Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky on June 8, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. A daughter of Russian immigrants, she graduated with degrees in English and anthropology from Barnard College in 1954. Initially working for a fashion house, she was inspired to turn to comedy after watching a Lenny Bruce stand-up show. From there, she began work as a comedian, first gaining wide attention in the 1960s, through her appearances on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. She also took fame as the host of her own talk show; she would do so many times throughout her career.

Rivers’ popularity continued to rise throughout the 1970s and 1980s, through films, talk show appearances and her own shows. At one point, she headlined her own series of sold-out shows in Las Vegas. The 1980s saw her become a frequent guest host of The Tonight Show, then led by Johnny Carson; this ended in 1986, when she left to form her own talk show, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, on then newly-launched Fox. The show lasted for only a year, but it had a dent on her relations with Carson. More significantly, it made a dent on her personal life; the resulting fallout led to the suicide of her husband, which devastated her greatly.

Rivers returned to television in 1989, hosting daytime talk show The Joan Rivers Show. That earned her an Emmy, for Outstanding Talk Show Host, in 1990. In 1996, two years after the cancellation of that series, Rivers, joined E! and, with the help of her daughter Melissa, they presented numerous red carpet specials, which attracted viewers for their wit and class. They would leave the network in 2004, joining the TV Guide Channel in the same capacity.

Rivers also plunged into other endeavors throughout her career. An avid jewelry collector, she designed her own jewelry line for QVC in 1990. She has also written numerous books, has hosted a widely-syndicated radio show, written and directed films, and even appeared on theater.