Comedian and talk show host Joan Rivers died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, according to a statement from her daughter,Melissa Rivers. She was 81 years old.
Rivers had gone into cardiac arrest last week while having vocal-cord surgery at a clinic in the Upper East Side.
Whether you found her signature raspy voice, penchant for plastic surgery and merciless critiques amusing or exasperating, one thing is for sure: Rivers was more than a stand-up comedian. She was an entrepreneur, a savvy businesswoman and a trailblazer in an industry once dominated by men.
Rivers got her start on the national stage after appearing as Johnny Carson’s guest on “The Tonight Show” in 1965, and was a regular guest host for nearly two decades. Sometimes her ratings as a host surpassed those of Carson himself, the New York Times reports.
In 1986, Rivers launched a competing night show on the then-Fox Television Network known as “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" — a role that came with a $10 million contract, according to the Times.
She later boosted her business profile yet again by launching her own fashion, accessories and cosmetics lines through QVC and authoring a dozen books. She achieved her notoriety as a celebrity critic while co-hosting the E! show “Fashion Police.”
She most recently starred in WE TV’s reality series “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?” and in 2013, the ever-energetic octogenarian took to the Web, launchingher own weekly online talk show on YouTube called “In Bed with Joan.”
By 2010, when a documentary on her 50 years in comedy was released, her fortune was estimated at $290 million, according to the Times. Not bad for a woman who cut her teeth on the nightclub circuit.
Some quick Rivers takes:
"The only time a woman has a true orgasm is when she is shopping."
Q: What bothers you? A: Everything. Searches at the airport. The money put into presidential elections. Getting older.
Q: Advice about business? A: Get into something you love. If you love it, you’ll do well.
Q: Your take on Seattle? A: I love that whole part of the country. The Pacific Northwest is heaven. It’s God’s country. And women have great skin there.
Q: Advice to mothers and daughters? A: (To the mothers) You are always right! Always!
R.i.p. Joan Rivers
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