Joan Alexandra Rosenberg (née Molinsky;
June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known by
her stage name Joan Rivers, was an American
actress, comedian, writer, producer, and
television host, best known for her stand-up
comedy, for co-hosting the E! celebrity fashion
show Fashion Police, and for starring in the
reality series Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows
Rivers first came to prominence in 1965 as a
guest on The Tonight Show, a
pioneering late-night program with interviews
and comedy, hosted by Johnny Carson, whom
she acknowledges as her mentor. The show
established her particular comic style, poking
fun at celebrities, but also at herself, often
joking about her extensive plastic surgery.
When she launched a rival program, The Late
Show, he never spoke to her again. She went
on to host a successful daytime slot, The Joan
Rivers Show, which won her a Daytime Emmy
for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Her satirical
style of humor, however, by focusing on the
personal lives of celebrities and public figures,
was sometimes criticized.
During her 55-year career as a comedian, her
tough-talking style of satirical humor was both
praised and criticized as being 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 biographer Gerald
Nachman, “Maybe I started it. We’re a very
gossipy culture. All we want to know now is
private lives.”
On August 28, 2014, Rivers experienced
serious complications and stopped breathing
during a procedure on her vocal cords, at a
clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan. She was taken
to Mount Sinai Hospital and was put into a
medically induced coma after reportedly
suffering cardiac arrest.
On August 29, her daughter, Melissa, publicly
stated that Joan was “resting comfortably” in
the hospital.
On August 30, it was reported that Rivers had
been put on life support.
Reports initially stated that Rivers’ family
might face ending her life support if her
condition did not improve. However, on
September 1, 2014, an unnamed source told
Entertainment Tonight that Rivers’ physicians
at Mount Sinai Hospital had started the
process of trying to bring her out of the coma
on August 31. Prior to that, there had been no
further medical updates beyond her
daughter’s statement.
On September 3, Melissa Rivers issued a brief
statement that Rivers had been moved from
Mount Sinai Hospital’s intensive care unit into
a private room, without any comment
concerning Rivers’s condition or prognosis.
The following day, September 4, 2014, Melissa
announced via another statement that Rivers
had died at the age of 81 at 1:17 p.m.
She will be buried on Sunday September 7th
at the Temple Emanu-El in New York –
RIP.
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