Judge Judy turns 80: Court show arbitrator left job for children but was often 'guilt-tripped' by them
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Judith Susan Sheindlin, famously known as Judge Judy, is celebrating her 80th birthday on Friday, October 21. It has been said that her special day will be filled with fun time with husband, Jerry Sheindlin, with whom she has been with for over four decades. Her family members will also join the fun.
Despite her busy schedule, the iconic media personality reportedly tries to spend time with her large family that includes her five children and 13 grandchildren. However, achieving this balance was always not easy for Judy, who was first married to fellow prosecutor Ronald Levy for 12 years and gave birth to a daughter and a son — Jamie Hartwright and Adam Levy, in those years.
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At the time, she also quit working and became a housewife, taking care of husband, children and their home. But she did not feel happy in that life as she had once reportedly claimed to feel “her brain atrophying,” and to end the monotony of her life, Judy took up master’s in family law. After the course ended, she began working again but Levy called it her “hobby,” which left her angered and frustrated.
So, in 1976, Judy divorced Levy and a year later, exchanged vows with Jerry, who was a father-of-three. In 2015, ET Online reported that her children “would unintentionally send her on guilt trips growing up”. She told the publication, while sharing an incident where her kids wanted hot lunch like their friends, “I said, 'You want a hot lunch? Put slice of pizza on the radiator and you too will have a hot lunch.’”
However, Judy and Levy’s marriage has also not been a smooth ride as in 1990, the pair divorced each other. With E! News Jerry shared about that time, “I missed her presence the very first week that we were separated. It was the first time in years that we didn't get to see each other every single day. It was such a strange experience.” But they did not have to spend much time without each other as in 1991, they remarried.
Jerry recalled, “So we go up to Herbie's chambers, and he performs the following ceremony. To me he says, 'Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife forever—in good times and bad, in sickness and in health?' I said, 'Yes.' He looks at Judy and says, 'Do you take this man to be your husband?' She says, 'Yes.' He says, 'In good times or bad?' And she looks right at him and says, 'In good times or forget it.’”
Since then, as per reports, their lives have sailed well. Recently, Judy gave a piece of advice to her granddaughter, Sarah Rose, who is also a law graduate and works as the law clerk on Amazon Studios show, ‘Judy Justice.’ She reportedly told her, “It's been sort of easy. I grew up with, you do the right thing, the right thing happens [and] take responsibility.”
“I just stay in my own little world, I say, 'This is right and this is wrong.' If you tell the truth, you don't have to have a good memory. Try to keep good friends and keep your enemies closer until you find out you can annihilate them,” the television producer added.