Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally asJoan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that was heavily self-deprecating and acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians, delivered in her signatureNew York accent. She is considered a pioneer of women in comedy.[1][2] She received anEmmy Award and aGrammy Award, as well as nomination for aTony Award.
In addition to marketing a line of jewelry and apparel on theQVC shopping channel, Rivers authored 12 best-selling books and three LP comedy albums under her own name:Mr. Phyllis and Other Funny Stories (Warner Bros 1965),The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album (Buddah 1969) andWhat Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? (Geffen 1983). She was nominated in 1984 for aGrammy Award for her albumWhat Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? and was nominated in 1994 for theTony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance of the title role inSally Marr ... and Her Escorts. In 2009, Rivers competed alongside her daughter Melissa on thesecond season ofThe Celebrity Apprentice, ultimately winning the season. In 2015, Rivers posthumously received aGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book,Diary of a Mad Diva.[6]
Joan Alexandra Molinsky was born on June 8, 1933, inBrooklyn, New York,[8][9][10] toRussian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman) and Meyer C. Molinsky, a doctor.[10][11] She had an elder sister named Barbara Waxler.[12][13][14] Rivers spent her early life inProspect Heights[15] andCrown Heights[16] in Brooklyn. At the age of eight, she created her first alter ego,J. Sondra Meredith.[17][18][19] She attended theBrooklyn Society for Ethical Culture School, a progressive and now-defunct school andAdelphi Academy of Brooklyn, a college preparatory day school, where she was co-chair of her school, due to her past experiences in theatrical activities. Within two years, she performed in the SchoolCavalcades and in 1949, aged 16, she was vice president of the Dramatic Club.[20] She graduated from the Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn, in 1951, at 18. In her adolescence, Rivers relocated with her family toLarchmont, north of New York City.[10]
Riversmatriculated atConnecticut College; it was a family legacy to attend the institution, as her sister had done.[21] Rivers has stated in interviews that she wasoverweight throughout her childhood, adolescence and in college[17] and that it had a profound impact on herbody image, which she struggled with throughout her life.[22] After two years, she transferred toBarnard College, where she graduated in 1954 with aB.A. inEnglish literature andanthropology.
Rivers repeatedly said and it was reported inThe Washington Post,[9] that she graduatedsumma cum laude and as a member ofPhi Beta Kappa;[10] however, biographers James Spada and Leslie Bennetts found that these were fabrications, as with other statements such as sharing a lesbian kiss in a play withBarbra Streisand (they did both appear in a play namedDriftwood, but were never on stage at the same time).[23][24]
Before entering show business, Rivers worked at various jobs such as a tour guide atRockefeller Center,[25] a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency[26] and a fashion consultant atBond Clothing Stores.[10][27] During this period, agent Tony Rivers (not the singer) advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.[28] She stated that he stopped sending her to audition because of this.[29]
She then moved to Chicago, where she famously flung an ashtray at the ground in fury during her audition for The Second City.
In 1961, Rivers made her MainStage debut in Second City’s seventh revue, Alarums and Excursions, her only production at the theater. Later in life, she would state that she was “born as a comedian at Second City. I owe it my career.”
Between 1963 and 1964, Rivers joined forces with Jim Connell andJake Holmes in thecabaret act "Jim, Jake & Joan". Their appearance at The Bitter End in 1964 led to their inclusion in the motion pictureOnce Upon A Coffee House, marking Rivers's first credit in afeature film. However, the group disbanded soon after. Holmes later recalled an incident that led to their separation: "We were supposed to perform at a rally forBobby Kennedy, who wasrunning for New York senator in 1964. Joan showed up wearing a [Republican Senate nominee Kenneth]Keating button, and Jim told her to remove it. She refused, staunchly sticking to her political beliefs, and Jim said, 'Who needs you, anyway?' That was the end of Jim, Jake & Joan..."[33]
Rivers also made a guest appearance onThe Tonight Show, hosted byJack Paar,[34] which originated in New York. In 1965, she worked as a gag writer and participant onCandid Camera, where she played the role of "the bait" to lure people into humorous situations for the show. After seven auditions over three years, she finally made her first appearance onThe Tonight Show with its new host,Johnny Carson, on February 17, 1965.[35] Rivers considered this episode to be her breakthrough, as Carson famously told her, "you're gonna be a star."[36] She became a frequent guest on the show and developed a close friendship with Carson.
