1. art and entertainment
2. humor

JOAN RIVERS
BIOGRAPHY
JOAN RIVERS is a force of nature and one of the
hardest-working celebrities in the world. An
entertainment legend of unparalleled
accomplishment and talent, she’s an
internationally renowned comedienne, Tonynominated actress, best-selling author, Emmy
Award-winning television talk show host,
playwright, screenwriter, motion picture director,
columnist, lecturer, syndicated radio host, jewelry
designer and cosmetic company entrepreneur,
red carpet fashion laureate, businesswoman -and most importantly, a proud mother and
grandmother.
Joan has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than four decades in the entertainment
industry and beyond, and as her recent accomplishments reveal, she’s as robust and hardworking as ever. In 2009, she starred in NBC’s hit reality series The Celebrity Apprentice with her
daughter Melissa, emerging as the Season Two winner. She also celebrated the publication of
two critically acclaimed, best-selling books: Men Are Stupid and They Like Big Boobs: A
Woman’s Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery and Murder at the Academy Awards: A Red
Carpet Murder Mystery, both published by Simon & Schuster. She received a Daytime Emmy
nomination for her portrayal of Bubbe in PBS’ award-winning animated children’s series Arthur,
gave life to the character, Dot Matrix in the animated series, Spaceballs, played an eccentric aunt
in two seasons of IFC’s popular mockumentary series Z Rock, and wowed audiences at The
Underbelly in London with her comedy show Unplugged and Uncensored.
In August 2009, the iconic funny woman will be roasted, toasted, and honored in The Comedy
Central Roast of Joan Rivers. This will mark the highly-anticipated debut of her new TV Land
reality series, How’d You Get So Rich?, a candid look at the extravagant lifestyles of fabulously
rich entrepreneurs and innovators.
Joan Rivers is a true pioneer: she created her own brand of irreverent, unconventional comedy
and forged her remarkable rise to stardom in the entertainment world. Enduring humiliation and
deprivation for nearly a decade playing tawdry clubs, Borscht Belt hotels, and Greenwich Village
cabarets (“I was insanely persistent,” she says.), her career skyrocketed in 1968 when she
appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Within three years she was hosting That
Show With Joan Rivers, one of the first syndicated daytime shows. She soon made television
history as the first sole guest host of The Tonight Show. Her own The Late Show Starring Joan
Rivers helped launch the Fox Network in 1986. In 1989, she returned to daytime television with
The Joan Rivers Show, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host and her own
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Joan’s unique gifts of humor, compassion, and tenacity have enabled her to triumph over
personal tragedy and attain extraordinary professional success. In 1990, she launched the Joan
Rivers Classics Collection of fashion jewelry on QVC. The collection became an instant
bestseller, and Joan was honored with an ACE Award from the Accessories Council in 1997. The
collection continues to be enormously successful, earning a record-breaking 750 million dollars
plus in sales to date.
A pre-eminent connoisseur of fine art, antiques, and vintage jewelry, Joan keeps her finger on the
pulse of all the latest trends and is widely considered America’s most visible, accessible, and
authoritative fashion spokesperson. Her firm belief that when women look their best they can be
their best was the inspiration for Joan Rivers Beauty, a continually expanding line of products that
was launched on QVC in 2000. It encompasses Absolutely Magic skincare, color cosmetics, and
her signature fragrance, Now & Forever.
One of the most naturally style-savvy women on the planet, Joan consistently appears on Best
Dressed lists around the world. Along with her daughter Melissa, she hosted E!’s red-carpet
events from 1996-2004. From 2004-2007, they continued their “must-see” red-carpet coverage of
the Emmys and other awards ceremonies for the TV Guide Channel, garnering the highest
ratings ever for the channel.
While continuing to headline at prestigious concert venues worldwide, Joan is always working on
new projects. In April 2002, she brought her critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival onewoman show, Broke and Alone, to London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket, where she received rave
reviews and the theatre’s first standing ovation in fourteen years. The show enjoyed equally
enthusiastic critical and audience response at the State Theatres in Sydney and Melbourne.
