Joan Rivers'

[Jolie Rouge]

Joan Rivers' celebrity friends take to Twitter to pray for her recovery as her family face agonizing decision over whether or not to turn off life support machine

•Melissa Rivers rushed from LA to New York on Thursday with her teenage son Cooper to be by her mother's bedside

•She said in a statement: 'Her condition remains serious but she is receiving the best treatment and care possible'

•The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan said it had no updates Friday on Joan Rivers' condition

•The 81-year-old was having surgery on her vocal cords at a clinic when she suddenly stopped breathing during the procedure

•Rivers performed stand up routine in Manhattan the evening before surgery

By James Nye for MailOnline and Snejana Farberov

Published: 16:29 EST, 30 August 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738687/Joan-Rivers-family-face-agonizing-decision-not-turn-life-support-machine-legendary-comic-fights-life.html#ixzz3BzA7V01j

[Jolie Rouge]

Joan Rivers remains on life support, daughter says
'We Are Keeping Our Fingers Crossed,' Daughter Melissa Says
Sept. 2, 2014, 1:31 PM EST By Tim Molloy

Melissa Rivers provided an update on Tuesday on her mother, Joan Rivers, saying she remains on life support. "On behalf of my mother and our family, we are extremely grateful for all the love and support we've received. At this time she does remain on life support," Melissa Rivers wrote.

"I know my mother would be overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of kindness and I want to thank everyone for keeping us in their prayers," she added.

Rivers was taken Thursday to Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York after she stopped breathing during throat surgery at her doctor's office.

The 81-year old was later placed in a medically-induced coma. Rivers' representatives did not respond to requests for comment on anonymously sourced reports Monday that she was being brought out of the coma.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=886986&ocid=ansent11

[sunflowers]

Sept. 4, 2014, 2:58 PM EST
By Tim Kenneally
TheWrap
Joan Rivers, the acid-tongued comedian whose unvarnished sense of humor drew criticism as well as laughs for decades, has died Thursday at age 81.

Rivers, who most recently co-hosted E!'s "Fashion Police," was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on Aug. 28, after she stopped breathing while undergoing throat surgery.

Born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn in 1933, Rivers broke into the spotlight with a 1965 guest appearance on "The Tonight Show." Though she would go on to frequently guest-host for host Johnny Carson, Rivers was banned from the late-night show after she bailed on her permanent guest-host position in order to launch a competing show on Fox. While her show, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," was short-lived, her ban would last for more than two decades. Rivers returned to the "Tonight Show" again, earlier this year, briefly appearing with new host Jimmy Fallon on his first episode.


During her decades-long career, Rivers would often turn her abrasive style on herself, frequently joking about her appearance and plastic surgery.

"I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware," Rivers once wisecracked.

Her second husband, film and television producer Edgar Rosenberg, also factored into her barbs.

But when her sharp-tongued humor was turned outward the comedian often found herself under fire from those who considered her jokes insensitive. In recent years, the comedian was criticized for joking about Grammy-winning singer Adele's weight, as well as jokes about the Holocaust and the Ariel Castro kidnappings in Cleveland, Ohio.

Rivers was prone to dig her heels in when faced with criticism. Called out by the Anti-Defamation League foe her "vulgar and hideous" remarks about the Holocaust, Rivers replied, "This is the way I remind people about the Holocaust. I do it through humor."

Tragedy struck Rivers' life in 1987 when her second husband, Edgar Rosenberg committed suicide. Weighed down by health issues — he suffered a heart attack in 1984 — he also grappled with emotional issues.



"He bottled everything up," Rivers told People, "bottled it up and killed himself at 62."

Rivers was nominated numerous times for a Daytime Emmy, winning in 1990 in the Outstanding Talk/Service Show Host category for "The Joan Rivers Show."

Her other television credits include "The Carol Burnett Show," "Hollywood Squares," "Saturday Night Live," "Nip/Tuck" and "The Ed Sullivan Show." She and her daughter Melissa co-starred on the reality series "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best," and were longtime co-hosts of E!'s Oscars pre-awards coverage, while the elder Rivers went on to host red-carpet events for TV Guide Channel.