Her profile skyrocketed in the following years, and she began to make frequent guest appearances on popular shows likeThe Ed Sullivan Show,The Mike Douglas Show,The Dick Cavett Show, andGirl Talk withVirginia Graham. She even wrote material for thepuppet mouseTopo Gigio. In addition, she had a small role in the cult drama filmThe Swimmer (1968), alongsideBurt Lancaster. Around the same time, she hosted a short-livedsyndicated daytimetalk show calledThat Show with Joan Rivers, which premiered on September 16, 1968. Each episode had a unique theme, and Rivers opened with a monologue related to that day's topic, then hosted celebrity interviews.[37][38] The show also featured an expert on the subject and a celebrity guest. Early episodes featured prominent figures such as Johnny Carson,Jerry Lewis,Joel Grey,Don Rickles, andGodfrey Cambridge.[39] During the mid-1960s, she released at least twocomedy albums:The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album andRivers Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories.[40]
By the 1970s, Rivers continued to be a prominent fixture on television. Along with her other guest-spots on the late-night circuit, she also made appearances onThe Carol Burnett Show, had a semi-regular stint onHollywood Squares and guest-starred onHere's Lucy. Rivers made her Broadway debut in the playFun City, which opened on January 2, 1972, and co-starredGabriel Dell,Rose Marie andPaul Ford. It ran for only nine performances amid a negative critical reception. Though aNew York Times reviewer criticized the production as "frenetic to the point of being frazzled," he praised Rivers as "a deft comedy writer" and "a very funny lady".[41] From 1972 to 1976, she narratedThe Adventures of Letterman, an animated segment forThe Electric Company.
In 1973, Rivers co-wrote the made-for-television movieThe Girl Most Likely To...,[17] a black comedy starringStockard Channing as an ugly girl who becomes beautiful after undergoing plastic surgery, and takes revenge on people who previously mistreated her. The film, based on Rivers's story,[17] became a ratings success and has been considered a "cult classic".[42] She also wrote a thrice-weekly column forThe Chicago Tribune from 1973 to 1976, and published her first book,Having a Baby Can Be a Scream, in 1974; she described it as a "catalogue of gynaecological anxieties".[43] In 1978, Rivers made her directorial debut[44] with the comedyRabbit Test, which she also wrote and which starred her friendBilly Crystal in his film debut as the world's first pregnant man. The film earned 12 million dollars at the box office.[45]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times concluded: "Miss Rivers has turned to directing without paying much heed to whether a whole movie constructed from one-liners is worth even the sum of its parts."[46] During the same decade, she was the opening act for singersHelen Reddy,Robert Goulet,Paul Anka,Mac Davis, andSergio Franchi on theLas Vegas Strip.[47]
During the early and mid-1980s, Rivers found further success in stand-up and television, though the decade subsequently proved to be controversial for her. The year 1983, in particular, was very successful; she performed atCarnegie Hall in February,[48] did the March stand-up specialAn Audience with Joan Rivers, hosted the April 9 episode ofSaturday Night Live, and released the best-selling comedy albumWhat Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?, which reached No. 22 on the U.S.Billboard 200 and was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Comedy Album.[49] By August 1983, Carson established Rivers as his first permanent guest host onThe Tonight Show. At the time, she spoke of her primaryTonight Show life as having been "Johnny Carson's daughter", a reference to his longtime mentoring of her.[citation needed]
During the 1980s and 1990s, Rivers served on the advisory board of theNational Student Film Institute.[50][51] A friend ofNancy Reagan, Rivers attended astate dinner in 1983, and later performed at a luncheon at the1984 Republican National Convention.[52] In 1984, Rivers published a best-selling humor book,The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz, a mock memoir of her brassy, loose comedy character, which was mostly jokes about promiscuity – of a type that would have been considered unacceptable even inburlesque a generation earlier. A television special based on the character, a mock tribute calledJoan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abramowitz: Tramp of the Century, later aired onShowtime.[53] She later wrote her next book,Enter Talking, which was released in 1986, and described her rise to stardom and the evolution of her comedic persona.[54]
