Joyce Brothers, popular psychologist and television personality, died Monday in New York City at the age of 85. Her longtime publicist Sanford Brokaw confirmed that she died of natural causes. Often described as the pioneer of the television advice show, Brothers rose to fame after her successful appearance on the game show The $64,000 Question in 1955. She often appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, offering her advice over 100 times. She also appeared on Happy Days, Taxi, Saturday Night Live and over 100 other television series.

In 1958, Brothers got involved in the quiz-show scandal, in which several popular shows were accused of forcing the outcomes through giving answers to favored contestants ahead of time. Her knowledge in the topic of boxing on The $64,000 Question was thought to be curiously expert, but Brothers stated that she was simply able to memorize several key facts about the sport. Not only was the show playing fairly, the show's producers actually threw tougher questions at Brothers in the hope that she would eventually lose.

NBC gave Brothers her own afternoon program in 1958, featuring hard-hitting personal issues, including then-taboo topics like menopause and impotence. An advocate for women's rights, Brothers was vocal in the '70s about removing sexist bias from textbooks. Her assertive nature is what led her to become a recurring columnist for the magazine Good Housekeeping for almost forty years.

Throughout her prolific career she wrote several self-help books, including Ten Days To A Successful Memory, What Every Woman Should Know About Men and Positive Plus: The Practical Plan for Liking Yourself Better.

Brothers received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia. She leaves behind her sister Elaine Goldsmith, daughter Lisa Brothers Arbisser, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.