Question: How is Joan Molinsky better known?
Answer: Joan Rivers

Joan Alexandra Molinsky  (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), better known as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host noted for her often controversial comedic persona—where she was alternately self-deprecating or sharply acerbic, especially toward celebrities and politicians.

Rivers came to prominence in 1965 as a guest on The Tonight Show. Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers' comedic style. In 1986, with her own rival program, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, Rivers became the first woman to host a late night network television talk show. She subsequently hosted The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993), winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host.  Having become widely known for her comedic red carpet awards show celebrity interviews,   Rivers co-hosted the E! celebrity fashion show Fashion Police from 2010 to 2014 and starred in reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011–2014) with daughter Melissa Rivers. She was the subject of the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010).

In addition to marketing a line of jewelry and apparel on the QVC shopping channel, Rivers authored 12 best-selling books and released numerous comedy albums.  She was nominated in 1984 for a Grammy Award for her album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?; and was nominated in 1994 for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance of the title role in Sally Marr...and Her Escorts. In 2015, Rivers posthumously received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book, Diary of a Mad Diva. 

In 1968, The New York Times television critic Jack Gould called Rivers "quite possibly the most intuitively funny woman alive".  

Early life

Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York,    the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman; January 6, 1906 – October 1975) and Dr. Meyer C. Molinsky (December 7, 1900 – January 1985), who graduated from Long Island College of Medicine. Her elder sister, Barbara Waxler, died on June 3, 2013 at the age of 82.   Rivers was raised in Prospect Heights  and Crown Heights  in Brooklyn, where she attended the progressive and now-defunct Brooklyn Ethical Culture School and [http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2014/06/17/brooklyn-prep-school-enters-chapter-11-bankruptcy/ Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn] - a college preparatory day school. Her family later moved to Larchmont.

She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952, and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and anthropology; she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.Rivers, Joan (1986). Autobiography: Enter Talking. New York: Delacorte Press, First Printing. Before entering show business, Rivers worked at various jobs such as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center,Autobiography: Bouncing Back (1997), HarperCollins, pp. 74–75. a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency and a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Stores.  During this period, agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name. 

Career

1950s–1960s

During the late 1950s, Rivers appeared in a short-run play, Driftwood, playing a lesbian with a crush on a character played by a then-unknown Barbra Streisand. The play ran for six weeks.  Rivers performed in numerous comedy clubs in the Greenwich Village area of New York City in the early 1960s, including The Bitter End and The Gaslight Cafe,  before making her first appearances as a guest on the TV program The Tonight Show originating from New York, hosted at the time by Jack Paar. 

By 1965, Rivers had a stint on Candid Camera as a gag writer and participant; she was "the bait" to lure people into ridiculous situations for the show. She also made her first appearance on The Tonight Show with new host Johnny Carson, on February 17, 1965.  During the same decade, Rivers made other appearances on The Tonight Show as well as The Ed Sullivan Show, while hosting the first of several talk shows. She wrote material for the puppet Topo Gigio. She had a brief role in The Swimmer (1968), starring Burt Lancaster. A year later, she had a short-lived syndicated daytime talk show, That Show with Joan Rivers; Johnny Carson was her first guest. In the middle of the 1960s, she released at least two comedy albums, The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album  and Rivers Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories. 

1970s

By the 1970s, Rivers was appearing on various television comedy and variety shows, including The Carol Burnett Show and a semi-regular stint on Hollywood Squares. From 1972 to 1976, she narrated The Adventures of Letterman, an animated segment for The Electric Company. In 1973, Rivers wrote the TV movie The Girl Most Likely to..., a black comedy starring Stockard Channing. In 1978, Rivers wrote and directed the film Rabbit Test, starring her friend Billy Crystal. During the same decade, she was the opening act for singers Helen Reddy, Robert Goulet, Mac Davis and Sergio Franchi on the Las Vegas Strip. 

1980s–1990s

Rivers spoke of her primary Tonight Show life as having been "Johnny Carson's daughter", a reference to his longtime mentoring of her and, during the 1980s, establishing her as his regular guest host by August 1983. She also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, on April 9, 1983.  In the same period, she released a best-selling comedy album on Geffen Records, What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? The album reached No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

During the 1980s, she continued doing stand-up shows along with appearing on various television shows. In February 1983, she performed at Carnegie Hall  and the following year, she did stand-up on the United Kingdom's TV show An Audience With Joan Rivers. 

A friend of Nancy and President Ronald Reagan, Rivers attended a state dinner in 1983, and later, at the invitation of Nancy, spoke at luncheon at the 1984 Republican National Convention.

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. A television special based on the character, a mock tribute called Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abramowitz, was not successful with the public.

The decade was controversial for Rivers. She sued female impersonator Frank Marino for $5,000,000 in 1986, after discovering he was using her real stand-up material in the impersonation of her that he included in his popular Las Vegas act. The two comics reconciled and even appeared together on television in later years. 

In 1986 came the move that ended Rivers' longtime friendship with Johnny Carson, who had first hired her as a Tonight Show writer. The soon-to-launch Fox 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. King, Norman (1993). Arsenio Hall. New York: William Morrow & Co., pp. 47–48.

The new network planned to broadcast the show 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. Eastern Time, making her a Carson competitor. Carson learned of the show from Fox and not from Rivers. In the documentary, Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, Rivers said she only called Carson to discuss the matter after learning he may have already heard about it and that he immediately hung up on her. 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 appearing on the Tonight Show, a decision respected by Carson's first two successors Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. After the release of his 2013 biography on Johnny Carson, Carson's attorney Henry Bushkin revealed that he never received a call from Rivers' husband Edgar concerning the move to Fox, contrary to what Edgar had told Rivers.  Rivers did not appear on the Tonight Show again until February 17, 2014, when she made a brief appearance on new host Jimmy Fallon's first episode.  On March 27, 2014, Rivers returned for an interview.

Shortly after Carson's death in 2005, Rivers said that he had never spoken to her again. In 2008, during an interview with Dr. Pamela Connolly on television's Shrink Rap, Rivers claimed she did call Carson, but he hung up on her at once and repeated the gesture when she called again.

The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers turned out to be flecked by tragedy. When Rivers challenged FOX executives, who wanted to fire her husband Edgar Rosenberg as the show's producer, the network fired them both on May 15, 1987. Three months later, on August 14, 1987, Rosenberg committed suicide in Philadelphia; Rivers blamed the tragedy on his "humiliation" by Fox.  Rivers credited Nancy Reagan with helping her after the 1987 suicide of her second husband.  Fox attempted to continue the show with a new name (The Late Show) and rotating guest hosts.

Rivers subsequently appeared on various TV shows, including The David Letterman Show  and Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. By 1989, she tried another daytime TV talk show, The Joan Rivers Show,  which ran for five years and won her a Daytime Emmy in 1990 for Outstanding Talk Show Host.  In 1994, Rivers and daughter Melissa first hosted the E! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for the Golden Globe Awards,Bouncing Back!, p. 207. and beginning in 1995, E!'s annual Academy Awards pre-awards show as well. Beginning in 1997, Rivers hosted her own radio show on WOR in New York City. Rivers also appeared as one of the center square occupants on the 1986–89 version of The Hollywood Squares, hosted by John Davidson.

In 1994, influenced by the stand-up comedy of Lenny Bruce, Rivers co-wrote and starred in a play about Bruce's mother Sally Marr, who was also a stand-up 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.  Rivers was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Actress in a Play and a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Sally Marr. 

2000s–2010s

By 2003, Rivers had left her E! red-carpet show for a three-year contract (valued at $6–8 million) to cover award shows' red carpet events for the TV Guide Channel. 