Rivers in 1987
In 1986, the move came that ended Rivers's longtime friendship with Johnny Carson. The soon-to-launchFox Television Network announced that it was giving her a late night talk show,The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, making Rivers the first woman to have her own late-night talk show on a major network.[55][56] The new network planned to broadcast the show 11 p.m. to midnightEastern Time, making her a Carson competitor. Carson learned of the show from Fox and not from Rivers. In the documentaryJohnny Carson: King of Late Night, Rivers said that she only called Carson to discuss the matter after learning that he may have already heard about it and that he immediately hung up on her. "And he never spoke to me again. He took it as a complete betrayal," said Joan. In the same interview, she said that she later came to believe that maybe she should have asked for his blessing before taking the job. Rivers was banned from ever appearing onThe Tonight Show for the rest of Carson's tenure and the entire runs of Carson's first two successorsJay Leno andConan O'Brien out of respect for Carson. Rivers did not appear onThe Tonight Show again until February 17, 2014, at the age of 80, when she made a brief appearance on new hostJimmy Fallon's first episode.[57] On March 27, 2014, Rivers returned to the show for an interview.
The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers premiered on October 9, 1986, but Rivers's tenure was short-lived. When Rivers challenged Fox executives, who wanted to fire her husbandEdgar Rosenberg as the show's producer, the network fired them both on May 15, 1987.
On August 14, 1987, Rosenberg committed suicide in Philadelphia; Rivers blamed the tragedy on his "humiliation" by Fox. Shortly after Rosenberg's suicide the magazineGQ published what was purported to be an interview with Rivers, written by "Bert Hacker". The piece quoted Rivers saying terrible things about her dead spouse. One quote was "Listen, when I think of the way he makes me crazy, I really wonder if they didn't execute the wrongRosenbergs." In fact, Bert Hacker was a pseudonym used by former Nixon speechwriter and sometime comicBen Stein, who had never met Rivers and simply made up the entire account. Rivers sued Stein forlibel and won an undisclosed amount which was distributed to charities she designated.[58][59] Rivers credited Nancy Reagan with helping her after her husband's suicide.[60]
During the airing of her late-night show, Rivers made the voice-over role of Dot Matrix in the science-fiction comedySpaceballs (1987), a parody based (mainly) onStar Wars. The film, directed by and co-starringMel Brooks, was a critical and commercial success, later becoming a "cult classic".[61] After the Fox controversy, her career went into hiatus. Rivers subsequently appeared on various television shows, including thePee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special in December 1989. She also appeared as one of the center square occupants on the 1986–89 version ofTheHollywood Squares, hosted byJohn Davidson. On September 5, 1989,The Joan Rivers Show, her daytime television program, premiered inbroadcast syndication. The show, which ran for five seasons, was a success and earned Rivers theDaytime Emmy in 1990 for Outstanding Talk Show Host.[62]Entertainment Weekly, in a September 1990 article, asserted: "The Joan Rivers Show is a better showcase for her funny edginess than her doomed 1988 Fox nighttime program was. The best thing about her daytime talker is that Rivers'stream-of-consciousness chattiness is allowed to guide the show — you never know where the conversation is going to go."[63]
In addition to winning the Emmy forThe Joan Rivers Show, Rivers starred in the made-for-television comedyHow to Murder a Millionaire, which premiered in May 1990 onCBS. In the film, co-starringAlex Rocco andTelma Hopkins, she took on the role of aBeverly Hills matron possessed with the idea her husband is trying to kill her.[64] Also in 1990, she started to design jewelry, clothing and beauty products for the shopping channelQVC. On this professional endeavor, Rivers said: "In those days, only dead celebrities went on [QVC]. My career was over. I had bills to pay. ... It also intrigued me at the beginning".[65] The sales of Rivers's products exceeded $1 billion by 2014, making her one of the network's top sellers.[66] In 1991, she wrote her next book,Still Talking, which described the cancellation of her late-night show and her husband's suicide.[67] Until 1993, she received five additional Emmy nominations for her daytime talk-showThe Joan Rivers Show — two for Outstanding Writing – Special Class and three for Outstanding Talk Show Host.[citation needed]
