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Joan Rivers biography

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Quick Facts

  • Originally: Joan Sandra Molinsky
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
more about Joan

Best Known For

Comedian Joan Rivers created a Grammy nominated comedy album, launched a syndicated daytime talk show, and went on to win a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Synopsis

Joan Rivers was born June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. Her big break came in 1965. A booking on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson turned Joan's career around, and she became an instant hit. Her first syndicated talk show on daytime TV, That Show With Joan Rivers, combined with appearances on Carson and The Ed Sullivan Show,

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made Joan a household name.

Profile

The daughter of Russian immigrant parents, Joan Sandra Molinsky was born June 8, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. She discovered her comic talent at an early age, by entertaining her father's work colleagues, but upon graduating she became a buyer for a chain store.

Determined to succeed, Joan appeared in a number of small plays, including a role as a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbara Streisand. When it became apparent that acting was not her forte, she switched to comedy and spent the next seven years doing the rounds of New York's comedy clubs.

Her years as a struggling performer in the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village gave her the experience she needed, when her big break finally came along in 1965. A booking on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson turned Joan's career around, and she became an instant hit.

Her first syndicated talk show on daytime TV, That Show With Joan Rivers, combined with appearances on Carson and The Ed Sullivan Show, made Joan a household name.

Following a small part in the 1969 film The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster, Joan moved to Hollywood where she wrote a TV-movie, The Girl Most Likely To and directed her first film, Rabbit Test.

By 1983 Joan was headlining Las Vegas, had a Grammy nominated comedy album and two best-selling books. However, by the late 1980s Joan's career suffered a series of setbacks. Her show was canceled, the industry turned its back on her and, in 1987, her husband and producer of 22 years, Edgar Rosenberg, committed suicide.

Joan moved back to New York and, by 1989, launched a new syndicated daytime talk show. She went on to win an Emmy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994, she wrote and starred in Sally Marr and Her Escorts, which earned her a Best Actress Tony nomination.

Most recently Joan designs and sells her own line of costume jewellery on QVC, and presents a number of shows. She has become famous for her red carpet shows and sells out comedy tours on both sides of the Atlantic.

© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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