Legendary comedienne Joan Rivers died on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 1:17 p.m. at the age of 81, the Associated Press reported via Twitter, citing Rivers' daughter Melissa Rivers. Rivers was hospitalized on Thursday, Aug. 28 after she stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure. According to TMZ, the "Fashion Police" cohost was undergoing surgery on her vocal chords at a New York City clinic when she went into cardiac and respiratory arrest.
A 911 call was placed from the clinic around 9:40 a.m. Thursday and Rivers was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was placed in a medically induced coma. Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, and grandson, Copper, immediately flew across the country to be by Rivers' side. Melissa released a statement on Friday afternoon (Aug. 29) saying that her mother's condition was still serious "but she's receiving the best treatment and care possible."
The Brooklyn-born Rivers first rose to fame in the 1960s with the launch of her syndicated daytime talk show, "That Show." She also had several high-profile guest host appearances on "The Tonight Show," hosted by Johnny Carson at the time. The comedienne and actress always referred to Carson as a mentor but the two had a falling out and never patched things up before Carson's death in 2005.
According to reports, after appearing on "The Tonight Show," Rivers was offered her own late night talk show, "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers." The Fox show was in competition with Carson's and the friends had a nasty falling out.
The larger-than-life Rivers was banned from "The Tonight Show" couch; an unspoken decision that lasted many decades. Carson's first two successors Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien never had Rivers as a guest on the show. After 26 years, she finally made her "Tonight Show" appearance in February 2014 during Jimmy Fallon's first episode. She later returned to the couch the following month for an interview.
The sharp-tongued Rivers didn't disappoint and left new host Fallon a little nervous after cracking a joke about German cars, People magazine reports. Rivers was known for her sometimes-insensitive jokes about celebrities and Hollywood stars but she also poked fun at herself and her numerous plastic surgery procedures.
"The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" was short-lived and plagued with tragedy. During the late 1980s, Fox executives wanted to fire Rivers' husband, Edgar Rosenberg, as the show's producer. When the comedienne caused uproar over the decision, Fox let go both Rivers and Rosenberg. Three months later, on May 15, 1987, Rosenberg committed suicide.
Over the last decade, Rivers said she had no plans on slowing her life and career down.
"I'll only stop the day I die," she said in a 2007 interview with the Las Vegas sun (via NBC New York).
And Rivers didn't slow down. Besides cohosting E!'s "Fashion Police" with Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne and Geroge Kotsiopoulos, she appeared on her WEtv reality show, "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best," with her daughter and grandson. Rivers competed on "The Celebrity Apprentice" and won in 2011 and most recently launched a YouTube talk show, "In Bed with Joan."
She has received a Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame, authored 12 best-selling memoirs and humor books and won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host for "The Joan Rivers Show."
She is survived by her daughter, Melissa, and grandson, Cooper.
