American comedienne, thought by many to be the funniest lady on the planet. She certainly has one of the fastest, most agile minds in show biz. Her rapid fire mix of gossip, insults, flaunting of taboos and ridicule of flaws and neurosis is written 90% by her. She also wrote comedy for Candid Camera, scripts and material for Phyllis Diller and Zsa Zsa Gabor and humor books. Her autobiography “Enter Talking” was written with Richard Meryman, Delacorte Press, 1986.
The younger of two daughter of Russian-Jewish refugees, she learned from her doctor dad to crack a joke and was making people laugh by the time she was 11. She learned from her mom that rich was better than poor, and raised with privilege and a good education. Rivers married Jimmy Sanger in 1957 and had it annulled the following year when she decided she wanted to be an actress, not a housewife. While doing off-Broadway, she worked in offices and turned to comedy in 1960 to supplement her income.
By 1965 she was told that she was too old and passed over. A week later she was booked on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” They clicked. Their immediate rapport was a hit with the audience and she appeared for years with Carson before hosting her own “Late Show Starring Joan Rivers,” with a contract for $10 million over three years. She moved into the stratosphere as America’s top comedienne, the darling of the circuit with tours, magazine covers, nightclub and Las Vegas gigs, TV projects, books and records. With the cosmetic surgery she had over the years she looks fabulous, blonde, sleek and chic.
Rivers married Edgar Rosenberg, who later was the executive producer of her show, on 15 July 1965. Their daughter Melissa was born in 1968. On 14 August 1987, Rosenberg committed suicide.
A regular feature on various red carpet interviews, her TV career has blossomed in the 21st century. She has appeared on “Nip/Tuck”, “Celebrity Apprentice” and Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack”. She was the subject of the Comedy Central’s “Roast of Joan Rivers”, taped on 26 July 2009.
On 28 August 2014, Rivers experienced serious complications and stopped breathing during a procedure on her vocal cords, at a clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan, New York. She was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital and put into a medically induced coma after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest. Joan Rivers died there, aged 81, at 1:17 p.m. EDT on 4 September 2014.
Link to Wikipedia biography