Rivers appeared in three episodes of the TV show Nip/Tuck during its second, third and sixth seasons, playing herself.    Rivers appeared regularly on television's The Shopping Channel (in Canada) and QVC (in both the United States and the UK), promoting her own line of jewelry under the brand name "The Joan Rivers Collection". She was also a guest speaker at the opening of the American Operating Room Nurses' 2000 San Francisco Conference. Both Joan and Melissa Rivers were frequent guests on Howard Stern's radio show, and Joan Rivers often appeared as a guest on UK panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats.

In 2004, Rivers was part of the formal receiving party when Ronald Reagan was placed in state at the United States Capitol. Rivers was one of only four Americans invited to the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005. 
On August 16, 2007, Rivers began a two-week workshop of her new play, with the working title "The Joan Rivers Theatre Project", at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco.  On December 3, 2007, Rivers performed in the Royal Variety Show 2007 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, England, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip present. 

In January 2008, Rivers became one of 20 hijackers to take control of the Big Brother house in the UK for one day in spin-off TV show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. On June 24, 2008, Rivers appeared on NBC-TV's show Celebrity Family Feud and competed with her daughter against Ice-T and Coco.

Rivers and daughter Melissa were contestants in 2009 on the second Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice; Rivers selected God's Love We Deliver.  After a falling out with poker player Annie Duke, following Melissa's on-air firing (elimination) by Donald Trump, Rivers left the green room telling Clint Black and Jesse 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.   On the season finale, which aired live on May 10, Rivers was announced the winner and hired to be the 2009 Celebrity Apprentice.

Rivers was featured on the show Z Rock as herself; she was also a special "pink-carpet" presenter for the 2009 broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. She was also roasted in a Comedy Central special, taped on July 26, 2009, and aired on August 9, 2009. From August 2009, Rivers began starring in the new reality TV series How'd You Get So Rich? on TV Land. A documentary film about Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival at the Castro Theatre on May 6, 2010.

In 2011, Rivers appeared in a commercial for Go Daddy, which debuted during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV.  She made two appearances on It's Showtime at the Apollo, once as a comedian and once as a guest host.

Joan and her daughter premiered the new show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? on WE tv. The series follows Joan moving to California to be closer to her family. She moves in with daughter Melissa while searching for a home of her own. WE tv then ordered a new season consisting of 10 episodes, which premiered in January 2012. In 2011, Rivers was featured as herself in Season 2 of Louis C.K.'s self-titled show Louie, where she performed on-stage. Beginning September 10, 2010, Rivers co-hosted the E! show Fashion Police, along with Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne, and George Kotsiopoulos commenting on the dos and don'ts of celebrity fashion. The show started as a half-hour program but expanded to one hour on March 9, 2012. On August 7, 2012, Rivers showed up in Burbank, California to protest that the warehouse club Costco would not sell her New York Times best-selling book, I Hate Everyone ... Starting with Me. 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.  On March 5, 2013, she launched a new online talk show on YouTube, called In Bed with Joan.

On August 26, 2014, Rivers hosted a taping of Fashion Police with Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos about the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards and the 2014 MTV Movie Awards. (This was her last television appearance before her death.) 

The day before her throat surgery, Joan released her most recent podcast of In Bed with Joan, with LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian. 

She appeared posthumously with other female comedians in the documentary MAKERS: Women in Comedy, which premiered on PBS in October 2014. 

Comedic style

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 biographer Gerald Nachman, "Maybe I started it. We're a very gossipy culture. All we want to know now is private lives."

However, her style of humor, which often relied on making jokes about her own life and satirizing the lives of celebrities and public figures, was sometimes criticized as insensitive. Her jokes about Elizabeth Taylor and Adele's weight, for instance, were often commented on, although Rivers would never apologize for her humor.   Rivers, who was Jewish, was also criticized for making jokes about the 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."  Her joke about the victims of the Ariel Castro kidnappings similarly came under criticism, but she again refused to apologize,  stating, "I know what those girls went through. It was a little stupid joke." 

Rivers accepted such criticism as part of her 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 to political correctness. But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party." 

Rivers states that seeing Lenny Bruce perform at a local club while she was in college influenced her developing style:

As an unknown stand-up comedian out of college, she struggled for many years before finding her comic style. She did stints in the Catskills and found that she disliked the older style of comedy at the time, such as Phyllis Diller's, whom she felt was a pioneer female comedian.Leonard Jay Greenspoon, ed. Jews and Humor, Purdue University Press (2011) p. 163 Her breakthrough came at The Second City in Chicago in 1961, where she was dubbed "the best girl since Elaine May," who also got her start there. But May became her and fellow comedian Treva 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." 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."

In early 1965, at the suggestion of comedian Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson gave Rivers, whom he billed as a comedy writer, her debut appearance on his show.Zoglin, Richard. Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America, Bloomsbury Publishing (2008) e-book  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." 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.

Time magazine compared her humor to that of Woody 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." The New York Times critic Charles L. Mee likewise compared her to Allen, explaining that her "style was personal, an autobiographical stream-of-consciousness."

Rivers' image contrasted starkly with Carson's stage demeanor, which was one of the reasons he made her co-host according to critic Michael Pollan, who compared their style of humor:

In her personal life, she had fewer of those neurotic or intense character traits, according to Ralph Schoenstein, who dated her and worked with her on her humor books. He said, "She has no airs. She doesn't stand on ceremony. The woman has absolutely no pretense. She'll tell you everything immediately. Joan isn't cool—she's completely open. It's all grist. It's her old thing—'Can we talk?'"

According to biographer Victoria Price, Rivers' humor was notable for taking aim at and overturning what had been considered acceptable female behavior. By her bravura she broke through long-standing taboos in humor, which paved the way for other women, including Roseanne Barr, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell.Price, Victoria, ed. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, vol. 4, St. James Press (2000) pp. 219–220.

Personal life

Rivers was a member of the Reform synagogue Temple Emanu-El in New York and said she "loved Israel." 

Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager.  The marriage lasted six months  and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding. 

Rivers married Edgar Rosenberg on July 15, 1965.Enter Talking epilogue, p. 375. Their only child, Melissa Warburg Rosenberg, who goes by the name Melissa Rivers, was born on January 20, 1968. Joan Rivers had one grandson, Cooper, born Edgar Cooper Endicott in 2000.  Along with his mother and grandmother, Cooper was featured in the WE tv series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?  Rosenberg committed suicide in 1987, shortly after Rivers announced her intention to separate.  Rivers would later describe her marriage to Rosenberg as a "total sham", complaining bitterly about his treatment of her during their 22-year marriage.  In a 2012 interview with Howard Stern, Rivers said she had several extramarital affairs when married to Rosenberg, including a one-night affair with actor Robert Mitchum in the 1960s and an affair with actor Gabriel Dell.

In her book Bouncing Back (1997) Rivers described how she developed bulimia nervosa and contemplated suicide. Eventually she recovered with counseling and the support of her family. 

In 2002, Rivers told the Montreal Mirror that she was a Republican.  On January 28, 2014, during a conversation between Rivers and Reza Farahan of the Shahs of Sunset, Melissa Rivers interjected to clarify that she and her mother were "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" Republicans. 

Rivers was open about her multiple cosmetic surgeries and was a patient of plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin, beginning in 1983. She had her nose thinned while still at college; her next procedure, an eye lift, was performed in 1965 (when she was in her thirties) as an attempt to further her career.   When promoting her book, Men Are Stupid ... And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery,  described by The New York Times Magazine as "a detailed and mostly serious guide to eye lifts,[tummy tucks and other forms of plastic surgery", she quipped: "I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware."  