Subsequent performances, including two one-week runs at the Canon Theatre in Los Angeles, all
garnered “hottest ticket in town” status.
Constantly in motion, Joan knows first-hand the importance of healthy bones in helping us all live
the life we want and deserve. In 2004, she reached out to the National Osteoporosis Foundation
(NOF) with a passion and purpose to get the word out about osteoporosis, a disease that affects
one in two women over fifty. As NOF Ambassador, she took this message to Capitol Hill in 2005,
working with the Surgeon General and Congressional leaders to generate support, increased
awareness, and national action to prevent this disease. Honored by NOF in 2005 with its firstever Innovation Award, Joan continues to lend her energy and creativity to this important mission,
encouraging people everywhere to be aware of osteoporosis and bone health.
By 2003, Joan was once again dazzling audiences as a headliner in Las Vegas. In October of
2004, she returned to the U.K. for her first national concert tour. The Glasgow International
Comedy Festival followed in March of 2005, but the U.K. was clamoring for more, so she returned
to England for her second major tour in two years. In the spring of 2006, the greatly sought-after
comedienne returned to Australia for sold-out shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and
Canberra.
In August 2007, Joan launched The Joan Rivers Theatre Project, a play-in-progress workshop,
which she co-wrote and starred in, for a limited engagement at the Magic Theatre in San
Francisco. Six months later, the show opened to rave reviews at the Geffen Playhouse in Los
Angeles as Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress, enjoying sold out
performances for its entire six-week run. This was followed by a sold out run at the Edinburgh,
preceding a successful 3 week run at London’s Leicester Square theatre.
From her signature question “Can we talk?” (a Federal trademark) to her red-carpet mantra “Who
are you wearing?”, the woman who asks the questions gets the answers America -- and the world
-- wants to hear.
Joan Rivers embodies class, confidence, and chutzpah in all the right proportions, and her
accomplishments are extraordinary. Her most joyous triumph is being grandmother to Melissa’s
son, Cooper (Edgar Cooper Endicott), who was born on December 1, 2000.
2
The critics agree about…
JOAN RIVERS
Broke and Alone
“A hurricane is currently attacking Tinseltown leaving comic chaos in its wicked wake…its name
is Joan Rivers.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Once she gets them laughing, the audience doesn’t know how to stop.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“TRIUMPHANT. There’s bad stand-up, there’s good stand-up and there’s Joan Rivers. She is so
far ahead of the game…comparisons are pointless.” *****(OUT OF FIVE)
THE GUARDIAN
“Not so much a stand-up comic as a force of nature, a human tornado.”
EVENING STANDARD
“…makes most comics half her age look frankly moribund.”
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
“There’s no escaping her whiplash tongue.”
THE DAILY MAIL
“One of New York City’s greatest contributions to humor.”
THE INDEPENDENT
“Watching Joan Rivers makes me want to have children just so that one day I could tell them
about the night I saw her. She has a commitment to entertainment that is breathtaking. I will
remember the hour all of my life.”
THE SCOTSMAN
“Rivers is a charismatic performer and she delivers her schtick with great gusto…you’d be hard
pressed to find a more outrageous and candid stand-up routine, even on the late night comedy
circuit.”
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
“Rivers is a bona-fide star…Broke and Alone, Rivers’ new show, which sold out at the State Theatre,
is a solid, confident, classic hour of stand-up comedy.”
THE MELBOURNE AGE
“I love Joan Rivers because she is a maniac: smart, sassy, switchblade sharp and fabulously foulmouthed. She’s the suicide bomber of comedians. She’s utterly unafraid…even at her most polite,
Rivers is rampantly, outrageously – even shockingly – funny.”
HERALD SUN (Melbourne)
“…knocks people over the head with her take-no-prisoners avalanche of infamously unreconstructed
and wickedly funny invective.”