Throughout Rivers' long career, she also branched out into writing, penning a dozen books, including the mock memoir "The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz" and the books "Diary of a Mad Diva," "Still Talking" and "Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything & and I Mean Everything & and You Can Too!" As a recording artist, Rivers was nominated for a Grammy award for her comedy album "What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?"

She also had a successful fashion and jewelry line called the Joan Rivers Classics Collection, which is a top seller on QVC.

Rivers is survived by her daughter, Melissa.

[Jolie Rouge]

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Joan Rivers remembered: 16 of the comedienne's runniest one-liners

Sept. 4, 2014, 4:04 PM EST By Tony Maglio TheWrap

Joan Rivers died at age 81 on Thursday, leaving behind a long career filled with some of the funniest and most biting one-liners in comedy history.

Rivers made her name across stand-up stages, on late night television and E!'s "Fashion Police," which was her most recent regular gig, and through it all she never lost her quick wit. Some of her favorite comedy topics included taking shots at celebrities and her even own family — but usually the butt of Rivers' jokes was Joan herself.

Below are 16 of her very best quips from decades of entertaining and insulting.

"No more Botox for me. Betty Whites' bowels move more than my face."

"My vagina is like Newark. Men know it is there but they don't want to visit."

"It's like herpes, you either have it or you don't."

"My daughter and I are very close, we speak every single day and I call her every day and I say the same thing, 'Pick up, I know you're there.'"

"I have a million dollar figure … but it's all loose change."

"I was getting dressed and a peeping Tom looked in the window, took a look and pulled down the shade."

"If you don't want gays in the military, make the uniforms ugly."

"The only way I can get a man to touch me at this age is plastic surgery."

On Elizabeth Taylor: "Is she fat? … Her favorite food is seconds."

"I told my mother-in-law that my house was her house, and she said, 'Get the hell off my property.'"

On Marie Osmond: "She's so pure, Moses couldn't even part her knees."

"Bo Derek turned down the role of Helen Keller because she couldn't remember the lines."

"All I ever heard when I was a kid was, 'Why can't you be more like your cousin Sheila?' And Sheila had died at birth."

"You know why I feel older? I went to buy sexy underwear and they automatically gift wrapped it."

"When I was born, my mother asked the doctor, 'Will she live?' He said: 'Only if you take your foot off her throat.'"

"The whole Michael Jackson thing was my fault. I told him to date only twenty-eight year olds. Who knew he would find 20 of them?"

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=887420&ocid=rr-tv-news

Joan Rivers: 7 classic late-night moments
Sept. 4, 2014, 4:41 PM EST
By Tim Kenneally TheWrap

Joan Rivers, the tart-tongued comedienne who died Thursday at age 81, had a legendary, decades-long career, with much of it playing out on late-night television. A late-night host in her own right as well as a frequent guest-host on "The Tonight Show," Rivers was often at her best in the wee hours.

In honor of the comedy legend, TheWrap presents a selection of Rivers' best late-night moments.

Rivers was a frequent guest and guest-host on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," starting with a breakthrough 1965 appearance. In 1986, Rivers once again appeared as a guest on the show, going full throw-back by dressing in the outfit she appeared in during her first appearance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lEX6HI4Mew&feature=player_embedded

As a guest host on "The Tonight Show," Rivers shined bright, as evidenced by this 1980s monologue. Turning her humor on herself, Rivers cracked wise about both the dress she was wearing and her marriage: "I wore the dress last night to bed and I said to my husband Edgar, 'Does this dress give you any ideas?' And he said, 'Yes, I'd like to see my girlfriend in it.'"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feRb6rK_rl8&feature=player_embedded

Rivers hosted her own late-night program, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," which premiered on Fox in 1986. Though the offering was short-lived, lasting only until the next year, it started off with a bang. The premiere episode featured guests David Lee Roth, Pee-wee Herman, Elton John, Cher ... and Rivers' big, big, Reagan-era hair.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckrtLdSIxs&feature=player_embedded

While promoting her book "I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me" on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," Rivers was typically venomous. Targets included Octomom, whose vagina Rivers compared to a log flume ride, and Christina Aguilera, who Rivers dubbed "Fatso."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jojEoMQVmAQ&feature=player_embedded

Rivers was put in the hot seat with a 2009 Comedy Central roast. True to form, she gave as good as she got, chugging a drink and slapping presenter Kathy Griffin before shooting a zinger in Griffin's direction.

