The comedian died Thursday, a week after suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest during routine throat surgery.
Molly Riley / Reuters
Joan Rivers, the pioneering comedian, died Thursday the age of 81, a week after she suffered cardiac arrest during a routine surgery, her daughter Melissa said in a statement.
Rivers underwent throat surgery at Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan on Aug. 28 when a 911 call was placed saying the comedian stopped breathing. She was immediately rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City where she was placed on life support in a medically induced coma, her family said.
On Wednesday, Melissa Rivers said that her mother had been moved from the intensive care unit and into a private room where she was being "kept comfortable."
Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Born Joan Alexandra Molinsky, Rivers rose to prominence as a comedian in the 1960s at a time when being a female stand-up comic was almost a contradiction in terms. Her scabrously self-depricating and sexually frank sense of humor — punctuated by her famous catchphrase "Can we talk?" — ultimately earned her a guest spot on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, which Rivers had said many times launched her career in earnest. Eventually, she became the permanent guest host of Carson's show, until she was offered her own late night talk show in 1986 by Fox (a decision that caused a permanent rift between her and Carson).
No comments:
Post a Comment