“In those days, only dead celebrities went on [QVC]. My career was over. I had bills to pay. ... It also intrigued me at the beginning”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Figure timeline
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that was heavily self-deprecating and acerbic, especially towards celebrities and politicians, delivered in her signature New York accent. She is considered a pioneer of women in comedy. She received…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · American comedian and television host (1933–2014) · comedian · television presenter · film director · screenwriter · writer · film actor · television actor · stage actor · journalist · voice actor · also Joan Rivers, Joan Alexandra Molinsky, Rivers
Born 8 June 1933 · Died 4 September 2014 · Q240933
84 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
8 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 4 entries
The Guardian: Drought, water rationing and dry rivers: our water crisis is here | Peter Gleick
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: How to explore Britain and Ireland’s most beautiful rivers on foot, bike or boat: readers’ travel tips
- #news
- #headline
Public attention spiked: 7,251 Wikipedia readers in one day, 3.4× the usual 2,117, with 4 article edits. Editors noted: Comedic style Tweaks
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #attention
- #spike
- #pageviews
2023· 3 entries
Snopes rated the claim “A YouTube video posted on Sept. 26, 2023, accurately reported that the Obamas were "panicking" because of Melissa Rivers' "confession."” Unfounded (retired).
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
PolitiFact rated the claim ““Joan Rivers’ daughter threatens to expose Michelle Obama.”” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
PolitiFact rated the claim “Joan Rivers was killed for revealing that Barack Obama is gay and Michelle Obama is transgender.” Pants on Fire.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
2022· 1 entry
Snopes rated the claim “Comedian Joan Rivers said, "One of the most rebellious things a woman can do is allow people to think she’s mean."” Incorrect Attribution.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
2017· 1 entry
Rolling Stone magazine ranked her sixth on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time, and in October the same year, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 2 entries
Melissa Rivers filed a malpractice lawsuit against the clinic and the doctors who performed surgery on her mother
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers posthumously received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book, Diary of a Mad Diva
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2014· 22 entries
Died 2014-09-04.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
Rivers experienced serious complications and stopped breathing while undergoing what was scheduled to be a minor throat procedure at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Which also made The New York Times Best Seller list
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers returned to the show for an interview
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“Why do wives have to spend so much time dusting, vacuuming, mopping, making beds, washing dishes, when you just have to do it all again six months later?”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“[Catchphrase:] Can we talk?”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“There is not one female comic who was beautiful as a little girl.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes—and six months later you have to start all over again.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“People say money is not the key to happiness, but I've always figured if you have enough money you can get a key made.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Don't tell your kids you had an easy birth or they won't respect you. For years I used to wake up my daughter and say, 'Melissa, you ripped me to shreds. Now go back to sleep.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“My obstetrician was so dumb that when I gave birth he forgot to cut the cord. For a year that kid followed me everywhere. It was like having a dog on a leash.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“A man can sleep around, no questions asked, but if a woman makes nineteen or twenty mistakes she's a tramp.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I'm Jewish. I don't work out. If God had wanted us to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Looking fifty is great—if you're sixty.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Anger is a symptom, a way of cloaking and expressing feelings too awful to experience directly—hurt, bitterness, grief and, most of all, fear.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Never floss with a stranger.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“I have so little sex appeal that my gynecologist calls me "sir.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
“Before we make love, my husband takes a pain killer.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
2013· 2 entries
Launched the online talk show In Bed with Joan on YouTube
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers and her daughter, Melissa Rivers, were honored by the Ride of Fame and a double decker tour bus was dedicated to them in New York City
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2012· 2 entries
Rivers showed up in Burbank, California to protest that the warehouse club Costco would not sell the book
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Guest-starred in two episodes of two series: Drop Dead Diva and Hot in Cleveland
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2011· 2 entries
Rivers appeared in a commercial for Go Daddy, which debuted during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV, and was featured as herself in the season two episode of Louis C
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers and her daughter starred in the reality show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2010· 1 entry
And was acclaimed by critics for providing "an honest, behind-the-scenes look at [Rivers]' career — and at show business in general"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2009· 3 entries
Rivers competed alongside her daughter Melissa on the second season of The Celebrity Apprentice, ultimately winning the season