In 1994, Rivers and daughterMelissa first hosted theE! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for theGolden Globe Awards[68] and, beginning in 1995, E!'s annualAcademy Awards pre-awards show as well.[68] Rivers and her daughter quickly became credited for revolutionizing thered carpet as a space to showcase designers' work and celebrity interactions. "Joan and Melissa were the first people who came out and made it more of a true conversation between star and reporter", E!'s Senior Vice President of production, Gary Snegaroff, remarked toVanity Fair. "They asked about what [actresses] were wearing because that's what the magazines would cover after the fact, and turned it into a candid conversation on the carpet where anything could happen".[69] Rivers and Melissa, at the time, both portrayed themselves in the made-for-television dramaTears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story, which chronicled the aftermath of Rosenberg's suicide. It aired onNBC on May 15, 1994.[70] The next year, she wrote her bookJewelry by Joan Rivers.[71]
Influenced by the stand-up comedy ofLenny Bruce, Rivers co-wrote and starred in a play about Bruce's motherSally Marr, who was also a comic and influenced her son's development as a comic. After 27 previews,Sally Marr ... and Her Escorts, a play "suggested by the life of Sally Marr" ran on Broadway for 50 performances in May and June 1994.[72] The production received mixed reviews, but her performance was applauded by critics.TheChicago Sun Times found Rivers to be "compelling" as an actress[73] whileThe New York Times wrote: "... [S]he is exuberant, fearless and inexhaustible. If you admire performers for taking risks, then you can't help but applaud her efforts".[74] Rivers was nominated for aDrama Desk Award as Outstanding Actress in a Play and aTony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Marr.[75] Beginning in March 1997, Rivers hosted her own radio show onWOR in New York City for several years,[76] and wrote three self-help books:Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything ... and I Mean Everything ... and You Can Too! in 1997,[77]From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage in 1998,[78] andDon't Count the Candles: Just Keep the Fire Lit!, in 1999.[79]
Rivers poses for a photograph atThe Pierre hotel in New York City in 2001
Rivers was a guest speaker at the opening of the American Operating Room Nurses' San Francisco Conference in 2000, and by the first part of the decade, she continued to host the awards' red carpet for theE! channel. Between 2002 and 2004, she embarked on tour with her one-person comedy showJoan Rivers: Broke and Alone, which was presented in the United Kingdom (Edinburgh and London) and in the United States (Los Angeles, andBoston), to generally positive reviews.[80]The Telegraph felt that her "hilarious assaults on fellow celebrities and tirades about the perils of ageing and plastic surgery are well worth the expense",[81] whileThe Guardian remarked that "Rivers returned triumphant, a victorious heavyweight after a great fight, conscious that she is still the champion".[82]
Throughout the decade, Rivers often appeared in various television game shows, including8 Out of 10 Cats,Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, andCelebrity Family Feud, in which she competed with her daughter againstIce-T andCoco. In 2009, Rivers and daughter Melissa were contestants on season eight ofCelebrity Apprentice. During the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice; Rivers selected God's Love We Deliver.[93] After afalling out with poker playerAnnie Duke, following Melissa's on-air firing (elimination) by Donald Trump, Rivers left thegreen room tellingClint Black andJesse James that she would not be in the next morning. Rivers later returned to the show and on May 3, 2009, she became a finalist in the series. The other finalist was Duke.[94][95] On the season finale, which aired live on May 10, Rivers was announced the winner and hired to be the 2009 Celebrity Apprentice.
