself as a woman who only wanted a career. She wanted a family too. She worked briefly as a lawyer at the cosmetics company, then left to become a housewife. Their children, Jaime and Adam, were born in 1966 and 1968.

The couple moved to the countryside for a peaceful, family-centered life. But after a few years, Judy grew unhappy and bored. “After a period of time, I was bored, not being engaged outside of the home,” she later said. She gave it a real try for five or six years, then went back to school for a law degree in family law at NYU and returned to work in 1972.

She was determined to prove she could have both a family and a career. Ronald did not take her job seriously. He treated it like a hobby. “My first husband is a lovely, lovely man,” she said, “but he always viewed my job as a hobby, and there came a time when I resented that.

” After twelve years, the marriage ended in divorce. In 1976, just after her divorce, she met Jerry Sheindlin, a defense attorney, at a bar. He was talking to a reporter when she walked in, pointed a finger in his face, and asked, “And who is this? ” Jerry replied, “Lady, get your finger out of my face.

” They hit it off and married in 1977. But the beginning was complicated. Jerry was still married, though separated. He wanted to live together.

Judy refused. She told him she wouldn’t stay unless he got divorced. “I want to see your divorce in the newspaper, or don’t bother calling again,” she said. Jerry agreed, and they married once his divorce was finalized.

They had five children between them. Jerry brought Nicole, Gregory, and Jonathan. Judy brought Jaime and Adam. Merging the families was not easy, and they both knew it.

Jerry once said, “If the five children did not get along, we would just say goodbye. ” Three of them went into law. Adam became a district attorney and later a judge on Tribunal Justice. Gregory opened the Sheindlin law firm.

Nicole became a partner at Menser and Sheindlin. Jaime stayed out of the public eye, and Jonathan became an eye doctor. In 1990, life took a hard turn. Judy’s father, Murray Bloom, passed away, and she was devastated.

She looked to Jerry for emotional support, but he did not know how to give it. “I wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable,” she said. He wasn’t being unreasonable either; he simply didn’t know how to provide what she needed. Their communication broke down.

She gave him an ultimatum: if he couldn’t handle it, she would divorce him. He challenged her. “If you can’t maneuver this, I’m going to divorce you,” she said. “Oh, yeah.

I dare you,” he replied. The next day, she filed. But the separation did not last long. Jerry missed her presence.

Judy missed him too. After a bad date, she was happy when he reached out. They began spending time together, and their love rekindled. Even though she knew he hadn’t changed, she accepted him as he was.

Jerry eventually said, “Suddenly, I said to her, this is silly. I’m uncomfortable being with you all the time and not being married to you. Let’s get married again. ” Because they both worked in law, getting remarried was quick.

They obtained a same-day marriage license and had a simple ceremony officiated by a friend who was a Supreme Court judge in New York. Their marriage survived because they learned what each other needed. When Judge Judy became a hit, Jerry was comfortable standing in her shadow. “I think that behind every great woman, there is a man,” he said.

When Jerry later joined The People’s Court as a judge, Judy encouraged him. “She is the one who told me I should do it,” he said. They both emphasized the importance of staying physically attractive for each other. “If you fall instantaneously for somebody, that means there’s a physical attraction,” Judy said.

“He maintains that physique that I fell in love with 48 years ago. ”

Her advice on keeping a man happy was characteristically direct. “Men like to be fed. They like to be cuddled.

They like to have their alone time. If you feed them and love them up a little bit and don’t get in their way too much, they’re happy. ”

Judy had not started Judge Judy to chase fame. “I was hoping we would have a three or four year run and that my husband and I would be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment one block off the beach in Florida,” she said.

They were civil servants with five educated children, and she wanted to make sure the kids weren’t burdened with debt. The plan worked better than she ever imagined. In July 2025, she released a new show, Justice on Trial, on Prime Video. It examined eight major legal cases that changed American law.

She created and produced it herself. All eight episodes began streaming on July 21st. As of July 2025, her net worth was estimated at four hundred forty million dollars. She owns six homes across the United States: a penthouse in New York City, a large manor in Greenwich, Connecticut, a mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, a five-bedroom condo in Beverly Hills, and two homes in Naples, Florida.

Her main residence in Connecticut sits on twelve and a half acres, with ten bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a swimming pool, and gardens. She and Jerry paid thirteen point two million dollars for it. She has faced criticism along the way. Some accused her tone on the show of being classist, saying she scolded poor people and asked personal questions unrelated to their cases.

Others pointed to passages in her writing that included stereotypes about Black people, like the “welfare queen” and “super predator” labels. Her political commentary drew backlash too, particularly when she criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over his case against Donald Trump. When questioned about her enormous salary, her answer was simple. “I can take Judge Judy anywhere.

You can’t make the show without me. ”

In 2018, Forbes confirmed she was the highest-paid TV host in the world at forty-seven million dollars a year, counting both Judge Judy and Hot Bench. She also sold the rights to her old shows for one hundred million dollars. Today, at the center of her empire stands her granddaughter, Sarah Rose, working alongside her as a law clerk on Judy Justice.

The family has grown from five children to thirteen grandchildren, and several have followed the legal path. The second chapter of her career carries forward what the first built, even as the questions and controversies follow. After twenty-five years on the bench, one television era ended.

She simply moved to another courtroom.