IMDB

Producer · Actor · Writer

1933-06-08 · Brooklyn, New York, USA · Female

66 series in the catalog

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that was heavily self-deprecating and acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians, delivered in her signature New York accent. She is considered a pioneer of women in comedy. She received an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award, as well as nomination for a Tony Award.

Rivers began her career in comedy clubs in Greenwich Village alongside her peers George Carlin, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor. She then rose to prominence in 1965 as a guest on The Tonight Show. Hosted by her mentor, Johnny Carson, the show established Rivers's 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. From the mid-1990s, she became 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 the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011–2014) with daughter Melissa Rivers.

In addition to marketing a line of jewelry and apparel on the QVC shopping channel, Rivers authored twelve best-selling books and three LP comedy albums under her own name: Mr. Phyllis and Other Funny Stories (Warner Bros 1965), The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album (Buddah 1969) and What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? (Geffen 1983). 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 2009, Rivers competed alongside her daughter Melissa on the second season of The Celebrity Apprentice, ultimately winning the season. 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". In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her sixth on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time, and in October the same year, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. She is the subject of the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010).

Early life and education

Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman) and Meyer C. Molinsky, a doctor. She had an older sister named Barbara Waxler. Rivers spent her early life in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights in Brooklyn. At age eight, she created her first alter ego, J. Sondra Meredith. She attended the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture School, a progressive and since-defunct school and Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn, a college preparatory day school, where she was co-chair of her school, due to her past experiences in theatrical activities. Within two years, she performed in the School Cavalcades and in 1949, aged sixteen, she was vice president of the Dramatic Club. She graduated from the Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn, in 1951, at eighteen. In her adolescence, Rivers relocated with her family to Larchmont, north of New York City.

Rivers matriculated at Connecticut College; it was a family legacy to attend the institution, as her sister had done. Rivers stated in interviews that she was overweight throughout her childhood, adolescence and in college and that it had a profound impact on her body image, which she struggled with throughout her life. After two years, she transferred to Barnard College, where she graduated in 1954 with a B.A. in English literature and anthropology.

Rivers repeatedly said, and it was reported in The Washington Post, that she graduated summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa; however, biographers James Spada and Leslie Bennetts found that these were fabrications, as with other assertions such as sharing a lesbian kiss in a play with Barbra Streisand (they did both appear in a play named Driftwood, but were never on stage at the same time).

Before entering show business, Rivers worked at various jobs such as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center, a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency and a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Stores. During this period, agent Tony Rivers (not the singer) advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name. She stated that he stopped sending her to audition because of this.

Career

1950s–1960s

During the late 1950s, Rivers appeared in a short off-Broadway play called Driftwood alongside Barbra Streisand. According to an interview with Adweek, the play ran for six weeks at the playwright Maurice Tei Dunn's apartment on 49th Street in New York. In the early 1960s, Rivers performed at various comedy clubs in Greenwich Village, including The Bitter End, The Gaslight Cafe and The Duplex. It was during this period that she befriended fellow comedians Woody Allen and George Carlin, often sharing meals with them. Rivers also had the opportunity to work alongside renowned musicians Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, and Simon & Garfunkel in the Village.

She then moved to Chicago, where she famously flung an ashtray at the ground in fury during her audition for The Second City.

In 1961, Rivers made her MainStage debut in Second City’s seventh revue, Alarums and Excursions, her only production at the theater. Later in life, she would state that she was "born as a comedian at Second City. I owe it my career."

Between 1963 and 1964, Rivers joined forces with Jim Connell and Jake Holmes in the cabaret act "Jim, Jake & Joan". Their appearance at The Bitter End in 1964 led to their inclusion in the motion picture Once Upon A Coffee House, marking Rivers's first credit in a feature film. However, the group disbanded soon after. Holmes later recalled an incident that led to their separation: "We were supposed to perform at a rally for Bobby Kennedy, who was running for New York senator in 1964. Joan showed up wearing a [Republican Senate nominee Kenneth] Keating button, and Jim told her to remove it. She refused, staunchly sticking to her political beliefs, and Jim said, 'Who needs you, anyway?' That was the end of Jim, Jake & Joan..."

Rivers also made a guest appearance on The Tonight Show, hosted by Jack Paar, which originated in New York. In 1965, she worked as a gag writer and participant on Candid Camera, where she played the role of "the bait" to lure people into humorous situations for the show. After seven auditions over three years, she finally made her first appearance on The Tonight Show with its new host, Johnny Carson, on February 17, 1965. Rivers considered this episode to be her breakthrough, as Carson famously told her, "you're gonna be a star." She became a frequent guest on the show and developed a close friendship with Carson.

Her profile skyrocketed in the following years, and she began to make frequent guest appearances on popular shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, and Girl Talk with Virginia Graham. She even wrote material for the puppet mouse Topo Gigio. In addition, she had a small role in the cult drama film The Swimmer (1968), alongside Burt Lancaster. Around the same time, she hosted a short-lived syndicated daytime talk show called That Show with Joan Rivers, which premiered on September 16, 1968. Each episode had a unique theme, and Rivers opened with a monologue related to that day's topic, then hosted celebrity interviews. The show also featured an expert on the subject and a celebrity guest. Early episodes featured prominent figures such as Johnny Carson, Jerry…