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers and daughter Melissa were contestants on season eight of Celebrity Apprentice
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers was a special "pink-carpet" presenter for the broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, was roasted in a Comedy Central special, and her reality show, How'd You Get So Rich
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2008· 2 entries
Was commended by the City of San Diego, California for her philanthropic work on behalf of HIV/AIDS, where the HIV/AIDS community called her its "Joan of Arc"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers was invited to take part in a comedy event celebrating Prince Charles' 60th birthday titled, We Are Most Amused
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2007· 1 entry
Rivers performed at the 79th Royal Variety Show at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, England, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip present
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2004· 1 entry
Rivers was part of the formal receiving party when Ronald Reagan was placed in state at the United States Capitol
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2003· 1 entry
Rivers left the network red-carpet show for a three-year contract (valued at $6–8 million) to cover award shows' red carpet events for the TV Guide Channel
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2000· 1 entry
And by the first part of the decade, she continued to host the awards' red carpet for the E
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1997· 2 entries
From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage in 1998, and Don't Count the Candles: Just Keep the Fire Lit
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“ve Survived Everything ... and I Mean Everything ... and You Can Too! in 1997, From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage in 1998, and Don”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
1994· 2 entries
For the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance of the title role in Sally Marr
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers and daughter Melissa first hosted the E
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1991· 1 entry
Wrote her next book, Still Talking, which described the cancellation of her late-night show and her husband's suicide
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1990· 2 entries
Awarded Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Started to design jewelry, clothing and beauty products for the shopping channel QVC
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1989· 3 entries
The Joan Rivers Show, her daytime television program, premiered in broadcast syndication
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Awarded star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1987· 2 entries
Rosenberg committed suicide in Philadelphia; Rivers blamed the tragedy on his "humiliation" by Fox
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Four days after she asked him for a separation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1986· 4 entries
But Rivers's tenure was short-lived
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
The move came that ended Rivers's longtime friendship with Johnny Carson
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And described her rise to stardom and the evolution of her comedic persona
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
With her own rival program, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, Rivers became the first woman to host a late night network television talk show
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1984· 3 entries
Awarded Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year (1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
For a Grammy Award for her album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers published a best-selling humor book, The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz, a mock memoir of her brassy, loose comedy character, which was mostly jokes about promiscuity – of a type that would have been cons
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1983· 1 entry
And later performed at a luncheon at the 1984 Republican National Convention
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1978· 1 entry
Rivers made her directorial debut with the comedy Rabbit Test, which she also wrote and which starred her friend Billy Crystal in his film debut as the world's first pregnant man
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1973· 1 entry
Rivers co-wrote the made-for-television movie The Girl Most Likely To
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1972· 1 entry
And co-starred Gabriel Dell, Rose Marie and Paul Ford
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1968· 1 entry
The New York Times television critic Jack Gould called Rivers "quite possibly the most intuitively funny woman alive"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1965· 2 entries
(when she was in her 30s) as an attempt to further her career
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Worked as a gag writer and participant on Candid Camera, where she played the role of "the bait" to lure people into humorous situations for the show
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1964· 1 entry
Led to their inclusion in the motion picture Once Upon A Coffee House, marking Rivers's first credit in a feature film
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1961· 2 entries
Where she was dubbed "the best girl since Elaine May", who also got her start there
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Rivers made her MainStage debut in Second City’s seventh revue, Alarums and Excursions, her only production at the theater
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1955· 1 entry
To James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1954· 1 entry
Studied at Barnard College (1954).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #education
1952· 1 entry
Studied at Connecticut College (1950–1952).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #education
1949· 1 entry
Aged sixteen, she was vice president of the Dramatic Club
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1933· 2 entries
In the Brooklyn borough of New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman) and Meyer C
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Born 1933-06-08.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth