These are some of the flowers and sentimental items left on Joan Rivers’ Walk of Fame star after her death at age 81. The world loved Joan. She loved them back. She didn’t always come out and show it, but that’s the truth. Joan adored her audience and threw herself into the often difficult task of entertaining. She was a trailblazer of women’s comedy. Joan made it alright to be a little rude and crude. She will be missed. Many members of Hollywood have delivered their condolences including her employers, E! and NBC:
E! and NBCUniversal send our deepest condolences to Melissa, Cooper and her entire extended family on this incredibly sad day. For decades Joan has made people laugh, shattered glass ceilings and revolutionized comedy. She was unapologetic and fiercely dedicated to entertaining all of us and has left an indelible mark on the people that worked with her and on her legions of fans. She’s been a much beloved member of the E! family for over 20 years and the world is less funny without her in it. Today our hearts are heavy knowing Joan will not be bounding through the doors.
[From NBC]
Joan was the subject of late-night talk shows. These hosts of these shows paid special tribute in ways that Joan would have appreciated. For example, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman ripped on each other’s fashion choices.
Here’s what Dave Letterman had to say last night:
Here’s a woman, a real pioneer for other women looking for careers in stand-up comed. And talk about guts — she would come out here and sit in this chair and say some things that were unbelievable, just where you would have to swallow pretty hard … but it was hilarious … the force of her comedy was overpowering.”
[From Late Show with David Letterman]
Dave sums Joan’s essence up perfectly. Here are some more tributes from Twitter:
RIP Joan Rivers. Being publicly told that my dress is hideous will never feel quite as awesome. You will be truly missed.
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) September 4, 2014
So sorry to hear the news about Joan Rivers. She was one of a kind. My heart goes out to Melissa and Cooper.
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) September 4, 2014
Very sad to learn about Joan Rivers, a pioneer for women in comedy.
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) September 4, 2014
I loved Joan Rivers. A trailblazing funny lady. Have fun up there. #RIPJoan
— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) September 4, 2014
Joan Rivers has died. What a sad ending to a brilliant and tragi-comic life; one of the bravest, and funniest of all.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) September 4, 2014
Watching Joan Rivers do standup at age 81 was incredible: athletic, jaw-dropping, terrifying, essential. It never stopped. Neither will she.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 4, 2014
May you rest in peace Joan Rivers. Your uniqueness and your gift of laughter will permeate the heavens. You will never be forgotten.
— Goldie Hawn (@goldiehawn) September 4, 2014
RIP Joan Rivers. A force of nature.
— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) September 4, 2014
These celebs said it all. RIP, Joan Rivers. She was a tough woman who kept the world laughing for decades. Humor is vital to the human spirit. We never realize how much laughter means until it leaves. Our thoughts go out to Joan’s family and all who loved her.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
RIP Joan, you will always be missed.
What really upsets me about her death is that it just seems so premature. This woman had so much life in her. I really believe she had at least ten years to go, if it wasn’t for that surgery.
Agreed.
Yes, she was full of life and nowhere near her time and that’s what makes this so tragic. She should still be here, cracking jokes and critiquing celebs on their fashion choices.
Agree — she just left too soon. It doesn’t feel time yet.
But here’s something Joan would’ve loved:
A newsreader [maybe on CNN] read a hearfelt tweet about Joan’s death that ended saying “RIP” and she pronounced it: “rip” — hilarious.
And she didn’t even seem to notice.
This is the kinda stuff Joan loved to jump on and I had to laugh!
That’s how I always read it in my head too. I know it’s an acronym, but the all-caps “RIP” just seems so very impersonal and generic to me… so I’ve always thought of it with the crude pronunciation.
Watched some of the E tribute to her and it’s nice to hear about what a nice person she was off stage. She was tough but she had to be to be successful. She will be missed.
I loved Lena’s response to Anna Kendrick tweet:
“She once said my tats looked like Michael J Fox drew them and Stevie Wonder filled them in <3"
Somebody posted a little piece on FB right before Joan was going in for (a different) surgery, cosmetic, I think. I would link it, but I don’t know how. It made me feel better, because she was telling Melissa how much she loved her, and if anything should happen to her (Joan), it would be fine, because her life had been more incredible than she ever would have believed, and how much fun she had and was still having, Melissa was a fine person and Cooper was healthy and strong. I really think she meant it, and it was a comfort to know that she felt that way and told Melissa that she felt that way. Then, being Joan, she said her only disappointment was that Cooper wasn’t gay because who would want her collection of show tunes?
RIP Joan.
Joan would alway tell Melissa and Cooper how much she love them before going in for surgery no matter what type it was. I don’t know if I believe that Joan was having cosmetic surgery she alway been very open about it before and after she would get something done.
No, I meant the little conversation I’m referring to was taped before she had a different surgery a few years ago, and I got the impression that it was a cosmetic surgery because of something she said about having to look good in this industry. I know the procedure she just had that went wrong was for her vocal chords.
