Joan Rivers Wise-cracking comic Joan Rivers was born Joan Sandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. After briefly attending the Connecticut College for Women, Rivers graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a B.A. in English and anthropology. Before beginning her career in comedy, Rivers worked in the fashion industry as a retail fashion consultant and also as a publicist for Lord & Taylor. After deciding to hit the stand-up circuit, Rivers struggled for seven years before finally getting her big break on The Tonight Show. This led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as a gig as a writer and performer on Candid Camera. Rivers has also made appearances on The Carol Burnett Show and lent her voice to The Electric Company, starring Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno.
In 1986, Rivers landed her own talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. The show only lasted a year, and Johnny Carson was reportedly so upset with Rivers’ decision to leave her regular spot on his Tonight Show that he banned her from future appearances on The Tonight Show. In 1989, Rivers returned with another talk show, The Joan Rivers Show, which ran until 1993 and received an Emmy in 1990. In 1987, Rivers’ husband, Edgar Rosenberg committed suicide following a long battle with depression. In her book, Bouncing Back, Rivers revealed that her husband’s suicide led her to feel suicidal herself, eventually developing bulimia before getting treatment from counselors and recovering. The 90s saw Rivers conquering another form of media, radio. She hosted her own radio show on WOR in New York from 1997 to 2003. Since then, Rivers has co-hosted red carpet segments of award shows with her daughter, Melissa Rivers. The mother/daughter duo also makes frequent appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show. In 2000, Rivers became a grandmother when Melissa gave birth to Edgar Cooper Endicott, named in memory of Edgar Rosenberg. Rivers’ excessive plastic surgery throughout her life has caused the comic to take on an increasingly altered appearance over the years. She also appeared in two episodes of the surgical series Nip/Tuck, playing a plastic surgery aficionado who is horrified when she discovers what she would look like without any surgery.
Rivers is currently a regular on The Shopping Channel and QVC, selling her own best-selling line of jewelry from The Joan Rivers Collection. She is also the author of two best-selling autobiographies, Enter Talking and Still Talking. An active supporter of animal rights, Rivers supports PETA and Guide Dogs for the Blind, and she also serves on the board of God's Love We Deliver. YUDDY | 