THE AUSTRALIAN
3
JOAN RIVERS
CREDITS – TELEVISION & COMEDY TOURS
1966-67
CANDID CAMERA (writer)
1969-71
THAT SHOW (writer/star; 260 shows; NBC)
1973
THE GIRL MOST LIKELY TO (writer; ABC)
1983-86
THE TONIGHT SHOW (first permanent guest host)
1984
AN AUDIENCE WITH…(London Weekend Television)
1985
JOAN RIVERS AND FRIENDS SALUTE HEIDI ABROMOWITZ (Showtime)
1986
JOAN RIVERS: CAN WE TALK? (host; 6 one-hour specials; BBC)
1986-87
THE LATE SHOW STARRING JOAN RIVERS (launches FOX NETWORK)
1987-89
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES (center square)
1989-94
THE JOAN RIVERS SHOW (nationally syndicated)
1990-91
GOSSIP, GOSSIP, GOSSIP (USA Networks)
1990
HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE (CBS; MOW)
1992
LADY BOSS (MOW; ABC)
1994
TEARS AND LAUGHTER: THE JOAN AND MELISSA RIVERS STORY (NBC;
MOW)
1994
CAN WE SHOP? (nationally syndicated)
1996-2004
Co-host with Melissa Rivers of red-carpet coverage of awards’ telecasts and
Fashion Police Specials (E! ENTERTAINMENT)
1997
A&E BIOGRAPHY: JOAN RIVERS
1998-99
SUDDENLY SUSAN and ANOTHER WORLD (guest appearances; NBC)
1999
INTIMATE PORTRAIT: JOAN RIVERS (Lifetime)
2001
E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY
2001
EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL: BROKE AND ALONE
2002
SECOND CITY PRESENTS… JOAN RIVERS (Bravo)
2002
LONDON’S THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET: BROKE AND ALONE
2002
TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
2003
I’M WITH HER (guest appearances; ABC)
2003
LAS VEGAS (Headliner)
2003
CANON THEATER, LA (two one-week appearances)
2004
DAVE THE BARBARIAN (voice-over, THE DISNEY CHANNEL)
4
2004-2007
Co-host with Melissa Rivers of red-carpet coverage of awards’ telecasts and
Fashion Wrap Specials (TV GUIDE CHANNEL)
2004-2006
JOAN RIVERS – THE DISMISSED JUROR (Hollywood Heat: COURT TV)
2004-2005
NIP/TUCK (guest appearances; FX Channel)
2004
TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
2004
THE JOAN RIVERS POSITION (comedy/advice series; U.K. Channel 5)
2004 -2005
NIP / TUCK (FX)
2005
THE GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
2005
JAKERS! THE ADVENTURES OF PIGGLEY WINKS (PBS’ Award-winning
series by Mel Brooks)
2005
LESS THAN PERFECT (guest appearance; ABC)
2005
TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN
2006
AN AUDIENCE WITH…(TV SPECIAL; ITV)
2006
ARBY’S NATIONAL TELEVISION AND RADIO COMMERCIAL
2006
TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
2006
BOSTON LEGAL (guest appearance; ABC)
2006
JOAN RIVERS: BEFORE MELISSA PULLS THE PLUG (comedy special,
BRAVO)
2007
LIVE AT THE APOLLO (HOST, TV SPECIAL; BBC)
2007-2008
GEICO NATIONAL TELEVISON COMMERCIAL
2008
ARTHUR (PBS)
BIG BROTHER (UK)
CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD (NBC)
ITV SPECIAL: FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY (Co-Host)
ITV SPECIAL: PRINCE CHARLES’ 60th BIRTHDAY (London)
GEORGE CARLIN CELEBRATED (Kennedy Center)
JUST FOR LAUGHS COMEDY FESTIVAL (Montreal)
ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE (London)
SPACEBALLS: THE ANIMATED SERIES (G4)
Z-ROCK (IFC)
2009
THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE (NBC; Winner, Season 2)
HOW’D YOU GET SO RICH? (TV Land)
COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF JOAN RIVERS
5
CREDITS – BOOKS
1974
