WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters): Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a heroine to the American left after overcoming entrenched sexism in the legal profession to ascend to the US Supreme Court, where she championed gender equality and other liberal causes during 27 years on the bench.
Ginsburg, who died on Friday at age 87 of complications from pancreatic cancer, was a fierce advocate for women's rights - winning major gender-discrimination cases before the Supreme Court - before being appointed to the top US judicial body by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993. The diminutive dynamo became the court's leading liberal voice.
Rising from a working-class family in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, Ginsburg overcame hostility toward women in the male-dominated worlds of law school and the legal profession to become just the second woman ever to serve on the nine-member Supreme Court.
During her final years on the court, Ginsburg became something of a pop icon for American liberals, the subject of the 2018 feature film "On the Basis of Sex," the 2018 Academy Award-nominated documentary "RBG" and sketches on the popular TV show "Saturday Night Live" - even inspiring an action figure.
Her small stature - she stood 5-foot, 1-inch tall (155 cm) - and frailty in later years belied an outsize persona and clout. Fans called her "The Notorious R.B.G.," inspired by the late American rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
"I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks," Ginsburg said in the documentary, summing up her lifelong work toward gender equality.
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