Philanthropy

As a philanthropist, Rivers supported causes including HIV/AIDS activism, and in May 1985, she appeared along with Nichols and May at a Comic Relief benefit for the new AIDS Medical Foundation in New York City, where tickets at the Shubert Theatre sold for as much as $500.  She supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation[https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/joan-rivers "Joan Rivers Charity Work, Events and Causes"], Look to the Stars and God's Love We Deliver, which delivers meals to HIV/AIDS patients in New York City.   In 2008, she was commended by the City of San Diego, California for her philanthropic work regarding HIV/AIDS, where the HIV/AIDS community called her their "Joan of Arc." 

Additionally, she served as an Honorary Director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.  She also supported Guide Dogs for the Blind, a non-profit organization which provides guide dogs to blind people. She donated to Jewish charities, animal welfare efforts, and suicide prevention causes. Among the other non-profit organizations she helped were Rosie's Theater Kids, Habitat for Humanity, Human Rights Campaign and the Boy Scouts of America. 

Death

On August 28, 2014, Rivers experienced serious complications and stopped breathing while undergoing what was scheduled as a minor throat procedure at an outpatient clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan.   Resuscitated an hour later, Rivers was transferred to the hospital and later put on life support.  She died on September 4 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, having never awoken from a medically induced coma.  The New York City Medical Examiner's Office said she died from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen, and the details of her surgery would be investigated by officials.  Rivers was 81 years old.

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' deteriorating vital signs, including a severe drop in her blood pressure, possibly administering an incorrect anesthetic dosage, performing a surgical procedure without her consent, and other medical-clinic irregularities.  

On September 7, after Rivers' cremation,  a private memorial service took place at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.  The service was attended by an estimated 1,500 people. The guest list included Rivers' many celebrity friends, public figures and the New York City Gay Men's Chorus singing old show tunes. Talk show host Howard Stern, delivering the eulogy, described Rivers as "brassy in public [and] classy in private ... a troublemaker, trail blazer, pioneer for comics everywhere, ... [who] fought the stereotypes that women can't be funny."  Daughter Melissa read a comedic note to her mother as part of her eulogy. 

On January 26, 2015, Melissa Rivers filed a malpractice lawsuit against the clinic and doctors performing surgery on her mother.  The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount in May 2016, with the doctors accepting responsibility.  

Reactions and tributes

Upon Rivers' death, friends, fans, family and celebrities paid tribute.   Numerous comedians recognized Rivers influence on their career, including Kathy Griffin, who considered Rivers her "mentor," noting, "She brought a fearlessness and a brand of humor into our homes that we really need."  Chris Rock felt "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."  Other comedians recalled working with her on stage and television decades earlier: stand-up performer Don Rickles said "working with her and enjoying the fun times of life with her was special." While Carol Burnett calls Rivers "the poster child for the Energizer Bunny." 

Numerous talk show hosts, including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and David Letterman, paid tribute to Rivers, often including video clips of her appearances. Letterman called her a "real pioneer for other women looking for careers in stand-up comedy. And talk about guts."  Conan O'Brien discussed Rivers' legacy with fellow comedian Chris Hardwick on Conan, while Seth Meyers recalled Rivers' appearance on his talk show, saying, "I have not sat next to anyone who told more jokes faster than Joan Rivers did when she was here."[http://www.today.com/popculture/can-we-talk-joan-rivers-gets-all-due-respect-late-1D80128332 "Can we talk? Jimmy Fallon and more late-night hosts pay tribute to Joan Rivers"], Today, September 5, 2014 And on The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart noted her contributions: "There are very few people in my business that you can say are, or were, actually groundbreaking talents. Joan Rivers was one of them." Radio host Howard Stern, who delivered her funeral eulogy, devoted an entire one-hour show to Rivers.  Sarah Silverman paid tribute to Rivers while hosting Saturday Night Live. 

Political figures giving tribute to Rivers included former first lady Nancy Reagan, who had helped Rivers after the death of her husband, Edgar Rosenberg.  As a friend of Prince Charles, and one of only four Americans invited to his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. Upon hearing of her death, they said she was "utterly irreplaceable."  While Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that besides bringing laughter to millions of people around the world, she was "proud of her Jewish heritage."  After her mother's death, Melissa Rivers said she received a letter from President Barack Obama in which he wrote, despite being a frequent target of Rivers' jokes: "not only did she make us laugh, she made us think". 

Comedian Amy Schumer, speaking at the 2014 Glamour magazine "Woman of the Year Awards" ceremony in Carnegie Hall, devoted her talk to paying tribute to Rivers, comparing her to other famous woman comedians by calling her "the bravest of them all."  The speculations that Fashion Police would continue to air, with Rivers' close friend Kathy Griffin as her replacement, were influenced by what many felt Rivers would have wanted. 

Books

* (Self-Help/Humor)
* (Humor)
* (Autobiography)
* (Autobiography)
* (Non-Fiction)
*
* (Self-Help)
* (Self-Help)
* (Fiction)
* (Non-Fiction)
* (Humor)
* (Humor)

Filmography

Films

Television

Theater work

Awards and nominations

Note: Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing – Special Class shared with Toem Perew and Hester Mundis.

Honors

*On July 26, 1989, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard.  
*On March 1, 2013, Rivers and her daughter, Melissa Rivers, were honored by the Ride of Fame and a double decker tour bus was dedicated to them in New York City.

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About Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, better known by her professional name Joan Rivers has an estimated net worth of $150 million. Rivers is an American television personality, comedian, writer, film director, and actress.  As a young adult she studied anthropology at Connecticut College and held down low paying jobs from working as a tour guide instructor and sales consultant for a department store.
Rivers is known for funny and highly controversial humor. From the start her first role was daring, as she played the role of a lesbian lover to Barbara Streisand, in a a short-run play, Driftwood. Later in the 60’s she focused on stand-up comedy. Her first television appearance was on the Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar. Before long, she was hosting the show along with Saturday Night Live and the Ed Sullivan Show. She has since gone on to own and host her own television talk shows.
Rivers has written several books, and acted in several movies and television shows, she is currently starring in her online talk show In Bed with Joan.
Earnings & Financial Data
The below financial data is gathered and compiled by TheRichest analysts team to give you a better understanding of Joan Rivers's net worth by breaking down the most relevant financial events such as yearly salaries, contracts, earn outs, endorsements, stock ownership and much more.
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Joan Alexandra Rosenberg (Molinsky) (1933 - 2014)  - Genealogy
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About Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (born June 8, 1933), better known by her stage name Joan Rivers, is an American television personality, comedian, writer, film director, and actress. She is known for her ribald, depreciative style. Rivers' comic style relies heavily on her ability to poke fun at herself and other Hollywood celebrities. Her long career spanning 5 decades has led to her becoming known as a comedy legend and icon, often being referred to as 'The Queen Of Comedy'.