HAVING A BABY CAN BE A SCREAM
1984
THE LIFE AND HARD TIMES OF HEIDI ABROMOWITZ
1986
ENTER TALKING (#2 on NY Times Bestseller List for 6 weeks)
1991
STILL TALKING
1995
JEWELRY BY JOAN RIVERS
1997
BOUNCING BACK (Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller lists, among others)
1998
FROM MOTHER TO DAUGHTER: Thoughts and Advice On
Life, Love and Marriage
1999
DON’T COUNT THE CANDLES: Just Keep The Fire Lit
2009
MEN ARE STUPID AND THEY LIKE BIG BOOBS: A Woman’s Guide to Beauty Through
Plastic Surgery (Simon & Schuster)
MURDER AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS: A Red Carpet Murder Mystery (Simon & Schuster)
CREDITS – FEATURE FILMS
1969
THE SWIMMER (with Burt Lancaster)
1978
RABBIT TEST (writer/director)
1984
THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (cameo)
1987
Mel Brooks’ SPACEBALLS (voice of Dot Matrix)
1989
LOOK WHO’S TALKING (co-writer; voice of the baby)
1994
SERIAL MOM (with Kathleen Turner; directed by John Waters)
1998
GOOSED (with Jennifer Tilly)
2000
L’INTERN
2004
SHREK 2
6
CREDITS – THEATRE
1971
FUN CITY (co-writer/ star)
1988
Neil Simon’s BROADWAY BOUND (directed by Gene Saks)
1994
SALLY MARR AND HER ESCORTS (co-writer/star; Tony Award nominee for Best Actress)
2007
THE JOAN RIVERS THEATRE PROJECT (co-writer/star), THE MAGIC THEATRE, SAN
FRANCISCO
2008
JOAN RIVERS: A WORK IN PROGRESS BY A LIFE IN PROGRESS (co-writer/star)
THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE, LOS ANGELES
EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL
LECEISTER SQUARE THEATRE, LONDON
CREDITS – RADIO
1997-2002
THE JOAN RIVERS SHOW (WOR/ national syndication)
CREDITS – MISCELLANEOUS
1973-76
CHICAGO TRIBUNE (wrote thrice-weekly column)
1983
WHAT BECOMES A SEMI LEGEND MOST? (Grammy Award nominated comedy album)
1996
SHOPPING FOR FITNESS (ABC Home Video)
1999-2000
McCALL’s Magazine (wrote mother/daughter advice column with daughter, Melissa)
2002-2003
STAR Magazine (Fashion/Style Columnist with daughter Melissa)
2005-2006
IN TOUCH Magazine (Fashion/Style Columnist with daughter Melissa)
7
AWARDS
1980
CLIO AWARD for Best Performer in a Television Commercial (Firestone Tire Co.)
1984
Harvard University Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
1986
Harvard University Instant Pudding Award
1987/1991
JIMMY AWARD (named after comedian, Jimmy Durante)
1989
Honored with a “Star” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1990
EMMY AWARD for Outstanding Talk/ Service Show Host for THE JOAN RIVERS SHOW
1997
ACE AWARD (Accessories Council’s Award of Excellence for the Joan Rivers Classics
Collection of fashion jewelry on QVC)
2000
Honorary Doctor of the Arts degree from Marymount College
2004
Honorary Doctorate degree from Pratt Institute of Arts and Design
2004
National Council of Jewish Women (Rebekah Kohut Award for Service to the Community)
2007
PRISM HERITAGE AWARD
BUSINESS
1990
Launched award-winning Joan Rivers Classics Collection
1995
Launched Joan Rivers Classics Collection on QVC U.K., London
1995
Founded Joan Rivers Worldwide Enterprises
1996
Launched Joan Rivers Classics Collection on The Shopping Channel, Toronto
2000
Launched Joan Rivers Beauty on QVC, a continually expanding line of products that
encompasses Absolutely Magic skincare treatment, color cosmetics, and her signature
fragrance, Now & Forever.
8