Joan Rivers died yesterday. A few facts about Joan I never knew…
- She was born in Brooklyn
- Her “real” name was Joan Alexandra Molinsky. She changed it to Rivers at the suggestion of her agent (not to mention it was HIS last name)
- She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard
- For years she considered Johnny Carson to be her mentor until she launched her own “Late Show” and he never spoke to her again
- She was the first female comedian to perform at Carnegie Hall (1985)
No topic was off limits to Joan Rivers. She made fun of everything and everyone, most of all herself.
My list of the best Joan River’s quotes:
- “The fashion magazines are suggesting that women wear clothes that are ‘age appropriate.’ For me that would be a shroud.”
- “I don’t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”
- “I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I’d look like without plastic surgery.”
- “I succeeded by saying what everyone else was thinking.”
- “The first time I see a jogger smiling, I’ll consider it.”
- “At my funeral, I want Meryl Streep crying in five different accents.”
- “I enjoy life when things are happening. I don’t care if it’s good things or bad things. That means you’re alive. Things are happening.”
- “Don’t follow any advice, no matter how good, until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think in your mind that the counsel is wise.”
- “People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.”
- “When I die (and yes, Melissa, that day will come; and yes, Melissa, everything’s in your name), I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action. I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing ‘Mr. Lonely.’ I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce’s.”
I sure hope Joan gets her wish about the Valentino gown! Joan was a real trailblazer – may she RIP and continue the laughs wherever she is now.
