Joan Rivers

About Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers (born Joan Sandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933) is an American comedian, actress, talk show host, businesswoman, and celebrity. She is known for her brash manner and loud, raspy voice with a heavy metropolitan New York accent. Rivers is the National Chairwoman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is a board member of God's Love We Deliver. Like the ground-breaking Phyllis Diller, Rivers' act relied heavily on poking fun at herself. A typical Rivers joke about her unattractiveness: "I used to stand by the side of the road with a sign: 'Last girl before freeway.'"

Joan Rivers was born Joan Sandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Beatrice and Meyer C. Molinsky. She was raised in Westchester County, New York. She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952, and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a B.A. in English and anthropology.

In the 1960s Rivers made television appearances as a comedian on the popular shows The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as hosting the first of her several talk shows. Later in that decade she made a brief but notable appearance opposite Burt Lancaster in the film, The Swimmer. She was also a regular gag writer and performer on TV's Candid Camera.