Joan Rivers was Jewish. The comedian and celebrity fashion critic (mostly seen on the red carpet before and after award ceremonies), Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman; January 6, 1906 – October 1975) and Meyer C. Molinsky (December 7, 1900 – January 1985). Joan Rivers died on September 4, 2014 after entering the hospital with heart failure and going into a coma.
Rivers was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952 and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and anthropology. Her agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.
Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted only six weeks and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.
Rivers then married Edgar Rosenberg in 1965. Rosenberg committed suicide in 1987. Their only child, Melissa Warburg Rosenberg (now known as Melissa Rivers), was born on January 20, 1968. She has one grandson, Melissa's son Cooper (born Edgar Cooper Endicott on December 1, 2000).
Rivers was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952 and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and anthropology. Her agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.
Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted only six weeks and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.
Rivers then married Edgar Rosenberg in 1965. Rosenberg committed suicide in 1987. Their only child, Melissa Warburg Rosenberg (now known as Melissa Rivers), was born on January 20, 1968. She has one grandson, Melissa's son Cooper (born Edgar Cooper Endicott on December 1, 2000).
