Acerbic, brash comedian Joan Rivers died on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest during a medical procedure, according to Variety. Rivers had been admitted a week earlier to Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City after she ceased breathing during a vocal chord procedure at a clinic. She was 81.
An early fixture in the Greenwich Village standup scene, Rivers rose to fame for her dry and self-deprecating wit. She occasionally hosted The Tonight Show, had a massive run at Vegas clubs and guest-starred in a memorable episode of Louis C.K.'s FX series Louie in 2011. Rivers was known to be fearless; she took poor dressers to task on E!'s Fashion Police, provided skewering commentary at award show red carpets and penned a slew of bestselling books.
Rivers had been placed on life support on Tuesday. She was moved from intensive care to a private room at Mt. Sinai on Wednesday, where she was thought to be improving. Her daughter Melissa confirmed her death on Thursday in a statement: "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother."
Born Joan Molinsky, Rivers hailed from Brooklyn, New York. As a rising star she performed her brand of sharp standup comedy wherever people would have her, from resorts to strip clubs, before joining Chicago's Second City improv group. She performed alongside Barbra Streisand in a play, Driftwood, in 1959 and started writing for Candid Camera in the 1960s. Rivers first appeared on Johnny Carsons'Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965.
"What pleasure you feel when you’ve kept people happy for an hour and a half. They’ve forgotten their troubles. It’s great. There’s nothing like it in the world," she wrote in a 2012 piece for The Hollywood Reporter. "When everybody’s laughing, it’s a party. And then you get a check at the end. That’s very nice."
Rivers had been scheduled to perform next month in the United Kingdom.
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