FASHION POLICE HOST JOAN RIVERS DIES AT 81

The comedian Joan Rivers, whose mastery of the acid one-liner never wavered in a career that spanned five decades and many more cosmetic procedures, died on Thursday, aged  81.

A statement said.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” her daughter, Melissa Rivers, said in a statement. “She passed peacefully at 1.17pm surrounded by family and close friends.”

Rivers suffered a cardiac arrest during throat surgery on her vocal cords at an outpatient clinic in New York on 28 August. She was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital on the Upper East Side, and was moved from its intensive care unit into a private room on Wednesday. She never regained consciousness.

In the almost 50 years since she burst onto the scene on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rivers ascended to the pinnacle of American showbusiness – even as she skewered its excesses with her scathing wit.

A workaholic, Rivers had been hosting an online weekly talk show called In Bed with Joan, and had just filmed a special award-show episode of E!’s Fashion Police before being taken ill. She was frequently performing live stand-up, and had finished the fourth season of Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, the reality show in which she starred with her daughter.

Born in Brooklyn in 1933, Rivers worked the New York comedy scene alongside Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Woody Allen. Her big break came with an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965, where she quickly became an audience favourite. Live on air after her first appearance, Carson said: “You’re gonna be a star,” and he became her close friend and mentor. She went on to appear on a galaxy of other TV shows, including The Carol Burnett Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as performing live in New York and Las Vegas, and recording several comedy albums.


The New York city department of health is investigating the circumstances that led to the cardiac arrest suffered by Rivers last Thursday. She was undergoing a minor throat procedure at Yorkville Endoscopy, which was established in 2013 and describes itself as a “state-of-the-art” facility. The health department investigation is said to be routine.