Jerry Seinfeld Finds 'Hearbreaking' Text; Remembers Joan Rivers

By: Sep. 15, 2014
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Jerry Seinfeld shared a tribute to Joan Rivers today on the COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE Facebook page after discovering the legendary comedienne had agreed to appear on his show.

Seinfeld wrote:

"I just came across this heartbreaking text on my phone from August 19th. I had asked Joan Rivers to be our lead guest on the new season of Comedians in Cars, and she was thrilled. Then we got a call saying she was going in for a medical procedure and needed to postpone.

I would have loved to have shown another side of her. I wanted to tell her how much I admire all she had accomplished, especially in the latter stages of her career. She was one of the greats. I'll miss her."

The text message is below:

Rivers died on September 4, 2014 at the age of 81. Rivers was long a fixture on the New York scene, with numerous standup appearances, benefit appearances, and a long association with the theatrical community. She was a constant presence at opening nights and special events, and never hesitated to express her love for theatre and live entertainment.

Rivers first made the rounds in New York during the 1950s, appearing in a few off-off Broadway plays (including one where she played a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbra Streisand), and as she often put it 'surviving sleazy agents, tawdry clubs, and hostile audiences.' A 1965 booking on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" led to her hosting one of the first Syndicated talk shows on daytime TV, "That Show with Joan Rivers" in 1968.

In the 1970s Joan wrote the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely To (starring Stockard Channing) and then wrote and directed her first feature film Rabbit Test, casting Billy Crystal in the lead. In 1983 Joan became the permanent guest host on "The Tonight Show." Later, she headlined in Las Vegas, sold out Carnegie Hall, produced a Grammy nominated comedy album, and wrote two best-selling books. In 1989 the Tribune Corporation launched Joan in her own Syndicated daytime talk show.

Her Broadway credits include Fun City, Broadway Bound and Sally Marr...and her escorts, for which she received a Drama Desk Nomination as Outstanding Actress in a Play and a Tony Nomination for Best Actress in a Play.



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