There were a lot of very touching condolences and tributes from Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon and even Prince Charles. It’s nice to see how many people admired her.
I really believed that she was admired for her strength, humor, longevity and wisdom. She always said what anybody else thought and sometimes she use to go in extremes. But to me she always made sense and she made me lough. Coming from the whole another generation I did find her humor to be honest, entertaining and fresh. And she worked till the end, how amazing is that. RIP Joan.
Another thing that amazed me about Joan, was that she totally reinvented herself in later life. In her 60s and 70s she created a fashion and jewelry empire and she embraced new media and enlarged an mastered it. When other people are sorting their potholders in their retirement home she was force of nature. I take comfort in the fact that it’s never to late for a woman to be herself and do what she wants.
Wonderfully said, G
+1
I have binged on YouTube videos of Joan yesterday. I’ll miss her humour. RIP
I just came here from doing the same exact thing, and chances are I’ll be continuing throughout the weekend. She wanted to make us laugh and that’s exactly what she had me doing, even today.
Joan recently talked about how she considered suicide in a dark moment after Edgar died. Her career was in a huge slump and her daughter wasn’t speaking to her. Her dog managed to get her attention and she realized no one would take care of him. She persevered for many more years.
I never knew the other side of the Carson controversy until now. He sounds like a jerk instead of the nice guy people assumed.
Leno kept her ban in effect for his entire stint as host of the Tonight Show, presumably because of a promise he made to Carson.
How stupid and petty 🙁
Oh but what about his promise to retire? They had to force him out
She is such an icon and was such a huge part of pop culture, especially recently. She’ll be missed.
Give them hell upstairs, joan. We lost a ballsey, smart woman. They don’t make them like that anymore. You will be missed.
+1
The fact that she stayed relevant for so long is astonishing. I agree with Sarah, she wasn’t done.
I liked her self deprecating humor better than the celeb stuff, although she was definitely funny with some of that as well. I found her to be less funny at the end, but that doesn’t detract from her lifelong career. She went out, before she burned out, so her legacy will long remain intact. It was nice to hear about all the acts of generosity to regular people behind the scenes that I never knew about. I guess she was the female Don Rickles in that she hid her kind and soft persona behind a brash stage presence. Seeing those photos of early Joan and later Joan, it’s hard to reconcile that they are pics of the same person. She must have harbored some serious insecurity.
RIP Joan. My heartfelt sympathy to Melissa.
I watched part of an episode of Joan and Melissa this morning where Joan smokes weed. She’s looking for something to calm her down so she can relax, and while talking to the camera she asks what other choice is there, Propofol? She jokes about not liking the side effects, one being sudden death. Incredibly and ironically the New York State Department of Health will be investigating the clinic where she had her ill fated surgery, and there are concerns she was given Propofol.
Propofol is given routinely for endoscopy procedures. It is safe and has the patient back to normal quickly. Other sedatives such as versed and fentanyl usually result in a groggy patient.
It killed Michael Jackson because it was used as a sleep aid and was not used in a hospital setting.
I’ll say it again. I believe this DID NOT have to happen. I may be proven wrong, but I bet she was given propofol or other heavy sedative (over sedation with midazolam and fentanyl is also possible) without an anesthesiologist present as it is legal to do in some states. (IE- the GI doc will give it with a nurse around. But you don’t want a GI doc having to rescue you if you stop breathing or worse…)
Please be aware of who is giving you sedation for your office (or hospital) based procedures – Colonoscopies, endoscopies, plastic surgery, etc. It is a money saving thing to NOT have an anesthesiologist (or even nurse anesthetist) present, even when administering propofol, but if you were to stop breathing, you want someone around with the years of training needed to get you back (or prevent a problem in the first place…). Ok, sorry, will get off my soapbox. Just want everyone to be safe.
RIP Joan. Heaven has got to be a pretty funny place this month…. 🙁
I have loved reading all of the tributes and I’m glad CB included some vintage pics of Joan. I didn’t always hold with her jokes but I always admired that she was never afraid to be her authentic self.
RIP Joan.
Nicely said.
My heart goes out to Melissa. I am an only child and had to make the same decision and sign the same papers for my own Mother following by-pass surgery. It is the loneliest feeling in the world, even though you know it is what your Mother wanted. Fortunately, Joan was still going full tilt up to the end, much like my Mother. Larry the Cable Guy tweeted that upon arrival at the pearly Gates, Joan was probably busting everyone’s chops for wearing white after Labor Day. So, instead of wishing Joan to Rest In Peace, may she Rest In Laughter.
Rip Joan.
Nice Jimmy Kimmel clip. I didn’t always find Joan Rivers funny but I really admired her work ethic. She was one tough, talented lady. It’s sad that she’s gone but I’m glad she went out on top.