"You stole my act, you stole my gays, and you stole the face of the Burger King," Rivers cracked.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ZLydp8h28&feature=player_embedded

Rivers' falling out with Johnny Carson led to a decades-long ban from "The Tonight Show," Rivers returned to her old stomping grounds earlier this year, briefly appearing on the show alongside new host Jimmy Fallon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtES-HebG0&feature=player_embedded

In July, after Rivers had made headlines by walking out on a CNN interview, she appeared on "Late Show With David Letterman," where she got a taste of her own medicine.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONgN2Hgz3XE&feature=player_embedded

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=887433&ocid=rr-tv-news


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[Jolie Rouge]

In her 2012 book I Hate Everyone… Starting with Me she even outlined her own funeral saying:

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8309139712/h3403327E/

http://images.ichc.s3.amazonaws.com/originals/completestore/14/9/4/_8Y7scN0LkK0QHqW7gZxwA2.jpg

See more of Joan Rivers on Cheezburger by clicking http://search.cheezburger.com/?q=joan%20rivers#joan%20rivers

[Jolie Rouge]

Mike Rowe
3 hrs
.
It was late September, 1991. I had been fired from QVC a few months earlier, (justifiably,) rehired, (inexplicably,) and banished to the graveyard shift for my sins, (permanently.) There was a nasty flu going around, and most of the prime-time hosts were home puking their guts up. So I was summoned on a rainy Saturday afternoon to fill in for one of the stricken. I was halfway through a riveting hour called “Ideas to Make Your Life Easier,” and reflecting on the troubling trajectory of my career in television, when Joan Rivers walked into the studio.

Joan was spending the entire weekend at QVC, touting her line of clothing and jewelry. I’d never met her, and it was unthinkable that my boss would have ever wanted us on the same stage at the same time. QVC was committed to earnest, heartfelt, G-Rated content. I was not. Which is why I rarely saw the light of day. Joan was scheduled to appear later that evening alongside a more reputable host, but on her way to the greenroom, she stopped in front of the stage and watched as I tried to say something flattering about The Healthteam Infrared Pain Reliever. Then she pulled something out of her giant purse, walked onto the set, and began asking me questions on live TV.

“Oh my God,” she said. “Where did you get that tie?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your tie,” she said. “It’s awful. Did you steal it from a Lutheran?”

“Actually, I made it myself,” I said. “On a loom in my attic.”

“Well it’s truly hideous,” said Joan. “And what’s up with that suit? You look like an unmade bed.”

“Thanks,” I said. “It helps me sleep on the job. You look positively radiant though, if I may be so bold.”

“Well look a little closer,” she said. “One more facelift and I’ll have a goatee.”

It took me a second, but when the image sunk in, I chortled. I may have even guffawed. Had I worn dentures, I’d have likely spit them across the room.

“You seem like a nice young man. It’s a shame you don’t have any taste. Is there a woman in your life?”

“Several,” I replied. “But none that can compete with your many years of experience.”

Joan laughed and gave me the finger. She then presented me with a “Tie-Button Tie,” a fancy piece of silk with a button-hole in the back that allowed a gentleman to affix the tie to the button on his shirt in a way that - in her words - “might keep it from swinging into the spaghetti sauce the next time I took one of my “special ladies” out for a big night at The Olive Garden.”

She went on to tell me about the various other trinkets and fashion designs that would appear in the following hour. She showed me a simulated diamond set in 14-carat gold and suggested it would be perfect for any of the women in my life. “Remember ladies, fake jewelry doesn’t have to make you look like a slut, even if you are one.”

She also described a stretch jersey in her fashion line as as “a pretty little thing with a nice comfortable lining that won’t get stuck in your ass-crack.”

Joan made me laugh, partly because she was funny, but mostly because I knew my many masters were trembling in fear as they watched from home, thrilled by the fact that millions of people were tuning in to see Joan Rivers, but equally horrified by the prospect of what she might say next. In this way, she became heroic to me.

