Joan Rivers

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Rivers in 2010

Joan Rivers (born June 8, 1933 as Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn , New York , † September 4, 2014 in Manhattan , New York) was an American entertainer .

life and career

Rivers grew up as the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, her father was a doctor. She attended Connecticut College for Women and then graduated from Barnard College with a bachelor's degree in English and anthropology .

She then worked in a department store and married the son of her boss in 1957. The marriage ended in divorce the following year. In 1965, an appearance on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show helped Rivers, who had worked as a comedian until the end, to become better known. In the same year she married the British TV producer Edgar Rosenberg . In 1968 she received her own television show and she continued to appear frequently on the shows of Carson and Ed Sullivan , as well as having her daughter Melissa . From 1983, the Rivers , who lived in California until the end, was the substitute presenter on Carson's late night show .

Rivers was named Woman of the Year by the Hasty Pudding Theater Company at Harvard in 1984 . In 1986 she switched to the newly founded FOX network, where she competed directly with Carson. Her three-year contract, which allegedly brought her 10 million dollars, was not fulfilled: The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers was discontinued after just eight months. Edgar Rosenberg, who produced the show, committed suicide that same year. Rivers began hosting a talk show (The Joan Rivers Show) which was in syndication some time later . In 1989 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . In 1990 she was awarded a Daytime Emmy for hosting the Joan Rivers Show .

In 2009 she appeared in the US version of the reality show The Celebrity Apprentice , where she was able to prevail against all other participants. Since August 2009, Rivers has hosted the reality show How'd You Get So Rich on TV-Land on US television , in which she presented self-made millionaires and their careers. She also had a guest appearance on the series Nip / Tuck , which threw a spotlight on her own private life: since 1965 she had placed herself in the hands of cosmetic surgeons, which she regularly made fun of.

Rivers was also known as a jewelry seller on QVC and a commentator on red carpet events. She often moderated the latter together with her daughter.

She died in an artificial coma in her hometown of New York at the age of 81 after she had stopped breathing during vocal cord surgery.

Her audio book Diary of a Mad Diva was posthumously awarded a Grammy in February 2015 .

Films (selection)

Books

  • 1974: Having a Baby Can Be a Scream
  • 1984: The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abromowitz
  • 1986: Enter Talking
  • 1991: Still Talking
  • 1995: Jewelry by Joan Rivers
  • 1997: Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything ... and I Mean Everything ... and You Can Too!
  • 1998: From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage
  • 1999: Don't Count the Candles: Just Keep the Fire Lit!
  • 2009: Murder at the Academy Awards (R): A Red Carpet Murder Mystery
  • 2009: Men Are Stupid ... And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery
  • 2012: I Hate Everyone ... Starting with Me
  • 2014: Diary of a Mad Diva

Audio books

literature

  • Susan Horowitz: Queens of Comedy. Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers and the New Generation of Funny Women (=  Studies in Humor and Gender . Volume 2 ). Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam et al. 1997, ISBN 2-88449-243-7 , pp. 87 ff . (English).

Web links

Commons : Joan Rivers  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sandy Lawson: Rivers' biography on Allmusic , accessed November 7, 2008
  2. ↑ Lisa Belkin: Joan Rivers leaving as host of talk show officials say. In: The New York Times , May 16, 1987 (English)
  3. ^ Edgar Rosenberg, Husband And Colleague of Joan Rivers. In: The New York Times , August 15, 1987 (English)
  4. ↑ Awards overview at IMDb
  5. ↑ Richard Corliss: Remembering Joan Rivers: As If She'd Let Us Forget Her , time.com, September 4, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Rivers, Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Molinsky, Joan Alexandra
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 2014
Place of death Manhattan , New York , USA