5 Things You Never Knew About Joan Rivers - ABC News
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5 Things You Never Knew About Joan Rivers
By Lesley Messer
Sep 4, 2014, 3:09 PM ET
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WATCH Joan Rivers, Comedic Legend, Dead at 81
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Joan Rivers was a remarkable comedian, known for her acerbic wit and blunt honesty.
Many saw her stand-up routines or watched her E! TV show, "Fashion Police," but Rivers, who died Sept. 4. at 81, was a complicated, vivacious woman with a storied past. Here are a few things about her that casual fans may not have known.
Joan Rivers Dead at 81
1. Joan Rivers Was Not Her Given Name: The comedian was born Joan Molinsky, but at the behest of her agent, Tony Rivers, she adopted a stage name. On a whim, she chose "Joan Rivers," just because it felt right. "Having a stage name made it easier to perform in those raunchy nightclubs," she told the Evening News newspaper in 1986. "Joan Rivers was like a party dress I put on, so in those early days, she was only the tiniest part of me and Joan Molinsky was still frightened and confused and bewildered in her life."
SLIDESHOW: A Look Back at the Life of Joan Rivers
2. Bill Cosby Was Responsible for Her Big Break: At first, Rivers became famous for being a guest host on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." "The night before I went on Carson, a comic bombed and Bill Cosby -- who was white hot at that moment -- he had seen me in the Village and he said to them, 'You might as well use Joan. She can’t be any worse than the guy you had on last night!'" she told Entertainment Weekly . "I was brought on in the last 10 minutes of the show -- the worst slot. And God bless Johnny Carson, he said right there on the air, 'You’re going to be a big star.'" He was right.
3. She Was Open About Everything, Even Plastic Surgery: "I just hosted the Miss USA Pageant and, let me tell you, beautiful gets you everywhere. The New York Times had an article maybe six months ago: Babies respond to pretty faces. So stop telling everyone it’s OK not to be pretty! If you can fix it, fix it!" she told Entertainment Weekly in 2010. "If it makes you happier. I love to look in the mirror and say, 'For 77, you look good.' That’s all. I don’t care what anyone says. Not bad for 77." However, it wasn't always easy. In a clip from her reality TV series with her daughter, Melissa, Rivers was captured by cameras crying before going into surgery. "Oh God, what a s***** business this is," she said. "You have to look good."
4. She Had a Big Social Circle: The one regret Rivers had about the 2012 documentary made about her, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," was that it included a mean statement she made about fellow comedian Kathy Griffin. "She’s my best friend. I adore Kathy," Rivers told EW . "I wish they had made my love of her stronger." Rivers also talked about a friendship with Barbara Walters and Nancy Reagan.
5. She Was a Huge Animal Lover: After her husband committed suicide in 1987, she too considered ending her life. However, she was saved by her dog, Spike. "I was sitting in this big empty house in Bel Air, with a phone with five extensions which we no longer needed. I had the gun in my lap, and the dog sat on the gun. I lecture on suicide because things turn around," she told the Daily Beast . "I tell people this is a horrible, awful dark moment, but it will change and you must know it’s going to change and you push forward. I look back and think, 'Life is great, life goes on. It changes.'" As she got older, she made sure to set aside money for her pets when she made her will.
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Joan Rivers Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline
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Joan Rivers Biography
Joan Rivers was an American actress, comedian, writer, producer and TV host. This biography of Joan Rivers provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline
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TV Anchors ,  Comedians ,  Stand-up Comedians ,  Actresses ,  Writers
Also Known As
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, Queen of the Barbed One-liners, Pepper January, The Queen Of Comedy, @joan_rivers, Ms. Joan Rivers, Jake and Joan Jim, Rivers, Joan
Famous as
2015 - Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album - Diary Of A Mad Diva
1990 - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host - The Joan Rivers Show
Image Credit http://pagesix.com/2014/05/03/norwegian-cruise-drops-joan-rivers-after-cheeky-kidnapping-joke/
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, better known by her stage name, Joan Rivers, was an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, playwright, screenwriter, film director, columnist, lecturer, radio host, jewelry designer and TV-host. As a young girl she worked at a number of jobs before trying her hand at acting. After appearing in numerous small plays she took up stand-up comedy. She became a known face throughout America after appearing as a guest on 'The Tonight Show' which was hosted by her mentor Johnny Carson. With the new found popularity she went onto make guest appearances in many talk shows and released chart-topping comedy albums. In 1986, she became the first woman to host a late night network television show called 'The Late Show with Joan Rivers'. The show's timings clashed with the timings of Carson's show which embittered her former mentor who never spoke to her again. In the last years of her career, she mostly conducted comedic interviews of celebrities walking on the red carpet at award shows. Throughout her career her comic style remained rather controversial as she'd often use satirical and scathing words to make fun of herself and other celebrities. She also wrote 12 best-selling memoir and humor books
Childhood & Early Life
Joan Rivers was born on June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York to Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice and Meyer C Molinsky. Joan had an elder sister, Barbara Waxler who passed away in 2013.
Joan received her education from Brooklyn Ethical Culture School and the Adelphi Academy. After her family moving to Larchmont, she attended Connecticut College and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a BA in English literature and anthropology.
Before entering show business she worked as a buyer for a chain store, a tour guide at Rockefeller center, proofreader in an advertising agency and as a fashion consultant.
On her agent, Tony Rivers' advise she adopted her stage name - Joan Rivers.
Career
In the 1960s Rivers performed at many comedy clubs in the Greenwich Village. Her big break came when she appeared on âThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carsonâ in 1965. Eventually she got her own talk-show 'That Show with Joan Rivers' in 1969.
In the 1970s, she appeared on comedy show 'The Carol Burnett Show' and the game show 'Hollywood Squares'. She wrote a black comedy movie titled 'The Girl Most Likely to...', directed the film 'Rabbit Test' and performed the opening acts for the singers Helen Reddy, Robert Goulet, Mac Davis and Sergio Franchi at the Las Vegas strip.
By 1983, she had become a regular guest host of 'The Tonight Show' and also hosted the April 9, 1983 episode of 'Saturday Night Live'. Around this time, she also released a comedy album titled 'What becomes a Semi-Legend Most?' The album was a huge hit and attained No. 22 on the US Billboard 200.
In 1986, FOX TV Network announced the launch of 'The Late Show with Joan Rivers'. The show timings clashed with that of Johnny Carsonâs show but Rivers did not tell him anything about the show. Carson never talked to her again.
A new TV talk show 'The Joan Rivers Show' came out in 1989 and ran for five years. It won her the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show in 1990.
In 1994, she co-wrote and starred in the play 'Sally Marr... and Her Escorts' which was about Lenny Bruce's mother, an established stand-up comedian herself. Rivers was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the role.
She made regular appearances on Howard Stern's radio show and The Shopping Channel where she promoted her own line of jewelry, The Joan Rivers Collection.
The 2005 wedding of Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) and Camilla Parker Bowles saw only four Americans in the guest list; Rivers was one of the esteemed ones.
In 2008, she appeared on the show 'Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack' as one of the 20 hijackers. The same year she also appeared on the NBC-show 'Celebrity Feud' with her daughter Melissa.
In 2009, she became the special 'pink-carpet' presenter for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. She was roasted in the Comedy Central Special roast aired on August 9, 2009.
The TV show 'Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best?' premiered on January 25, 2011 on WE TV. It chronicled their lives as they worked on their careers, took care of the family and balanced their social circles. It concluded on May 4, 2014 after four seasons.
Awards & Achievements
Joan Rivers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989.
She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for âThe Joan Rivers Showâ in 1990.
She won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for 'Diary of a Mad Diva' in 2015.
Personal Life & Legacy
Joan Rivers married James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores manager, in 1955. When she found out that he was not interested in having children, she got the marriage annulled in six months.
She married Edgar Rosenberg in 1965 and they had a daughter named Melissa. Edgar committed suicide in 1987 and Rivers later confessed that their 22-year marriage was a 'total sham' and that she had had several extra-marital affairs.
Several times her cheeky and in-your-face humor landed her in trouble. Her jokes on Adele's weight, the Holocaust and Ariel Castro kidnappings received stern and strong criticism, but she refused to apologize as these were jokes and nothing more.
Rivers had several cosmetic surgeries and was a patient of the famous plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin.
Following a minor surgery in August 2014, she had a cardiac arrest and was placed in a medically induced coma. Joan Rivers never woke up from the coma and passed away on September 4, 2014.
Net Worth
At the time of her death, Joan Rivers had an estimated net worth of $150 million.
Trivia
She was a philanthropist who supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The City of San Diego called her their 'Joan of Arc' because of her philanthropic work regarding HIV/AIDS.
She helped several NGOs and generously donated to Jewish charities, animal welfare efforts, and suicide prevention causes
 
