Joy Browne (born Joy Oppenheim; October 24, 1944—August 27, 2016), also known as Dr. Joy, was an American talk show host, specializing in advice counselling. She hosted a nationally syndicatedcall-in talk show for several decades, heard on numerous radio stations in the U.S. and Canada.
Early life
Browne was born Joy Oppenheim in
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, the oldest of five children born to Nelson Oppenheim, a life insurance salesman, and Ruth Strauss, a teacher. Browne spent much of her childhood in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and graduated from
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. She was a licensed clinical psychologist who was first on the air in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
at WITS, where she hosted a program called ''Up Close and Personal'' in the late 1970s. She later hosted call-in shows on radio stations in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Her syndicated show was one of the longest-running call-in therapy shows in the United States. Browne took a no-nonsense approach to callers, trying to zero in on a problem without getting caught up in a caller's long stories or digressions. Browne was also known for her "one-year rule", which states that people who have lost a spouse or long-time partner due to break-up, death, or divorce should wait at a minimum one year before resuming romantic relationships.
Dr. Joy was also known for her advice to act "stupid and cheerful" when dealing with difficult people. She also half-jokingly suggested that people wait until they are 40 or 45 years old before having sex, due to the emotional nakedness involved, in addition to the physical.
Dr. Browne hosted a TV show on the Discovery Health cable channel in 2005 which was a live one-hour simulcast of her weekday show on WOR. She previously hosted a
King World
King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States independently established in 1964 until acq ...
-Eyemark weekday syndicated TV advice talk show in 1999 for one year.
She wrote numerous books on life and dating, including ''It’s A Jungle Out There Jane'', ''Dating for Dummies'', ''The Nine Fantasies That Will Ruin Your Life'', ''Capitalizing on Incompetence'', ''Getting Unstuck'', and ''Dating Disasters''.
On September 30, 2010, Dr. Browne joined the cast of the off-Broadway play '' My Big Gay Italian Wedding'' for three performances.
Browne was often called the
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
to radio advice host Laura Schlessinger, and has inspired a legion of radio hosts.
Browne's call-in therapy show was heard for two decades at 710 WOR in New York and was syndicated to other cities. She was released by WOR on December 20, 2012, after
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
bought the station and brought in its own network hosts. Bumper music for the show was often the bass line from the
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Radio America from Noon-3p.m. ET on weekdays. On September 8, 2014, she switched to the Genesis Communications Network (GCN), continuing her syndicated radio show in the same time slot.
Personal life and death
Browne was married once (to Carter Browne, whom she divorced, although she kept her married name professionally) and had a daughter. Browne died suddenly in Manhattan on Saturday, August 27, 2016, aged 71.