Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers began her career in the late 1950s performing in the Off-Broadway play Driftwood alongside Barbra Streisand. In the early 1960s she performed stand-up in Greenwich Village clubs including The Bitter End, The Gaslight Cafe, and The Duplex. In 1961 she joined The Second City and appeared in its seventh revue, Alarums and Excursions. Between 1963 and 1964 she performed in the cabaret act “Jim, Jake & Joan,” which led to her first film credit in the movie Once Upon a Coffee House (1964). She worked as a writer and performer on Candid Camera in 1965 and made her debut appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson the same year. During the late 1960s she frequently appeared on television programs including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Dick Cavett Show. She also appeared in the film The Swimmer (1968) and hosted the syndicated talk show That Show with Joan Rivers (1968).

In the 1970s Rivers continued appearing on television programs including The Carol Burnett Show, Hollywood Squares, and Here's Lucy. She made her Broadway debut in the play Fun City (1972) and narrated the animated segment The Adventures of Letterman on The Electric Company from 1972 to 1976. She co-wrote the television film The Girl Most Likely To... (1973) and directed and wrote the comedy film Rabbit Test (1978).

During the 1980s Rivers expanded her television and stand-up career. In 1983 she performed a stand-up concert at Carnegie Hall, hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, and released the comedy album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? (1983). That same year she became the first permanent guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1986 she launched the late-night program The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers on the Fox Broadcasting Company. She also voiced the character Dot Matrix in the film Spaceballs (1987). In 1989 she began hosting the syndicated daytime talk show The Joan Rivers Show, which ran for five seasons.

In the 1990s Rivers starred in the television film How to Murder a Millionaire (1990) and continued hosting The Joan Rivers Show. Beginning in 1994 she and her daughter Melissa Rivers hosted red-carpet coverage for the E! Entertainment Television broadcasts of the Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards. That same year she co-wrote and starred in the Broadway play Sally Marr ... and Her Escorts (1994). In 1997 she launched a radio show on WOR Radio.

In the 2000s Rivers continued performing and appearing on television. From 2002 to 2004 she toured with the one-woman stage show Joan Rivers: Broke and Alone. She made guest appearances as herself in series including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Nip/Tuck, and Boston Legal, and voiced herself in the film Shrek 2 (2004). She wrote and performed the stage show Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress (2008). In 2009 she appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, which she won, and hosted the reality series How'd You Get So Rich? (2009–2010).

In the 2010s Rivers appeared in the documentary film Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010). Beginning in 2010 she co-hosted the television series Fashion Police on E!. She appeared as herself on the series Louie (2011) and starred in the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (2011–2014). She also voiced a character on The Simpsons (2011) and made guest appearances on Drop Dead Diva and Hot in Cleveland in 2012. In 2013 she launched the online talk show In Bed with Joan on YouTube.