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Joan Rivers Biography - life, family, children, name, story, wife, mother, old, born, college - Newsmakers Cumulation
Joan Rivers Biography
Joan Rivers Biography
Comedian, writer, actress, and television show host
Born Joan Alexandra Molinsky, June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of       Meyer C. (a physician) and Beatrice Molinsky; married James Sanger (an       heir to a department store fortune), 1957 (annulled, 1958); married Edgar       Rosenberg (a manager, executive, and producer), 1964 (committed suicide,       August 14, 1987); children: Melissa (from second marriage). Education: Attended Connecticut College for Women; Barnard College, B.A. (English       and anthropology), 1954.
Addresses: Agent —William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Office —c/o QVC, 1200 Wilson Dr. at Studio Park, Westchester, PA 19380. Website —http://www.joanrivers.com.
Career
Worked as fashion coordinator for Bond Clothing Store and as publicist in       New York department store Lord & Taylor, 1950s; actress in Off       Broadway plays; worked as a comedian touring United States, billed as       Pepper January; appeared with Second City improvisational troupe, 1961-62;       wrote for television show Candid Camera ; first appearance on The Tonight Show, NBC, 1965; released album Joan Rivers Presents Mr. Phyllis and Other Funny Stories, Warner Bros., 1965; first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1966; continued to tour as a comedian, 1960s-1970s; had own talk show, That Show Starring Joan Rivers, 1968; made big-screen debut in The Swimmer, 1968; wrote and starred in Broadway play, Fun City, 1972; co-wrote television
Joan Rivers
movie, The Girl Most Likely To ..., ABC, 1973; wrote syndicated column for Chicago Tribune ; wrote and directed feature film Rabbit Test, 1977; co-creator of television series Husbands, Wives, and Lovers, CBS, 1978; worked as substitute host for The Tonight Show, through early 1980s; signed contract to be permanent co-host for Carson       on The Tonight Show, 1983; released album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most, Geffen, 1983; appeared as guest host, Saturday Night Live, NBC; signed to be host of The Late Show, FOX, 1985; center square on Hollywood Squares game show, 1987; had role in Broadway Bound, 1988; had own daytime talk show, The Joan Rivers Show, 1988-93; had talk show Joan Rivers' Gossip! Gossip! Gossip!, USA, 1992-93; sold line of jewelry on QVC home shopping network,       1992—; had talk show Can We Shop?, syndicated, 1994; co-wrote the stage show Sally Marr and Her Escorts, 1994; co-wrote and appeared in Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story, NBC, 1994; hostess of pre-award show programs for E! Entertainment       Television, 1995-2004; made guest appearances on Another World, NBC, 1997; radio talk-show host, WOR, 1997-2002; performed Broke and Alone in London (solo show), West End, London, 2002; guest appearance on Nip/Tuck, F/X, 2004; provided voice for animated film Shrek 2, 2004; host of pre-award show programs for TV Guide Channel, 2004—.
Awards: Georgie Award for best comedian, American Guild of Variety Artists, 1975;       Clio Awards, best performance in a TV commercial, 1976, 1982; Daytime Emmy       Award for best talk show host, for The Joan Rivers Show, 1990; Marymount Manhattan College, honorary doctorate, 1996.
Sidelights
In the early 2000s, Joan Rivers was best known for her work as a red       carpet fashion commentator for the Academy Awards, Emmys, and other major       awards shows. However, she has had a varied career, working on stage,       film, and television. Rivers began her career as a touring comedian before       her big break on The Tonight Show in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she wrote and/or starred in films, plays, and       television movies. By the 1980s, Rivers had a high profile, first as the       permanent guest host of The Tonight Show then as the host of her own, usually short-lived talk shows. Rivers       re-invented herself in the mid-1990s as a fashion commentator who often       appeared with her daughter, Melissa.
Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933, in the borough of       Brooklyn in New York City. She was the daughter of Meyer and Beatrice       Molinsky. Her father was a doctor, while her mother had been born to       wealth in Imperial Russia, but her family had become impoverished during       the Russian Revolution. Rivers was raised in wealth with an older sister,       Barbara, who became an attorney and was seen as better and more       accomplished than her younger sister.
Rivers attended Connecticut College for Women, then Barnard College. As a       student, she appeared in college productions of Othello and An Ideal Husband. Rivers earned her B.A. in English and anthropology from Barnard College       in 1954. She then worked for Lord & Taylor, a New York City-based       department store, as a publicist, as well as a fashion coordinator for       Bond Clothing Stores in the 1950s. Rivers married for the first time to       James Sanger, the heir to the Bond Stores fortune, in 1957. The marriage       was short-lived, and annulled the following year.
When her marriage to Sanger ended, Rivers went home for a time and decided       that she wanted to be an actress. She studied the craft and appeared in       some Off Broadway plays. Rivers soon turned to comedy when she was told       that was where her talents laid. She did not really have the support of       her family, who wanted Rivers to marry. Instead, Rivers supported herself       by becoming a comedian touring the United States under the name Pepper       January.
From 1961 to 1962, Rivers worked with Second City, the well-known       improvisational comedy troupe. After this run, she continued to perform as       a comedian, primarily working in New York City. Her comedy focused on       politics and society. Rivers had one immediate goal: appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, she finally made her debut on       the show in 1965. Carson said he enjoyed her act and stated she would be       successful. This marked Rivers' first big break. She soon appeared       on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular variety show, for the first time.
As Rivers' professional career began to soar, her personal life       also improved. In 1964, she married her second husband, Edgar Rosenberg, a       British producer. Together, they had one child, a daughter named Melissa.       Rosenberg supported his wife's career and helped her hone her       comedy act. He also helped her work through her fears about performing.       Rivers' comedy focus gradually changed as she began talking about       herself instead of others. Drawing on her Jewish, middle-class background,       she made light of herself as an obese child, an adult who liked to shop,       and a wife who could not cook.
In 1968, Rivers had her first shot at a talk show, the short-lived That Show Starring Joan Rivers. She also tried to break into films, with a small role in The Swimmer. Most of her success still came as a touring comedian, including stints in       Las Vegas throughout the 1970s. Rivers also appeared on a number of       television variety shows, as well as The Tonight Show on a regular basis.
In the 1970s, Rivers' career expanded beyond comedy and television       as she moved into other genres. In 1972, she wrote and starred in her own       Broadway play, Fun City. The following year, she co-wrote a television movie that aired on ABC, The Girl Most Likely To. During this same time period, she was writing a nationally syndicated       column for the Chicago Tribune. In 1977, Rivers wrote and directed her first feature film, Rabbit Test. Starring comedian Billy Crystal, the film focuses on the first man to       become pregnant and give birth. The film was panned by critics.
