Biography
Ruth Béate Landers was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Shortly after Kristallnacht, Ruth and the remaining members of her family—her mother, sister, grandmother, and grandfather—escaped Germany through Italy on a ship headed for war-torn Shanghai, China. She spent her childhood enduring the severe poverty of the Shanghai Ghetto. In 1948, she arrived in the United States.
By her mid-20s, she had established her own national printing company, Office Research Corporation. Alongside managing her daughters' careers and serving as tour manager for Audrey’s worldwide concerts to support her recording career, Ruth began producing network TV pilots, infomercials, and music videos in the 1980s. She worked on films for MGM and Paramount and, from the 1990s into the 2000s, produced the award-winning children's musical educational TV series, The Huggabug Club, which she donated to Public Television. Additionally, she co-founded the Landers Star Collection, a successful venture offering affordable fashion for women of all ages and sizes, sold through Home Shopping Europe, QVC, and ShopNBC.
She was survived by her daughters, Audrey Landers and Judy (Landers) Niedenfuer; her grandchildren, Daniel Landers, Adam Landers Berkowitz, Lindsey Landers Niedenfuer, and Kristy Landers Violette; her great-grandchildren, Sawyer, Evangeline, and Hendricks; and her sister, Esther Blum.
