Comprehensive information and links about Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers (June 8, 1933 - Joan Rivers is a United States comedian, talk show host, and celebrity. She is known for her brash manner and loud, gruff voice with a heavy New York City accent.

Rivers was born as to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Westchester County, New York. She graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a B.A. in English and anthropology.

In the 1960s she made television appearances as a comedian on the popular shows , as well as hosting the first of her several talk shows. Later in that decade she made a brief but notable appearance opposite Burt Lancaster in the film, She was a regular gag writer and performer on TV's Candid Camera show.

In the 1970s, Rivers appeared often as a guest on various television comedy and variety shows. One notable appearance on starring her friend Billy Crystal. The avant-garde movie about a man who gets pregnant bombed at the box-office. Rivers was the opening act for singer Helen Reddy on The Las Vegas Strip during the '70s. Rivers then became a headliner in her own right to standing room crowds continuing into the 1980s. Rivers also recorded a popular record album of her live standup act entitled "Can We Talk?"

Rivers continued to gain acclaim on television as she would often be brought in as a guest host of the , on the then-fledgling Fox Television Network, one of the launch shows for the new network. The show lasted about a year. When it began, Rivers had already become the permanent guest host for Johnny Carson on . Carson was so upset by her decision to leave without discussing it with him, that he banned her from his show, even after Rivers' show failed. Rivers reportedly tried to call Carson on the phone personally. When he answered, Rivers talked to him, but Carson hung up on her. The two never reconciled before his 2005 death.

Soon after the cancellation of her series, Rivers saw a published interview claiming that her husband, Edgar Rosenberg (who was a producer on Rivers' show) had tried to drive her insane during his illness. According to the interview, Rivers was reported to have commented, "...I think things are just about finished with Edgar", and referred to her former boss at the Fox Network as "Barry (expletive) Diller". Rivers then went public with the news, saying in tears that a "Ben Hacker" had fabricated the story with what she called "vicious lies". A suit was filed against "Hacker", who turned out to be author and future game show host Ben Stein.

Not long after, Rosenberg committed suicide. Joan was devastated by the loss, but eventually returned to television with a daytime talk show of her own, , which ran from 1989 until 1993. Rivers candidly wrote about her husband's passing in two autobiographical, motivational best-selling books published in the 1990s, entitled: .

Joan Rivers has been awarded the 1975 Georgie Award as "Best Comedienne", the Clio Award for "Best Performance in a TV Commercial" in 1976 and 1982, and the 1990 Daytime Emmy Award as "Best Talk Show Host".

As of 2005, Joan Rivers is a host for the TV Guide channel, often cohosting red carpet specials before awards shows with her daughter, Melissa Rivers, from whom she was estranged briefly after her husband's suicide. She previously worked for the E! Entertainment Television network in a similar role. In the movie , she cameoed as a computer-generated version of herself, hosting the parody ME! Medieval Entertainment Television channel. When in New York, where she lives, she appears weekly in workshop productions at the small venue The Cutting Room; she donates proceeds to the charities God's Love We Deliver (for which she is a board member) and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

In a 2005 Channel 4 poll to find , she was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Rivers is an avid and unapologetic user of plastic surgery to enhance her looks; she appeared in two episodes of during its second and third seasons. During her first appearance she wanted to find out what she would look like without all the plastic surgery she has had, and was horrified by the result. During her second appearance she wanted to invest in a post-surgical health spa. She is also an avid collector of jewelry. Rivers also appears regularly on television's QVC, selling her own line of jewelery under the brand name, "The Joan Rivers Collection," which in fact is one of that network's best selling lines.

Today, Rivers is a proud and involved grandmother to Edgar Cooper Endicott, who was born in 2000 during her daughter Melissa's brief marriage (1998-2003) to John Endicott.

Whilst touring in the UK, Rivers appeared on BBC Radio 4's Midweek programme and became involved in a heated on-air argument over the issue of race with broadcaster Darcus Howe. BBC News Tran