After the failure of Husband, Wives, and Lovers, a 1978 television situation comedy that Rivers cocreated, she continued       working on screenplay and television script ideas through the early 1980s.       However, Rivers primarily focused on developing her own comic material and       performing live. By this time, her comedy made fun of celebrities and       other         people, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Elizabeth II, and First Lady       Nancy Reagan. Rivers also focused on her own appearance, promoting plastic       surgery, and the promiscuity of a made-up best friend. Of her take on       comedy, she told Gerald Clarke of Time, "Comedy should always be on that very fine line of going too far.       It should always be on the brink of disaster. Otherwise, it's pap       and who cares? It's boring. Then you become the grand old lady       ."
Rivers' frequent appearances on The Tonight Show led to her being a frequent substitute host for Carson. In 1983, she       signed a contract making her the permanent substitute for Carson,       essentially his co-host. Rivers hosted The Tonight Show on a weekly basis as Carson often went on vacation and worked many       shortened weeks by this time period. Though sometimes       controversial—especially among those she skewered with her       comedy—she did well in the ratings. She sometimes drew better       ratings than Carson himself. However, Rivers soon feuded with NBC over The Tonight Show because she allegedly was not being considered to replace Carson when he       retired.
The situation with The Tonight Show soon worsened. In 1985, Rivers signed with the new FOX network to host       her own talk show, The Late Show. The move was considered a stab in the back to Carson, who had helped her       career in so many ways, because she worked on the deal without telling him       about it. After she signed the three-year, $15 million deal, Carson and       Rivers became rivals. The Late Show premiered in the fall of 1986, and only had low ratings and mostly       negative reviews. Rivers was fired in the spring of 1987, and replaced by       guest hosts.
One potential reason for the failure of The Late Show was tension between FOX and Rivers. The network wanted her to be more       pleasant to guests and not the hard interviewer she had been on The Tonight Show. She also believed that she could not get great guests to appear.       Rivers' husband acted as the show's executive producer and       ran it behind the scenes. Rosenberg and FOX had major disagreements about The Late Show, and the network fired Rivers primarily because of him. It was believed       that FOX would have kept her if she would have gotten rid of him.
The failure of The Late Show weighed heavily on Rosenberg. Soon after its end, he killed himself in a       hotel room in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, the show's       demise was probably not the only reason for his suicide. He had suffered       two heart attacks and heart failure in 1984, and had to have bypass       surgery. He and Rivers had also separated. After his death, the general       perception by the public was that Rivers did not particularly care about       her husband's suicide. This happened despite the fact that she had       called him her strength and stability in print three years earlier and       considered suicide herself for a time after his passing.
As Rivers pulled her life back together, she found she was no longer in       demand as she had been. For a time, she was not booked in the same clubs       as before because of her show's failure and husband's death.       To continue to earn a leaving, she served as the center square on the game       show Hollywood Squares for a time in 1987. Rivers also moved back to New York City, where she       returned to the stage. She appeared as Kate in Broadway Bound, a critical and box office success.
Television still had its allure for Rivers, and she soon had new talk       shows. Beginning in 1988, she had a gossipy syndicated daytime talk show, The Joan Rivers Show, which lasted for several years. On this show, she was open about       herself—her surgeries, her husband's death, her relationship       with her daughter—and tried to get her guests to be as honest about       themselves. Rivers told Joanne Kaufman of People, "If I had seen myself as this real failure, I wouldn't have       done this. But this was a case of getting back on the horse. I know I can       do a talk show as well as some and better than others. And don't       dare anyone tell me I cannot do something. I had to prove to myself I       could." Rivers won a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on the show.
While The Joan Rivers Show was still on the air, Rivers began doing another show as well. In 1992,       she did Joan Rivers' Gossip! Gossip! Gossip! for the USA network. Both shows were canceled in 1993. By this time,       Rivers had another source of income. Since 1992, she had been selling her       own line of jewelry on QVC. She later added other products to her line,       including clothing. By early 1994, she had sold $60 million in jewelry and       fashion. Rivers owned her own company to create these products called Joan       Rivers Worldwide, of which she served as chief executive officer and       president.
Rivers also continued to write and act in television and on stage. In       1994, she co-wrote a stage show with Lonny Price and Erin Sanders called Sally Marr and Her Escorts. It was loosely based on the life of comic Lenny Bruce's mother.       When the show made it to Broadway, Rivers played the title role. That same       year, Rivers and her daughter co-wrote the         autobiographical television movie, Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story, for NBC. The pair also starred in the movie, which focused on their       relationship and Rivers' professional career after the death of her       husband. Tears and Laughter did well in the ratings.
In 1995, Rivers started a new line of work, providing commentary on what       celebrities wore to awards shows and related pre-awards shows with her       daughter. The pair had a contract with E! Entertainment Television to do       this commentary before the Emmys, Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and other       events. Rivers and her daughter also interviewed attendees about all       aspects of their lives when they walked on the red carpet. After several       years, they also added a special after the Academy Awards to talk about       who wore what to the ceremony.
While continuing her commentary shows, Rivers also began a new job. In       1997, she began hosting a syndicated talk show on WOR, a New York       City-based radio station. It was eventually syndicated to about 50 other       radio stations. On the show, Rivers interviewed guests, talked about the       news, discussed both sides of a current issue, and did some comedy. The       show ended its run in 2002.
Rivers continued to work as an actress on occasion. In 1997, she had a       role for a few episodes on the soap opera Another World. In 2002, Rivers performed a solo show in England, Broke and Alone in London. Two years later, she had a guest appearance on the F/X show Nip/Tuck and provided a voice in the animated feature Shrek 2.
In 2004, Rivers and her daughter ended their relationship with E! and       joined the TV Guide Channel for the same kind of commentary shows in June of that year.       Rivers' three-year deal was worth $8 million. In addition to doing       the award show programming, Rivers and her daughter also planned to do       holiday specials and other shows for the TV Guide Channel. Of Rivers' importance to awards shows, Rose Apodaca Jones       told Clarissa Cruz of Entertainment Weekly, "The red carpet is what it is because of Joan."
Selected discography