Also in 2009, Rivers was a special "pink-carpet" presenter for the broadcast of theSydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, wasroasted in aComedy Central special, and her reality show,How'd You Get So Rich?, premiered onTV Land. The program, which ran for two seasons, followed Rivers traveling around the United States interviewing self-made millionaires.[96] She also wrote two books in 2009:Murder at the Academy Awards (R): A Red Carpet Murder Mystery andMen Are Stupid ... And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery (with Valerie Frankel).
A documentary film about Rivers,Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, premiered at theSundance Film Festival on January 25, 2010.[97]The film follows Rivers for 14 months, mostly during the 76th year of her life,[98] and made an effort to "[peel] away the mask" and expose the "struggles, sacrifices and joy of living life as a ground breaking female performer".[99] The film was released in alimited release on June 11, 2010, and was acclaimed by critics for providing "an honest, behind-the-scenes look at [Rivers]' career — and at show business in general".[100] Beginning on September 10, 2010, Rivers co-hosted theE! showFashion Police, along withGiuliana Rancic,Kelly Osbourne, andGeorge Kotsiopoulos, commenting on celebrity fashion. The show started as a half-hour program but due to its success with viewers, it was expanded to one hour on March 9, 2012. The August 26, 2014 episode ofFashion Police, about the66th Primetime Emmy Awards and the 2014MTV Movie Awards, was her last television appearance before her death.[101]
In 2011, Rivers appeared in a commercial forGo Daddy, which debuted during the broadcast ofSuper Bowl XLV,[102][103]and was featured as herself in the season two episode ofLouis C.K.'s self-titled showLouie entitled "Joan", where she performed on stage and gave C.K. comedy advice.The A.V. Club'sNathan Rabin described the episode as a "funny and deeply moving exploration of the existential dilemma of the stand-up comic and a valentine to the artform." Also in 2011, Rivers and her daughter starred in the reality showJoan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, which premiered onWe TV. The series follows her moving in with her daughter to California to be closer to her family. The show ran for four seasons until 2014. On the December 4, 2011 episode ofThe Simpsons, "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution", Rivers took on the role of Annie Dubinsky, an agent trying to reviveKrusty's career.[104] Hayden Childs ofThe A.V. Club praised the choice of having Rivers guest star since she was able to "employ her trademark humor within the world ofThe Simpsons without hijacking the plot or satire".[105] In 2012, she guest-starred in two episodes of two series:Drop Dead Diva andHot in Cleveland.
Rivers released her 11th bookI Hate Everyone...Starting with Me on June 5, 2012. It received generally positive reviews and madeThe New York Times Best Seller list for several weeks.The New York Times remarked that there were "more punch lines per paragraph than any book I've read in years",[106] andPublishers Weekly felt that "Rivers is equally passionate and opinionated on every subject she discusses. Hilarious and undeniably original".[107] On August 7, 2012, Rivers showed up inBurbank, California to protest that the warehouse clubCostco would not sell the book. She handcuffed herself to a shopping cart and shouted through a megaphone. The police were called to the scene and she left without incident; no arrests were made.[108] On March 5, 2013, she launched the online talk showIn Bed with Joan on YouTube. In it, Rivers invited a different guest to talk to her in bed about different things including their past, their love life and their career.
Rivers released her 12th book,Diary of a Mad Diva, on July 1, 2014, which also madeThe New York Times Best Seller list.[109] For the book, she posthumously won theGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015. Before her death, she filmed a part, along with other female comedians, for the documentaryMakers: Women in Comedy, which premiered on PBS in October 2014.[110]
He was an epiphany. Lenny told the truth. It was a total affirmation for me that I was on the right track long before anyone said it to me. He supplied the revelation that personal truth can be the foundation of comedy, that outrageousness can be cleansing and healthy. It went off inside me like an enormous flash.
