Joan Rivers, the raspy-voiced, acid-tongued comedian, died tonight in New York, a week after going into cardiac arrest while undergoing minor surgery in a doctor’s office. She was 81.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1.17pm, surrounded by family and close friends,” Melissa Rivers, her daughter, said. “My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon.”
Rivers, known for her bawdy style, was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York last week after her heart stopped while she reportedly underwent a routine surgical procedure on her vocal cords. The previous evening she had performed at a theatre in midtown Manhattan, where she was said to be in full voice and on fine form. She was due to tour Britain next month, including an appearance at the Albert Hall.
The comedian Ellen DeGeneres said that Rivers had been “a pioneer; she paved the way for a lot of comedians.”
The journalist Barbara Walters said: “No one loved life, laughter, and a good time more than Joan. We would have dinner and laugh and gossip and I always left the table smiling. She was a brassy, often outrageous, and hilarious performer who made millions laugh. In private, she was the picture of elegance and class. I will miss her.”
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The comedian Louis C.K. said: “She loved comedy. She loved the audience. She was a great actress and should have done that more. She loved living and working. She was kind. She was real. She was brave. She was funny and you just wanted to be around her. I looked up to her. I learned from her. I loved her. I liked her. And I already miss her very much.”
Others praising her were Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who said in a statement: “Joan Rivers brought laughter to millions around the world and was proud of her Jewish heritage and a vocal supporter of the state of Israel. We will miss her deeply and we send our heartfelt condolences to her family.”
Writing on Facebook Liza Minnelli said: “Joan Rivers was my dear friend and I will miss her but I will always remember the laughter and friendship she brought into my life.”
David Letterman said: “Here’s a woman, a real pioneer for other women looking for careers in stand-up comedy. And talk about guts - she would come out here and sit in this chair and say some things that were unbelievable, just where you would have to swallow pretty hard, but it was hilarious ... the force of her comedy was overpowering.”
Originally a stand-up comedian, her break came in 1965, when she was Johnny Carson’s guest on The Tonight Show. In 1968 she hosted a morning show on NBC, and the next year she made her stage debut in Las Vegas.
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She became known for her willingness to wisecrack about just about anything and to insult almost anybody. Of Charlton Heston she once quipped: “He told us, ‘I got Alzheimer’s’. Surprise! He’s been wearing his wig sideways for 19 years.”
Tragedy struck in 1987 when Edgar Rosenberg, her husband of 23 years, committed suicide after Rivers was fired from a chat show that he had produced.
The show’s failure was a factor in his death, she said, and her career faltered. However, she battled back. In recent years she had hosted the TV show Fashion Police, which turned the Hollywood red carpet into a danger zone for poorly dressed celebrities.
“I have never wanted to be a day less than I am,” she insisted last year. “People say, ‘I wish I were 30 again’. No — I’m very happy here. It’s great. It gets better and better. And then, of course, we die.”