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JOAN RIVERS aka joan alexandra molinsky rosenberg
"Style is like Herpes;you either have it or you do not" ~Joan Rivers.Style? She had it! Controversial ? Yes but strong,smart,accomplished,philanthropic,funny,supported America and Israel,looked fabulous.We prayed that Joan would recover after a cardiac and respiratory arrest on 8/28/2014...But Joan went home to be with the Lord on 9/4/2014. God Bless you Joan for all you have given and all that you are...You will be missed so very much... I feel I have lost my dearest friend...RIP.
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Joan Rivers - Biography - IMDb
Joan Rivers
Biography
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Jump to: Overview  (5) | Mini Bio  (1) | Spouse  (2) | Trade Mark  (8) | Trivia  (81) | Personal Quotes  (54) | Salary  (1)
Overview (5)
The Queen of the Barbed One-liners
Height
5' 2" (1.57 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Joan Rivers was born on June 8, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA as Joan Alexandra Molinsky. She was a writer and actress, known for Fashion Police (2002), The Joan Rivers Show (1989) and The Joan Rivers Show (1968). She was married to Edgar Rosenberg and James Sanger. She died on September 4, 2014 in East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City.
Spouse (2)
( 15 July  1965            - 14 August  1987) (his death) (1 child)
James Sanger
(1955            -  1955) (annulled)
Trade Mark (8)
Had had a lot of plastic surgery, had never denied it, and as a matter of fact, made lots of jokes about her own (and other people's) plastic surgery.
Loud, raspy voice with New York accent.
Said "Can we talk?" frequently in both her acting roles and stand-up routines.
"What a tramp!" or "Such a tramp!"
Had made fun towards each other
Her self-deprecating persona
Attended Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.
Attended Connecticut College for Women in New London, Conneticut.
Received her Bachelor's degree in English literature and anthropology from Barnard College in New York City (1954).
After graduating from college and before getting into show business, she was briefly a shoe buyer for Lord & Taylor, a department store in New York City.
Collected Faberge eggs.
Said the most difficult celebrity she ever interviewed was Tommy Lee Jones , whom she thought was rude.
Was the national spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Hosted a daily talk show on WOR-AM radio in New York City from 1997 until 2002, syndicated to about 50 stations.
About 1982, she was appointed the first permanent guest hostess on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). She infuriated Johnny Carson when she left to host her own show, The Late Show (1986) on rival Fox network. Johnny Carson never spoke to her again.
She won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1990 for best talk show host and was nominated for a Tony Award for the play "Donna Marr and Her Escorts" in 1994. She was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1985.
Was one of the final guests to appear on The Wayne Brady Show (2002).
Was nominated for Broadway's 1994 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for portraying the title character, Sally Marr , in "Sally Marr... and Her Escorts".
Was a vegetarian.
Started performing as a stand-up comedienne using the stage name Pepper January.
She was a Phi Beta Kappa Sorority key holder from Barnard College, where she studied anthropology.
She had her first cosmetic surgery procedure (an eye-lift) in 1965 at age 32.
She had her nose thinned in 1983.
The majority of her plastic surgery was performed by Santa Monica surgeon Steven Hoefflin (who also performed plastic surgery on Michael Jackson 's nose). She also received Botox and collagen injections every four months from New York City dermatologist Patricia Wexler.
She was an advocate of plastic surgery for older women saying that if a woman can afford it, it is worth it for her self-esteem.
Early in her career, she performed as half of the comedy team of "Joanie and Bill". "Bill" was former actor William Perry (1936-2006) who was the nephew of actress Toby Wing .
An accomplished author, she has written several candid autobiographies, including "Enter Talking" and "Still Talking". Author of self-help books, including "Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything... and I Mean Everything... and You Can Too!" and "Don't Count the Candles: Just Keep the Fire Lit!". Author of several comedy books, including "Having a Baby Can Be a Scream" and "The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abromowitz".
Her father, Meyer C. Molinsky, was a doctor.
Her parents, Beatrice (Grushman) and Meyer Molinsky, were Russian Jewish immigrants.
Early in her career, she was a writer for Candid Camera (1953).
Her publicist was Judy Katz .
Was a Republican.
Used to maintain a residence in Litchfield County, Connecticut adjacent to the former Bill Blass estate.
Performed stand-up comedy, prior to hopeful Broadway run, at Club Fez in Manhattan. [June 2002]
(June 30, 2004) Announced that she and her daughter, Melissa Rivers , were leaving E! Entertainment to fashion-bash red-carpet-wise over at the TV Guide Channel. They had been with E! Entertainment since 1996.
Most recently lived in Malibu, California with her daughter, Melissa Rivers , and her grandson, Edgar Cooper Endicott .
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on July 26, 1989.
On August 28, 2014, she was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital after experiencing complications during throat surgery being performed at a New York City Clinic.
Joan Rivers passed away on September 4, 2014, at age 81. This was a month, after her longtime friend Lauren Bacall had passed away.
Upon her death, her body was cremated at the Garden State Crematory in Union City, New Jersey, and her ashes are in possession of her daughter Melissa.
Protegee of Phyllis Diller .
Knew Kelly Osbourne when she was only 6, she later worked with her on Fashion Police (2002).
Her older sister, Barbara Waxler, passed away on June 3, 2013 at age 82.
Attended the funeral of Ernest Borgnine , when the actor passed away in 2012.
At a very early age, she wanted to be an actress.
Though she was born in Brooklyn, New York, Rivers was also raised in the following cities: Crown Heights and portions of the Prospect Heights and Brownsville neighborhoods of Central Brooklyn.
Her father, Dr. Meyer C. Molinsky, who graduated from medical school at Long Island College and in the mid-1930s kept an office at 760 Montgomery Street in Crown Heights, New York, historical records show.
Had never retired from comedy.
After her death, the friends who attended her funeral on September 7, 2014 were Oprah Winfrey , Whoopi Goldberg , Bernadette Peters , David Letterman , Jimmy Kimmel , Kathy Griffin , Donald Trump , Kelly Osbourne , Howard Stern , Robin Quivers , Kathie Lee Gifford , Rachael Ray , Geraldo Rivera , Sally Jessy Raphael , Sarah Jessica Parker , Judy Sheindlin , Barbara Walters , Rosie O'Donnell , Diane Sawyer and her daughter Melissa Rivers .
In 2012, Rivers protested against the warehouse-club Costco because they would not sell her New York Times bestselling book, "I Hate Everyone... Starting with Me". She handcuffed herself to a person's shopping cart and shouted through a megaphone. The police were called to the scene and she left without incident and no arrests were made.
Best remembered by the public as the hostess of The Joan Rivers Show (1989), Fashion Police (2002) and Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011).
Was merciless with subjects of popular piety.
Before she was a successful actress and comedienne, she was part of "Jim, Jake, and Joan", a comedic musical trio, in 1964.
Had briefly attended Brooklyn Ethical Culture School in Brooklyn, New York.
Celebrated her 80th birthday on an episode of Fashion Police (2002) and on QVC, on June 8, 2013.
While being a talk show hostess, she once worked as a waitress at Denny's Restaurant, in W. Palm Beach, Florida. She was switching jobs with Rhonda Denton who used to work at the same restaurant, when the guest host for Rivers on The Joan Rivers Show (1989) was announced in New York.
Served as an Honorary Director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Before an unfamiliar comedian Arsenio Hall had a successful late night talk show, she had used him for The Late Show (1986), as her replacement. Fortunately for Hall, he only got the job, because she left the show, because of the way the producers had been taken advantaged of her.
A big influence on Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan .
She was regarded in being one of the busiest personalities on television.
Mentor and friends of: Oprah Winfrey , Whoopi Goldberg , Arsenio Hall , Kathy Griffin , Chris Hardwick , Kelly Osborne and her real-life daughter Melissa Rivers .
She graduated from the Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York, in 1950, at almost 17 years old.
In 1949, aged 16, she was vice president of the Dramatic Club at the Adelphi Academy in Brooklyn, New York.
Had first watched television; when she was only 6 at the World's Fair.
Lifelong friend of nearly 35 years Geraldo Rivera .
Was brought on to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), seven times and was turned down, until she made her first appearance.
Had changed her last name from Molinsky to Rivers; this was because she wanted to be an actress; her agent Larry Rivers talked her into doing this.
Her husband Edgar Rosenberg even committed suicide when he was overdosing himself with a bottle of prescription pills. Their daughter Melissa Rivers found him unconscious in a Philadelphia hotel room.
Had always wanted to be an actress, this led her parents into kicking young Molinsky out of her parents' house.
Was the only performer to have guest-hosted or have appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), more than anyone else.
Met Barbara Walters at NBC in 1965, where there might've been a competition in between the two ladies. The two became friends for nearly 50 years, until Rivers's own death in 2014.
Joan Rivers passed away on September 4, 2014, at age 81. Just before her death, she hosted her final taping of Fashion Police (2002), about the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards and the 2014 MTV Movie Awards.
On her 100th episode of The Late Show (1986), Rivers had two separate problems: the ratings sank, and she was also separated from her husband, Edgar Rosenberg , who wasn't just depressed, but was in bad health, after years of heavy smoking, who was also deeply in debt. He tried to ask her for help, when she refused to help him. She told him he had to get help, who couldn't pull poor Rivers down. Before Edgar's suicide, she was fired from the talk show, after 1 year.