—Rivers on seeingLenny Bruce perform at a local club while she was in college, which influenced her developing style[111]
During her 55-year career as a comedian, her tough-talking style of satirical humor was both praised and criticized as truthful, yet too personal, too gossipy, and very often abrasive. Nonetheless, with her ability to "tell it like it is", she became a pioneer of contemporary stand-up comedy. Commenting about her style, she told biographerGerald Nachman, "Maybe I started it. We're a very gossipy culture. All we want to know now is private lives."[112] However, her style of humor, which often relied on making jokes about her own life andsatirizing the lives of celebrities and public figures, was sometimes criticized as insensitive. Her jokes aboutElizabeth Taylor andAdele's weight, for instance, were often commented on, although Rivers would never apologize for her humor.[113][114]
Rivers, who was Jewish, was also criticized for making jokes aboutthe Holocaust and later explained: "This is the way I remind people about the Holocaust. I do it through humor", adding, "my husband lost his entire family in the Holocaust."[115] Her joke about the victims of theAriel Castro kidnappings similarly came under criticism, but she again refused to apologize,[116] stating, "I know what those girls went through. It was a little stupid joke."[117] She received multiple death threats throughout her career.[118] Rivers accepted such criticism as the price of using social satire as a form of humor: "I've learned to have absolutely no regrets about any jokes I've ever done ... You can tune me out, you can click me off, it's OK. I am not going to bow topolitical correctness. But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party."[119]
As an unknown stand-up comedian out of college, she struggled for many years before finding her comic style. She did stints in theCatskills and found that she disliked the older style of comedy at the time, such asPhyllis Diller's, who she nevertheless felt was a pioneer female comedian.[120] Her breakthrough came atThe Second City in Chicago in 1961, where she was dubbed "the best girl sinceElaine May", who also got her start there. But May became her and fellow comedianTreva Silverman's role model, as Rivers saw her as "an assertive woman with a marvelous, fast mind and, at the same time, pretty and feminine".[120] It was also there that she learned "self reliance", she said, "that I didn't have to talk down in my humor" and could still earn an income by making intelligent people laugh. "I was really born as a comedian at Second City. I owe it my career."[121]
In early 1965, at the suggestion of comedianBill Cosby, Johnny Carson gave Rivers, whom he billed as a comedy writer, her debut appearance on his show.[122][123] Cosby, who knew Rivers from their early stand-up days, described her as "an intelligent girl without being a weirdo...a human being, not a kook."[124] Sitting alongside Johnny after her monologue, she displayed an intimate, conversational style which he appreciated, and she was invited back eight more times that year.[122]Time magazine compared her humor to that ofWoody Allen, by expressing "how to be neurotic about practically everything", but noting that "her style and femininity make her something special." Rivers also compared herself to Allen, stating: "He was a writer, which I basically was...and talking about things that affected our generation that nobody else talked about."[124]The New York Times criticCharles L. Mee likewise compared her to Allen, explaining that her "style was personal, an autobiographicalstream-of-consciousness".[122]
According to biographerVictoria Price, Rivers's humor was notable for taking aim at and overturning what had been considered acceptable female behavior. She broke through long-standing taboos in humor, which paved the way for other women, includingRoseanne Barr,Ellen DeGeneres andRosie O'Donnell.[125] Rivers became closely associated with hercatchphrase: "Can we talk?".[126]
Rivers was one of only four Americans invited to theWedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005.[127] Rivers was licensed to carry a gun in New York City. She was threatened with the loss of the license after an altercation with a car rental clerk in 2002.[128] She was a registeredRepublican.[129]
Rivers's first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of aBond Clothing Stores merchandise manager.[10][130] The marriage lasted six months[10][131] and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.[132]
