For 25 seasons, from September 16,1996, to July 23,2021, Sheindlin starred in her eponymous top Nielsen-rated court show, Judge Judy.
51 Facts About Judy Sheindlin
2.
Judy Sheindlin received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2019 for her work.
3.
Judy Sheindlin is known for her offscreen television work, producing and creating reality legal shows featuring judges whom she has cast in arbitrating roles.
4.
Judy Sheindlin was born Judith Susan Blum in Brooklyn to German-Jewish and Russian-Jewish parents.
5.
Judy Sheindlin graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn and American University in Washington, DC, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in government.
6.
Judy Sheindlin next attended New York Law School, earning her Juris Doctor degree in 1965.
7.
Judy Sheindlin passed the New York state bar examination in 1965 and was hired as a corporate lawyer for a cosmetics firm.
8.
Judy Sheindlin earned a reputation as a tough judge.
9.
In February 1993, Judy Sheindlin's reputation made her the subject of a Los Angeles Times article written by Josh Getlin that profiled her as a woman determined to make the court system work for the common good.
10.
Judy Sheindlin was then featured in a segment on CBS's 60 Minutes that brought her national recognition.
11.
Judy Sheindlin retired as a family-court judge that same year after having heard more than 20,000 cases.
12.
Judy Sheindlin was accompanied by her bailiff, Petri Byrd, simply called "Byrd" or "Officer Byrd", who became the longest-serving bailiff in courtroom programming history.
13.
From 2009 to its series finale in 2021, Judge Judy Sheindlin was the highest-rated show in all of daytime television programming and first-run syndication.
14.
On June 14,2013, Judge Judy Sheindlin won its first Daytime Emmy Award after having received its 15th nomination.
15.
Judy Sheindlin has drawn considerable attention and made headlines over her substantial salary from the program.
16.
In early 2005, Judy Sheindlin's salary was reportedly US$25 million per year.
17.
In January 2008 when Judy Sheindlin's contract was renewed, her salary increased to $45 million per year.
18.
On March 30,2011, Judy Sheindlin was admitted to the hospital after she fainted on the set of her show while handling a case.
19.
Judy Sheindlin was released the next day, and it was later learned that she had suffered a mini-stroke.
20.
In May 2011, Judy Sheindlin's contract was extended through the 19th season with an annual salary increase by CBS to $47 million.
21.
Judy Sheindlin later stated that her retirement was up to her viewers and said that fans still seemed to be interested.
22.
Judy Sheindlin later revealed in a March 2020 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the series would conclude by its 25th-season anniversary.
23.
Judy Sheindlin ended the series while discontented with ViacomCBS and facing lawsuits from Rebel Entertainment, stating that "25 is a good round number" with which to finish.
24.
Byrd claimed that Judy Sheindlin omitted him from the series for monetary reasons.
25.
However, the first season of Judy Sheindlin Justice set a record for the number of streaming hours viewed on IMDb TV for its first season, and was thus granted a second season, which premiered on November 7,2022.
26.
On October 17,1998, Sheindlin made a surprise guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, comedically interrupting Cheri Oteri's parody of her on Judge Judy.
27.
That same year, Sheindlin appeared as herself in a cameo scene from the Judge Judy show in the 1998 American made-for-television crime drama film CHiPs '99.
28.
Judy Sheindlin served as a judge for the 1999 Miss America pageant.
29.
On December 23,2008, Judy Sheindlin was a guest on Shatner's Raw Nerve.
30.
In December 2009, Judy Sheindlin again told her story in a two-hour interview for the Archive of American Television.
31.
In 2014, Judy Sheindlin founded her own production company, Queen Bee Productions, which produced the arbitration-based reality courtroom series Hot Bench.
32.
In 2017, Judy Sheindlin created a game show titled IWitness that debuted on July 10 and ran for six weeks.
33.
On September 17,2017, Judy Sheindlin appeared on the series premiere of Fox News' Objectified, hosted by Harvey Levin.
34.
In September 2017, the National Enquirer issued a formal apology for having published false statements defaming Judy Sheindlin as having cheated on her husband and having suffered from Alzheimer's disease and brain damage.
35.
In 2018, Judy Sheindlin appeared as a guest on Norm Macdonald Has a Show on Netflix.
36.
In September 2017, Judy Sheindlin funded a space for public debate at the University of Southern California.
37.
In 1964, Judy Sheindlin married Ronald Levy, who later became a prosecutor in juvenile court.
38.
In 1978, she married Judge Jerry Judy Sheindlin, who was an arbitrator on The People's Court from 1999 to 2001.
39.
Judy Sheindlin has three stepchildren with Sheindlin: Gregory Sheindlin, Jonathan Sheindlin and Nicole Sheindlin, and 13 grandchildren.
40.
Judy Sheindlin owns homes in several states, including Connecticut, New York, Florida, California, and Wyoming.
41.
Judy Sheindlin commuted to Los Angeles every other week for two to four days to tape episodes of Judge Judy.
42.
Judy Sheindlin holds honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Elizabethtown College and the University at Albany, SUNY.
43.
Judy Sheindlin is a supporter of same-sex marriage and, although she has said that she is not a supporter of "big government", she believes that the issue of same-sex marriage should be handled at the federal level rather than on a state-by-state basis.
44.
Judy Sheindlin has stated that she is in favor of increasing requirements for gun ownership.
45.
Judy Sheindlin prefers not to be labelled by political terms, and states that she is not registered with any political party.
46.
In October 2019 Judy Sheindlin penned an op-ed endorsing Michael Bloomberg for president, despite the fact that he had not announced a campaign.
47.
Jones alleged Douthit and Judy Sheindlin had conspired to permit Judy Sheindlin to buy Christofle fine china and Marley cutlery owned by Jones.
48.
Judy Sheindlin said Sheindlin had paid Douthit $50,815 for the items without her knowledge to deprive her of her valuables, and she sought $514,421 from Sheindlin.
49.
The suit was settled out of court after Judy Sheindlin returned the tableware to Douthit, and Jones agreed to pay him $12,500 and have the tableware returned to her.
50.
On March 12,2014, Judy Sheindlin filed a lawsuit against Hartford, Connecticut personal injury lawyer John Haymond and his law firm.
51.
Judy Sheindlin said in her statement that any money she wins through the lawsuit will go toward college scholarships through the Her Honor Mentoring program.