Her career almost came to an end when she feuded with Johnny Carson , off- the set of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), the loss of her second husband Edgar Rosenberg and her short-lived talk show The Late Show (1986), however, she attempted to make a comeback when she was hosting a Daytime Talk Show, The Joan Rivers Show (1989), in 1989.
Had started acting when she was in high school.
Had performed on television late, but her successful comedy career had lasted 55 years.
Just before Johnny Carson 's death, Rivers called him many times, but refused to answer all of her calls.
Before Chris Hardwick was a comedian, game show host and a talk show host, he, alongside his family met her, when she was doing an opening act for her own mentor Johnny Carson , in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was only 3 years old, and became friends, of nearly 40 years, until Rivers's own death in 2014.
The first joke she ever stole was on The Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957).
Just before her death, she starred and have hosted Fashion Police (2002) and Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011), at the same time.
In 1942, when young Joan was 9, she watched the movie Journey for Margaret (1942), starring Margaret O'Brien . She was very disgusted realizing she could've done better than her.
Had never performed as a child.
Almost shared the same birthday with Ruth Westheimer , by 4 days, who is 5 years Rivers's senior.
Was one of the stars to release statements in Paul Reubens defense, after he was being arrested for indecent exposure in July 1991.
Attended the funeral of Ed McMahon , when the television personality/announcer passed away on June 29, 2009.
Personal Quotes (54)
[on her idea of a perfect childbirth experience] Knock me out with the first pain, and wake me up when the hairdresser arrives.
If you're not a wreck in this business, you're not around.
Once I was having lunch in a fancy restaurant with Lily Tomlin and Richard Pryor . We were all struggling comics together and the day we had lunch, any one of us could have picked up the check. That's when I knew I'd made it.
Camilla Parker-Bowles is an earthy, funny woman. You can swear in front of her.
[on Parkinson (1971), when entering] I am a dyke! And I'm DAMN proud of it!
I want them to know I don't think I'm wonderful, or better than they are. Part of comedy is saying: "I am you and you are me, and we're all feeling the same thing".
I'm in nobody's circle, I've always been an outsider. I don't have those wonderful dinners with Woody, I've never been asked by Jay. And it makes you sad, because I think it would be wonderful to sit and talk about things that very few people understand. But I'm very competitive, and I'm sure they feel that. I'm jealous of that little slut Paris Hilton . Why? I'm very competitive. And I think that's what has kept me going. I'm not gracious.
The only thing that's saving me is my age. Because I don't care. I've been up, I've been down. I've been fired, I've been hired. I've been broke. What are you gonna to do me? Not like me? I don't give a damn.
There is not one female comic who was beautiful as a little girl.
[on young female comics]: They all come up to me and say, "Without you, I couldn't be here, the barriers you broke down." I say, "Get the f*** away from me. I still could take every one of you with one hand behind my back. Outta here. Talk like that at my funeral, but not till then".
[June 29, 2008] One of the reasons I am so happy - there's lots happening again. Four times in my life, I woke up and the diary was empty. That's the worst feeling in the world. My Broadway show and my talk show were canceled on the same Friday. And I went that night to see Barbra Streisand , whom I'd started with, perform for 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden. That was a very bad night. Now I'm doing a pilot, I have two books coming, I have my play, I'm in a series that they've shot and they hope will be successful, I'm doing stand-up and I've got my jewelry company. At this age, to be wanted - you are fighting every single step of the way.
I was just interviewed for a documentary [ Making Trouble (2007)] on my least favorite subject - women comedians and how we've all been kept out. These two women came to my house, very serious, and asked, "How long did it take for you to get into the room?". I said, "Let me tell you something: if Adolf Hitler had four good jokes, he'd be in the room." It has to do with funny. Then they talked about how women help each other. I said, "I hate to tell you, but if it was between Sarah Silverman and me for a job? I'll kill her and she'll kill me. There's no sisterhood in comedy".
There is not one female comic who was beautiful as a little girl. Tell me one funny woman who was ever beautiful. Gwyneth Paltrow , stop, please, stop, I can't stand it. Angelina Jolie ? Men don't want you funny. It's all about coping when you're not being the pretty girl, and you're not being the first one asked to dance, and the bottle spins and lands on you and Stuart Wein doesn't want to kiss you.
One of the earliest jokes I did about my husband was that I was the one who really caused Edgar's suicide, because, while we were making love, I took the bag off my head.
My husband wanted to be cremated. I told him I'd scatter his ashes at [the department store] Neiman Marcus - that way, I'd visit him every day.
I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.
[In an interview, on the British chat show Loose Women (1999) in 2008, on working the red carpet for the E! Channel]: You get someone like Russell Crowe , and you want to say to the camera, he is a piece of - get ready to bleep this - f***ing shit. (Rivers was immediately pulled from the British chat show - they had no bleep.) These idiots came running onto the set, ripped me off my seat and dragged me off, saying, "Let's go, let's go, let's go." When the audience saw my empty chair, I worried that, because of my age, they might think I'd wet it because my diaper leaked. People always ask me, "What haven't you done, Miss Rivers? You've done this and that, been nominated for an Emmy and a Tony. You've hosted shows, you've acted, done stand-up, lost your husband to suicide, been bankrupted by a business partner [who made off with $37m in the 1990s] - what haven't you done?". Well, until today, I'd never been kicked off live television. Assholes.
[Interview with Andrew Scott, June 10, 2010] I've never been in the "in" group. I've never been considered. But that's what keeps me punching, if that makes sense. I'm still in the "I'll show you" mentality.
[on the passing of Elaine Kaufman ] Elaine's was a place you went to let everyone know you were in town. It was first stop L.A./N.Y. You knew your name was above the title when Elaine sat with you. I also loved that the prices changed constantly.
[on reality shows] When was the last time you went to a dinner party where three women got up and slapped each other? Everybody's punching and slapping. This is not reality. We got a second season because everybody that has a parent, a mother, anyone can relate to what really happens between adult children and parents.
Having my daughter, I screamed for twenty-three hours straight. And that was just during conception.
Boy George is all England needs. Another queen who can't dress.
New York was the magic city. New York was Oz. All I wanted to do was get out of Brooklyn and get into Oz. We'd go to the theater district -- I saved my money, and I would go with a girlfriend and sit in Sardi's, order an avocado for 60 cents, and wait to be discovered. They must have been thrilled to see us. We went to Howard Johnson's, and my friend smoked a cigarette. We're sitting at the Howard Johnson's, and we're smoking cigarettes -- say no more.
Men who look down my dress usually compliment me on my shoes.
That awful, vulgar, loud woman on stage, that's not me. I wouldn't want to be her friend.
[on antiques] If Louis XIV hasn't sat on it, I don't want it.
[In 2010, on Twitter] With all the plastic surgery I've had, I'm worried that when I die, God won't recognize me!
I don't exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.
[on the red-carpet] Who are you wearing?
[her trademark line] Can we talk?
My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on.
The secret of my success is just saying what everybody else has been thinking.
I haven't missed the Emmys since that year my makeup team was nominated for "Best Special Effects"!
Look at Gwyneth Paltrow being named the Most Beautiful this year. Congratulations, Gwyneth! Now look at who she got to vote: Ray Charles , José Feliciano , Helen Keller, Ronnie Milsap , Tom Sullivan , and Stevie Wonder .
Never be afraid to laugh at yourself; after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.
I hate housework. You make the beds, you do the dishes...and six months later, you have to start all over again.
There are three things all children should be taught never to do: touch a hot stove; pull lamps off tables; and wake their mother before noon.
A study says owning a dog makes you 10 years younger. I'd rescue two more, but who wants to go through menopause twice?
[on daughter Melissa Rivers ] She and I are very close. We speak every single day. Literally, I call her every day and leave the same message on her answering machine: "Pick the hell up, Melissa. I know you're there, damn it." And she always calls me back with the same response: "Mom, how in God's name did you get this new number?"
At my funeral, I want Meryl Streep crying in five different accents.
[on Justin Bieber ] He looks like the daughter Cher wishes she'd had.
Want to know why women don't blink during foreplay? Not enough time.
[on Renee Zellweger] Push her face against a glass door, and you'll see what all babies look like at birth.
If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly.
My love life is like a piece of Swiss cheese: much of it's missing, and what's there stinks.
The great thing about irrigating your colon is that sometimes you find old jewelry.
People say that money is not the key to happiness. But I've always figured that, with enough money, you can hire a battering ram.
All I ever heard when I was a kid was,"Why can't you be more like your cousin Sheila?" And Sheila had died at birth.
I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery.
I have no sex appeal. If my husband didn't toss and turn, we'd never have had any kids.
All my mother told me about sex was that the man goes on top, and that the woman goes on bottom. For three years, my husband and I slept in bunk beds.
My sex life is so bad, my G-spot has been declared a historical landmark.
[on turning 50]: Our natures are a lot like oil, mix us with anything else, and we strive to swim on top.
[When constantly thought about dying]: In your 80s, you'd be foolish not to think about that. I am definitely going to be cremated. I've left money so the dogs can be taken care of. I've said to Melissa, 'Sell anything and everything you don't want. Don't feel beholden to my possessions.' I feel almost hysterical on that. I don't want them to have a sense of guilt.
Salary (1)