Rivers marriedEdgar Rosenberg on July 15, 1965.[133] Their only child,Melissa Rivers, was born on January 20, 1968. Joan Rivers had one grandson, Cooper, born Edgar Cooper Endicott in 2000.[134] Along with his mother and grandmother, Cooper was featured in theWe TV seriesJoan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?[135] Rivers was married to Rosenberg until his suicide in 1987, four days after she asked him for a separation.[136][137]
In her bookBouncing Back, Rivers described how she developedbulimia nervosa after Rosenberg's 1987 suicide, and the subsequent death of herpsychologist, with whom she had developed a close friendship, of an AIDS related illness.[22] Additionally, Rivers's relationship with her daughter had been strained at the time, as Melissa blamed her for her father's death. According to Rivers, the confluence of events resulted in her contemplating suicide in her California home.[22] "I got the gun out, the whole thing," she recalled in a 2008 interview. "And [then] my dog came and sat in my lap...and that was a big turning point in my life. My little, stupid dog, aYorkie, who I adored, literally came and sat on my lap. ...and literally, he saved my life. Truly saved my life."[22] Rivers eventually recovered with counseling and the support of her family.[143]
In a 2002, ITVbiography, Rivers reveals that she is the great niece (on her mother's side) of singerHappy Fanny Fields. She says that, "(Fanny) was the star of the family; she came over to the United States and married very, very rich and became very grand. But, she was the one personNoël Coward wanted to meet when he hit the United States."[144]
Rivers was open about her multiple cosmetic surgeries and had been a patient of plastic surgeonSteven Hoefflin since 1983. She had her nose thinned while still at college; her next procedure, aneye lift, was performed in 1965 (when she was in her 30s) as an attempt to further her career.[152][153] When promoting her book,Men Are Stupid...And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery, described byThe New York Times Magazine as "a detailed and mostly serious guide to eye lifts, tummy tucks and other forms ofplastic surgery", she quipped: "I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body toTupperware."[154][155]
After nearly two months of investigations, federal officials said on November 10 that the clinic made a number of mistakes both before and during the procedure. Among those were the clinic's failure to respond to Rivers's deterioratingvital signs, including a severe drop in herblood pressure, possibly administering an incorrectanesthetic dosage, performing a surgical procedure without her consent, and other medical-clinic irregularities.[168][169]
On January 26, 2015, Melissa Rivers filed amalpracticelawsuit against the clinic and the doctors who performed surgery on her mother.[170] The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount in May 2016, with the doctors accepting responsibility for Rivers's death.[171][172]
Upon Rivers's death, friends, fans, family and celebrities paid tribute.[173][174] Numerous comedians recognized Rivers's influence on their career, includingKathy Griffin, who considered Rivers her "mentor", noting, "She brought a fearlessness and a brand of humor into our homes that we really need."[175]Chris Rock said "she was the hippest comedian from the time she started to the day she died". Describing her as a force in comedy, he added, "No man ever said, 'Yeah, I want to go on after Joan.' No, Joan Rivers closed the show every night."[176] Other comedians recalled working with her on stage and television decades earlier: stand-up performerDon Rickles said "working with her and enjoying the fun times of life with her was special".Carol Burnett called Rivers "the poster child for theEnergizer Bunny".[177]
Radio hostHoward Stern, who delivered the eulogy at her funeral, devoted an entire one-hour show to Rivers.[180] Stern sought help from comedianLouis C.K., another friend of Rivers', before giving the eulogy.[181] When Stern spoke at the funeral, he began the eulogy with, "Joan Rivers had a dry vagina", a joke that was intended, and reportedly received by guests, as a humorous honoring of Rivers's comedic sensibility.[182][183]Sarah Silverman paid tribute to Rivers while hostingSaturday Night Live; in one sketch, she portrayed Rivers in Heaven.[184] Long-time friend, comedian, fellow talk show hostess and television personalityWhoopi Goldberg tweeted: "My friend Joan Rivers has passed away". She said: "Once again to quoteBilly Crystal... There are no words."[185] Comedian Louis C.K. released a statement saying, "I looked up to her. I learned from her. I loved her. I liked her. And I already miss her very much. It really fucking sucks that she had to die all of a sudden."[186]Amy Schumer, speaking at the 2014Glamour magazine "Woman of the Year Awards" ceremony inCarnegie Hall, paid tribute to Rivers, calling her the bravest female comedian.[187]
