How much is Joan Rivers worth?
| Net Worth: | $150 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Comedian |
| Date of Birth: | June 8, 1933 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.58 m |
About Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, better known by her stage name Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and television host who lived from June 8, 1933, until September 4, 2014. Her estimated net worth was $150 million. For her book, Diary of a Mad Diva, Rivers got a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album after her passing in 2015. Along with George Carlin, Woody Allen, and Richard Pryor, Rivers began her career performing in comedy clubs.
For a long, everyone believed that Joan Rivers, a comedian, would succeed Johnny Carson. She was a well-liked program guest host and may have been considered to succeed Carson after his retirement.
But that would not be a reality.
In 1933, Joan Alexandra Molinsky was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rivers adopted the culture of her Russian immigrant parents, perhaps even more so than she did the Brooklyn culture. Before relocating to Westchester County, New York, she spent the majority of her formative years there.
Barnard College awarded Rivers a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and literature. After graduating, she went back to New York City and started looking for work in the entertainment industry. Famously, Rivers joined the NBC tour team at Rockefeller Center. She worked at Bond Clothing Stores as a fashion consultant and proofreader as well.
However, the stage remained Rivers’ first love, and she quickly landed roles in several off-Broadway productions, including “Driftwood,” in which she played a lesbian with a crush on Barbra Streisand. That resulted in some acting and improvisation with “The Second City” before starting stand-up comedy.
Rivers discovered her niche in stand-up. Soon after, she was invited to perform on Jack Paar’s version of The Tonight Show. This resulted in a professional job writing jokes for host Alan Funt on Candid Camera. Rivers performed on Candid Camera as well, frequently serving as the bait that drew in unaware participants.
Can we talk?
Late in the 1960s, Rivers made her debut on daytime television by presenting a transient chat program. But that chat show cemented her bond with Carson, a bond that would be put to the test less than 20 years later. Rivers was unaffected by cancellation. She then transitioned to more variety programming and a range of nationwide comedy shows.
And her bond with Carson became stronger over time. Rivers frequently referred to Carson as her father figure and mentor. Rivers was regularly a guest on The Tonight Show thanks to Carson, who in turn made her a regular host in August 1983. However, Rivers’ star was still rising at the time.
Things changed after that.
A brand-new television network called FOX was just starting off in 1986. It sought a host for a late-night conversation show among its roster of outrageous programs. Rivers turned to face FOX and agreed to the job.
Every night, the show would air from 11 p.m. to midnight, starting a half-hour earlier than her friend’s Tonight Show and interfering with its first hour. Carson was reportedly furious. And not because his close buddy and coworker would be hosting her own show. He was displeased that a news article and not Rivers herself had informed him of the program.
According to Rivers, calls to Carson to clear the air remained unanswered.
Later that year, Joan Rivers’ The Late Show premiered. It got off to a solid start with respectable ratings. However, within that month, ratings began to decline, and the network sought to shake things up. It wanted Rivers’ husband, Edgar Rosenberg, a producer on the show, to be fired.
Rivers protested the action. FOX fired Rivers and Rosenberg in response to her move. There was no more Late Show. Rosenberg unfortunately committed suicide not long after. At one point, Rivers asserted that the pressure of the circumstance had driven him to distraction.
The Joan Rivers Show, a new daytime talk show that ran for five years and won Rivers a Daytime Emmy, debuted after a two-year hiatus.
The E! network now employs Rivers and her daughter Melissa as traveling reporters.
Death
In 2014, Rivers stopped breathing after suffering severe complications from a routine throat operation at a Manhattan facility in Yorkville. Rivers was moved to Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City and given life support. She passed away on September 4 at Mount Sinai, never emerging from a coma that was artificially induced. The value of Joan Rivers’ estate was roughly $150 million at the time of her passing in 2014.
In 2017, Rivers was voted sixth by Rolling Stone among the 50 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. That same year, she was admitted to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
The documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work was about her (2010).
