With a heavy heart, Joan Rivers' only daughter, Melissa announced her mother's passing on September 4th, 2014 after being in a medically induced coma for nearly a week. Today, we look back on the pioneering comedian's career that spanned over 5 decades.
Rivers had her fair share of ups and downs in her career in the spotlight, but she dealt with everything by making herself – and others – laugh. It was what she did best, and what made her happiest in life.
It wasn't easy for a young, female comedian to make it in Hollywood, but her razor-sharp wit got her there, and helped pave the way for future female stand-up comics like Roseann Barr, Sarah Silverman and countless others. In her career, Joan was open and brutally honest about just about everything, both in her personal and professional life. However, there are some things that many folks never knew about the "Queen of the Barbed One-liners."
Here are 12 little known facts about the life of Joan Rivers. Please SHARE in memory of this comedy legend!
#1) Joan Rivers was NOT her real name!
The comedian was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York. After being advised by agent Tony Rivers to change her name, she adopted Joan Rivers as her stage name. She said the name "Joan Rivers," just felt right. "Having a stage name made it easier to perform in those raunchy nightclubs," she told the Evening News newspaper in 1986. "Joan Rivers was like a party dress I put on, so in those early days, she was only the tiniest part of me and Joan Molinsky was still frightened and confused and bewildered in her life."
#2) She got her 'big break' thanks to Bill Cosby!
Rivers first gained fame for being a guest host on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." "The night before I went on Carson, a comic bombed and Bill Cosby, who was white hot at that moment, he had seen me in the Village and he said to them, 'You might as well use Joan. She can’t be any worse than the guy you had on last night!'" she told Entertainment Weekly. "I was brought on in the last 10 minutes of the show – the worst slot. And God bless Johnny Carson, he said right there on the air, 'You’re going to be a big star.'"
#3) Joan wrote 12 bestselling books!
From her first book "Having a Baby Can Be a Scream" in 1974 to her last, 2014's "Diary Of A Mad Diva," the comedy queen turned fashion critic was also a bestselling and well-loved author.
#4) She once worked as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center!
From an early age, Joan knew she was funny and wanted to be a star. After graduating Barnard College in 1954 with a degree in English literature and anthropology, she worked a variety of odd jobs before finding success in her career. Before trying to break into show business, she worked as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center and a fashion consultant in clothing stores, two jobs that would later be reflected in her hosting gigs on NBC's "Tonight Show" and E!'s "Fashion Police."
#5) She was on Broadway... with Barbra Streisand!
Rivers was determined to make it big, and performed in a number of small plays throughout New York City early in her career. During the late 1950s, Rivers appeared in a short-run play, Driftwood, playing a lesbian with a crush on a character played by a then-unknown Barbra Streisand.
#6) She had her first talk show in 1968!
Pioneering comedian, Joan Rivers, was the queen of talk show gossip! In 1968, she had a short-lived syndicated daytime talk show, "That Show with Joan Rivers". Johnny Carson was her first guest and every episode had a theme, an opening monologue and celebrity guest. The total episodes produced was 214.
#7) She was an animal lover and friend of PETA.
After her husband committed suicide in 1987, she too considered ending her life. However, she was saved by her dog, Spike. "I was sitting in this big empty house in Bel Air, with a phone with five extensions which we no longer needed. I had the gun in my lap, and the dog sat on the gun. I lecture on suicide because things turn around," she told the Daily Beast. "I tell people this is a horrible, awful dark moment, but it will change and you must know it’s going to change and you push forward. I look back and think, 'Life is great, life goes on. It changes.'" As she got older, she made sure to set aside money for her pets when she made her will.
#8) There are no copies of her first appearance as guest host on the "Tonight Show"
There's a reason you can't find Joan's first appearance as guest host with Johnny Carson on the "Tonight Show". Herr former manager burned the only copy of the tape of her first appearance, in spite of their broken tie. "A manager I broke with burned it," she said, and then deadpanned to wild applause from the audience: "He's dead."
#9) She battled depression and thought about taking her own life after her husband's death in 1987.
Joan's husband Edgar Rosenberg was found dead in August 1987 from suicide caused by alcohol and valium. Although Rosenberg was often the butt of on-stage jokes by his wife of 22 years, Joan she said she “fell apart” when he tragically took his own life three months after the duo was fired by Fox. Rosenberg closely managed her career from the beginning and although their marriage had it's ups and downs, she became immobilized by his death. Getting help to bounce back was the best thing she ever did for herself.
#10) She was the national spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, among other charities!!
She may have been a cut-throat comedian, but Joan Rivers was also a true humanitarian and philanthropist. She was the National spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and was affiliated God’s Love We Deliver, which brings meal to sick people who can't leave home, and Guide Dogs for the Blind, which she supported by doing a weekly stand-up gig in New York.
Icon, legend, and all around awesome lady. Please SHARE this article and the spirit of the incomparable Joan Rivers with all of your friends. Thanks for reading!
