Legendary comedian Joan Rivers dead at 81

Acid-tongued comedienne Joan Rivers, who parlayed her ground-breaking stand-up act into a second career as talk show host, fashion critic and reality show star, died Thursday afternoon. She was 81.

“It is with splendid sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” her only child Melissa announced in a three-section statement. “She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and accurate friends.

“My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is hard to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we restore to laughing too.”

Melissa Rivers apparently decided to take her mother off life support at The Mount Sinai Hospital eight days after she arrived at the facility.

Native New Yorker Joan, who became almost as well-known for her unapologetic like of plastic surgery as her barbed humor, never in excellent health after going into cardiac and respiratory arrest Aug. 28.

Rivers was immediately rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital from an High East Side doctor’s office, but her shape up only worsened.

She was positioned into a medically-induced coma and then life-support before daughter Melissa finally went Rivers from intensive care into a private room.

Rivers became a pioneer for women in comedy in an era of male domination, and stayed in the focus for six decades after finally breaking through the industry’s glass ceiling.

“Would there be a Sandra Bernhard or a Rosie O’Donnell or a Kathy Griffin or a Sarah Silverman without Joan Rivers?” questioned one magazine writer in weighing her massive influence.

The politically-incorrect Rivers remained active into her 80s, continuing with a reality show co-starring her only child Melissa. Her 12th book — titled “Diary of a Mad Diva” — was released this summer.

She even did a stand-up show at a small 42nd St. theater just 12 hours before falling irreversibly ill.

Rivers burst into national prominence with a 1965 guest spot on “The Tonight Show,” and eventually became one of Johnny Carson’s regular guests and his stable use instead host.

There was an hideous and stable falling out with her mentor when Rivers decided to launch her own fleeting-lived late night show on a rival network in 1986.

After the show’s quick failure, a reinvented Rivers emerged as an unflinching red carpet fashion critic, a cable TV jewelry peddler and a reality show co-star with her daughter.

Her daytime talk show earned Rivers an Emmy Award in 1990, with the program earning another six nominations in the next three years.

And the 2010 documentary “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” collected plaudits at both the Sundance Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.

“She remains one of the most transgressive and fearless of comedians, and one of the quickest, fastest and most merciless,” raved critic Roger Ebert.

The Brooklyn-born Rivers, named Joan Alexandra Molinsky, was the daughter of Russian immigrants and the baby of the family’s two girls.

Rivers had an interest in show business from an early age, appearing in several campus shows while at Barnard The high classes.

But she seemed destined for a more mundane life after taking a job, falling for the boss’ son and quickly getting married.

The pairing lasted a mere six months — “Our marriage license turned out to be a learner’s permit,” she joked — and Rivers returned to chasing her marvel.

She tried acting, even appearing as a lesbian opposite a then-similarly unknown Barbara Streisand in a small play, before opting for a career in comedy.

Some of her initial gigs were under the name “Pepper January” — and promised “comedy with spice.”

She was finally inspired to try her own brand of material one night by a no-holds-barred Lenny Bruce show in Greenwich Village.

After years in comedy clubs and coffee houses, Rivers received her call-up to the big leagues: A 1965 booking on “The Tonight Show” with Carson.

The host, wiping tears from his eyes after her routine, declared, “God, you’re amusing. You’re going to be a star.”

Carson was right.

Rivers became an instant hit, returning often to “Tonight” and appearing 21 times on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The Brooklyn kid went to the west coast, appearing in the 1969 film “The Swimmer” with star Burt Lancaster.

One year earlier, Rivers welcomed her only child and future co-star, Melissa.

Rivers penned the TV movie “The Girl Most Likely To” in 1973 and directed the 1978 film “Rabbit Test,” starring Billy Crystal as the world’s first pregnant man.

The catch phrase “Can we talk?” became one of her comedic calling cards. Rivers sold out Carnegie Hall on her way to becoming a Las Vegas headliner and a household name.

She even made an enemy of Elizabeth Taylor, flinging a series of stout jokes at the overweight Oscar winner.

“I took Elizabeth Taylor to McDonald’s and she got stuck in the arch,” was one typical blast. The two patched it up in 1985 by co-hosting a charity dinner benefiting battered kids.

And then Rivers answered the call when the fledgling FOX Network existing her a late-night talk show of her own opposite Carson.

“The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers” debuted in October 1986, and departed without much of a trace the next year.

Carson was so outraged by what he saw as Rivers’ betrayal that he never spoke with her again.

Her falling out with Carson started a stretch of hard times: After her show was given up for lost, she had distress finding work — and husband Edgar Rosenberg killed himself after 22 years of marriage.

Rivers acknowledged years later that his sudden death left her bulimic and suicidal in anticipation of professional help lifted her out of the funk.

The rebounding Rivers started her own syndicated daytime talk show, winning an Emmy Award and a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She went from the television studio to the Broadway stage for “Sally Marr … and Her Escorts,” earning a Tony nomination for her star turn in the show that she co-wrote.

The show was about comedian Lenny Bruce’s mother, and Rivers earned a rave from The New York Times.

“She is exuberant, fearless and inexhaustible,” the Times said. “If you admire performers for taking risks, then you can’t help but applaud her effort.”

In 1994, she starred in the biopic “Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Report” — with mom appearing opposite her real-life daughter.

The two also teamed up for their red carpet fashion critiques on the E! channel, along with their reality shows. The latest, “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?” aired on the Oxygen channel.

She finally returned to “The Tonight Show” this year after Jimmy Fallon took over, ending her 28-year Carson-imposed ban from the set.

Rivers also gained notoriety for her frequent trips to the plastic surgeon for everything Botox to breast implants.

“I wish I had a twin,” she once joked, “so I could know what I’d look like without plastic surgery.”

Rivers was an active philanthropist affiliated with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, God’s Like We Deliver and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

After winning the $ 250,000 prize in the 2009 edition of “The Apprentice,” Rivers donated the prize to God’s Like — an organization that provides meals to shut-ins across the metropolitan area.

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

Tags:

Day after day News – Gossip

Tagged with: comedian  Dead  Joan  Legendary  Rivers