Mystic Rivers

The Strange Allure of the Red Carpet Queen

by Brian Hickey

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Published: Oct 18, 2006

In 1987, her husband, Edgar, killed himself. The death left the comedienne shattered, and estranged from her daughter for several years.

The following year, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, her short-lived talk show that helped launch FOX, failed. But it wasn't the career hit that proved most hurtful. Since she didn't discuss the project with him first, Johnny Carson, who helped make Rivers' career by making her a guest host, considered her persona non grata. They wouldn't make up before Carson's death in 2005.

Finally, just weeks ago, Rivers' beloved 12-year-old Yorkie, Veronica, died. "What did I learn from her death?" Rivers blogged three days later. "Feed your pets whatever they want. Life is short and pleasures count."

And therein lies the true Hollywood story behind this celebrity fashion maven and poster wildchild of cosmetic surgery. Regardless of what's thrown her way, Rivers emerges with her unmistakable raspy voice, a mental filter that disdains the safe comment and fans who love her for making people laugh -- regardless of whether it's at her or their own expense.

Weary from a hard life, she's not.

"I've had one of the luckiest careers," said Rivers during a recent phone conversation. "From George Burns, my hero, I learned that if you're funny and making them laugh, it doesn't matter if you're a million years old. That's all that counts. People just want to be entertained."

With a career that had peers ranking her 40th in the top 50 all-time comedians during a 2005 BBC special -- for perspective, Bill Cosby came in 47th -- the 73-year-old Brooklyn native has done more than embrace technology. ("I'm still not Internet savvy by any means," she wrote in her inaugural Aug. 13 post on www.joanrivers.com. "You're more likely to spot Mel Gibson in a synagogue than me in front of a computer.")

She's still tirelessly out there doing standup on the weekends, hawking jewelry on QVC and marking red-carpet territory with her daughter Melissa ("It's like being a hooker in Boca," she wrote of August's Emmys). She recently taped a pilot for Bravo, a gay The View featuring Jim McGreevey as a social commentator and political analyst, says Rivers, whose legions of gay male fans place her in the Garland/Streisand pantheon of women they love. "Cher. Liza. Bette. All strong women who overcame something. Usually, their looks," she explains. "But, 18- to 28-[year-old] straight men and black men love me too. I never figured out why, but I'm thrilled!"

Next weekend, she'll be in a town she loves -- "Philadelphia reminds me a lot of London, with the funny little streets" -- for her "Live and Uncensored" show that'll open, fittingly enough, with the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus.

"Political correctness has ruined this entire country. People are afraid to say anything," says Rivers before explaining what her show's about. "I'm going to make you laugh about the things that people are talking about. Jessica Simpson, what a moron she is. Barbra Streisand and her 1,000th farewell tour. And old sex, which I love talking about on and on and on. Just don't come if you're looking for a walk down memory lane. It's all about what's happening now."

Which, against many odds, includes Rivers herself.

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