Political figures giving tribute to Rivers included former First LadyNancy Reagan, who said she was one of the "funniest people I ever knew".[188] Upon hearing of her death,Charles, Prince of Wales and his wifeCamilla said she was "utterly irreplaceable".[127] Israel's Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu noted that besides bringing laughter to millions of people around the world, she was "proud of her Jewish heritage".[189]Donald Trump attended her funeral andtweeted that she "was an amazing woman and a great friend".[190] After her mother's death, Melissa Rivers said she received a letter from PresidentBarack Obama in which he wrote, despite being a frequent target of Rivers's jokes: "not only did she make us laugh, she made us think".[191]
In a subsequent interview withThe Huffington Post, Melissa Rivers citedCourtney Love's public tribute to her mother as her favorite, adding: "I loved seeing that outpouring from these women, especially the ones who took the heat onFashion Police, because it meant they got it. It meant they loved her. It meant they saw the humor."[192]
On March 1, 2013, Rivers and her daughter,Melissa Rivers, were honored by theRide of Fame and a double decker tour bus was dedicated to them in New York City.[210]
Leslie Bennetts (2016).Last Girl Before Freeway: The Life, Loves, Losses, and Liberation of Joan Rivers. Little, Brown and Company.ISBN978-0-316-26130-2. (biography)
Melissa Rivers, Scott Currie (2017).Joan Rivers Confidential: The Unseen Scrapbooks, Joke Cards, Personal Files, and Photos of a Very Funny Woman Who Kept Everything. Harry N. Abrams.ISBN978-1-4197-2673-6. (photography)
^abcdNussbaum, Emily (February 16, 2015)."How Joan Rivers Got That Way".The New Yorker. RetrievedAugust 17, 2023.In the early fifties, when Rivers was a chubby freshman at Connecticut College, that mating ground for Wasps (she later transferred to artsy Barnard), a blind date picked her up at her dorm. When she came downstairs, her date turned to his friend and said, in disgust, "Why didn't you tell me?" Such rejections seared into Rivers a lifelong identity as a "meeskite"—an ugly girl—even after she slimmed down, bobbed her nose and became, in society's terms, attractive. Later, in 1973, she turned the anecdote into a TV movie, "The Girl Most Likely . . . ," in which a former fat girl murders the men who rejected her.
^Bennetts, Leslie (November 15, 2016).Last Girl Before Freeway: The Life, Loves, Losses and Liberation of Joan Rivers. Little, Brown. p. 19.ISBN978-0-316-26129-6.
^Sochen, June (1998). "From Sophie Tucker to Barbra Streisand: Jewish Women Entertainers as Reformers". Talking Back: Images of Jewish Women in American Popular Culture. Ed. Joyce Antler. Brandeis series in American Jewish history, culture and life. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press Published by University Press of New England. pp. 68–84.
^Rivers, Joan; Neuwirth, Allan (October 3, 2007)."Joan Rivers Interview Part 1 of 3".youtube. New York, NY: TelevisionAcademy FoundationINTERVIEWS. RetrievedAugust 17, 2023.TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews
^Rivers, Joan; Neuwirth, Allan (October 3, 2007)."Joan Rivers Interview Part 2 of 3".youtube. New York, NY: TelevisionAcademy FoundationINTERVIEWS. RetrievedAugust 17, 2023.TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews
^Kurtz, Judy (September 4, 2014)."Gillibrand, Nancy Reagan mourn Joan Rivers' death".The Hill. RetrievedOctober 19, 2014.Rivers credited the former president's wife with helping her after the 1987 suicide of her husband, Edgar Rosenberg. The comedy queen recalled the conversation with Reagan in a 2010 interview, "I said, 'I can't get Edgar's body out of Philadelphia.' She said, 'Let me see what I can do.' The next day, his body came back to L.A. You don't ever forget that, especially when the chips are down."
^Rivers, Joan (1991). "Joan Rivers Interview".The Joan Rivers Show (Interview). Interviewed byDick Cavett.
^Marjorie Rosen (June 21, 1993)."The Rivers Run Together".People Magazine.39 (24)."The way I see it," explains Joan, "Melissa blamed me." After all, Joan and Edgar had only recently separated when he killed himself.
^"Joan Rivers onHoward Stern Show".Sirius Radio. June 5, 2012.
.jpg)
