Joan Rivers, outspoken comedienne and late-night staple, has passed away at age 81. Rivers experienced complications during a throat operation on August 28, 2014. She went into cardiac arrest and was placed in a medically-induced coma. Rivers remained on life support as doctors attempted to bring her out of the coma.
Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, released the following statement, “She passed peacefully at 1:17 pm surrounded by family and close friends. My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon.”
Joan Rivers was a pioneering female comic in the early 1960's, working gigs in clubs from Greenwich Village to Las Vegas, and back. Her film and television career began as a writer on shows like Candid Camera and The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as for established comedians like Phyllis Diller and Bob Newhart.
In 1968, Rivers hosted her first syndicated daytime talk show, "That Show." It only lasted a year but that didn't stop the comedienne from popping up on the talk show circuit. Shortly thereafter, she became a regular fixture on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Rivers and Carson developed a wonderful friendship and professional relationship that Rivers was named permanent replacement host for "The Tonight Show," filling in for Carson whenever he was on vacation.
Rivers continued appearing on several television shows including a recurring role on The Electric Company and guest starring alongside Lucille Ball on Here's Lucy. She also continued to perform stand-up routines and comedy specials throughout the early 1980s until receiving an offer that would permanently destroy her relationship with Johnny Carson.
In 1986, new network FOX offered Rivers her own late-night talk show, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers." The move made Rivers the first woman to have her own late-night talk show. "Late Show" pitted Rivers against Carson's "Tonight Show." Johnny Carson found out about the show from FOX, and not Rivers herself, thus feeling betrayed. Carson refused to speak to Rivers again, banning her from "The Tonight Show" that was continuously upheld by his successors Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Rivers finally returned to "The Tonight Show" in February 2014 when Jimmy Fallon took over the late-night show.
The FOX show was a disaster and was pulled after one year due to behind-the-scenes drama between Rivers and husband Edgar Rosenberg, and the network executives. The network ended up firing the two and Rivers' career hit a low lull. She continued popping up on television, mostly on "The New Hollywood Squares," until she landed another daytime talk show, "The Joan Rivers Show." The show lasted five years and earned Rivers a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Rivers appeared in several notable films such as The Muppets Take Manhattan, Spaceballs, Look Who's Talking, and Serial Mom. Her voiceover work in "Spaceballs" carried over to Spaceballs: The Animated Series. In 1994, Rivers and her daughter Melissa began hosting pre-award show specials, which included the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, for E Entertainment.
By the 2000s, Joan Rivers entered a career resurgence. She and Melissa left E Entertainment for the TV Guide Channel in 2003, where they performed the same pre-award show fashion commentaries. She guest-starred on FX Networks' hit plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck. Rivers had never shied from the numerous plastic surgeries she had in all her years and relished the role. She also became a staple of the newly-born reality TV genre, appearing in Celebrity Apprentice, Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, and Celebrity Family Feud.
Recently, Rivers juggled duties on WE tv's Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, a reality show that followed Joan's move back to California and living with her daughter, and E Entertainment's Fashion Police. She also kept up with the changes in technology and hosted her own online podcast talk show, In Bed With Joan.
Joan Rivers' final appearance was a taping of "Fashion Police" regarding the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards and MTV VMA 2014. She leaves behind a legacy and path that today's female comedians can follow. Her outspoken, acid tongue, and sometimes raunchy opinions and views were both criticized and praised. While blunt comments and off-the-wall jokes were final nails in a showbiz career, Joan Rivers stayed afloat, survived and survived again. She was refreshing and inspiring at the same time, and Hollywood will most likely never see anyone of her caliber again.
#RIP #JoanRivers