I didn’t see Joan for the next year and a half. By then, she had become a fixture at QVC, and was well on her way to selling a billion dollars of stuff. Literally - a billion. I on the other hand, was still sequestered away at 3am, hawking products that appeared to have been sourced from the midway of a condemned carnival. But then, I caught a break. QVC and CBS agreed to produce a pilot around Joan, tentatively called “Can We Shop?” Under the terms of the deal, Joan could select any of the QVC Hosts to work with her as a co-host. For reasons I still don’t understand, she picked me.

I can’t express how profoundly surprising this decision was - to me, my fellow QVC hosts, and most of all, to those who had consigned me to the graveyard shift. It was madness to reward a smart-aleck who routinely made fun of the products he was entrusted to sell, but Joan insisted, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting next to her on a soundstage in New York City, doing my very best Ed McMahon impression. Go figure.

In television, like anything else, way leads on to way. You don’t always know the significance of a thing when it happens. But this was different. Appearing on CBS with Joan Rivers was the first thing I did that actually looked legitimate, and I knew I had turned a corner. Sitting there with Joan, cracking wise in a CBS studio in front of a live audience, I finally came to believe that somewhere, a job was waiting for me in television that didn’t involve a 2 am wake-up call.

I left QVC soon after that, and never saw Joan Rivers again. Not in person, anyway. Like the rest of the world, I saw her on the red carpet, and I watched her shenanigans here and there. How could you not? Icons have a way of being everywhere at once. I also watched her documentary a few years ago - A Piece of Work. I wanted to call her after that, and tell her how brave it was to be that forthcoming. I wish that I had.

I remember a holiday party at her penthouse on 5th Avenue. It was black-tie affair, but I wore one her Tie-Button Ties, which amused her to no end. I also brought her some cookies. My mother - upon learning that I would be visiting a bone fide celebrity in her actual home - was afraid I might arrive empty-handed, or worse, with a six-pack of Rolling Rock tucked under my arm. So she made a tin of chocolate chip cookies, and told me to give them to Mrs. Rivers with her compliments. Which I did.

I don’t know if she actually ate them, but she accepted them with grace, and placed them next to a menorah. That still makes me laugh.

RIP, Joan.

And thank you, very much.
Mike Rowe

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[Jolie Rouge]

Joan Rivers Remembered At Star-Studded Funeral

NEW YORK (AP) -- Howard Stern delivered the eulogy, Broadway singer-actress Audra McDonald sang "Smile" and bagpipers played "New York, New York" at Joan Rivers' funeral Sunday, a star-studded send-off that -- like the late comedian herself -- brought together the worlds of Hollywood, theater, fashion and media.

At a funeral befitting a superstar, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus sang Broadway hits including "Hey Big Spender" before six-time Tony Award-winner McDonald sang her tribute to Rivers, a champion of theater for decades.

Tributes and reminiscences were delivered by TV anchor Deborah Norville, close friend Margie Stern, columnist Cindy Adams and Rivers' daughter, Melissa, who spoke about how she respected her mother and appreciated everyone's support.

"It was uplifting. We were celebrating her life," said fashion designer Dennis Basso.

Hugh Jackman sang "Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage" at the end of the ceremony and bagpipers from the New York City Police Department played on the streets as mourners filed out of Temple Emanu-El, many dabbing their eyes.

The funeral program included a page with three classic Rivers' lines printed out: "Can we talk?" "Who are you wearing?" and "Because I'm a funny person."

A legion of notables turned out to remember Rivers, who died on Sept. 4 at 81: comedians Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg; colleague and friend Kelly Osbourne; Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick; and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

Theater stars Bernadette Peters, Alan Cumming and Tommy Tune were there. Record producer Clive Davis was, too. Fashion designers Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors were in attendance. Stars from TV such as Barbara Walters, Geraldo Rivera, Diane Sawyer, Kathie Lee, Hoda Kotb and Andy Cohen. Late night band leader Paul Shaffer. And moguls Barry Diller, Donald Trump and Steve Forbes.

Photos at link http://wonderwall.msn.com/tv/joan-rivers-remembered-at-star-studded-funeral-30179.gallery?ocid=answw11