Joan Whitney Payson (February 5, 1903 – October 4, 1975) was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was also co-founder and majority owner of Major League Baseball's New York Mets baseball franchise, and was the first woman to own a major-league team in North America without inheriting it.

Early life[link]

Joan Whitney was born in New York City, the daughter of Payne Whitney and Helen Julia Hay. Her brother was John Hay Whitney. She inherited a trust fund from her grandfather, William C. Whitney and on her father's death in 1927, she received a large part of the family fortune. She attended what is now the The Chapin School, then studied at Barnard College for a year, as well as taking some courses at Brown.^[2]

She married lawyer and businessman Charles Shipman Payson, a native of Maine and a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. Her husband was a Board member of Pepperdine University and together they provided the funds to build the university's library that was named for them. In 1943, she established and endowed the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation (named in honor of her mother) for medical research.

An avid art collector, she purchased a variety of artwork but favored Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works with her collection containing watercolors, drawings and paintings. She owned numerous pieces including those by James McNeill Whistler, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Gustave Courbet, Maurice Prendergast, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Honoré Daumier, Joshua Reynolds, Claude Monet, Henri Rousseau, Jan Provost, Édouard Manet, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Alfred Sisley. Payson was also a strong supporter of American artists, acquiring works by Thomas Eakins, Arthur B. Davies, Andrew Wyeth and John Singer Sargent. Payson donated significant works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where the "Joan Whitney Payson Galleries" can be found.

The Joan Whitney Payson Collection is on permanent loan to the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine and to Colby College in Waterville, Maine for one semester every two years. Regular educational tours of parts of the collection are offered to institutions throughout the United States.

New York Mets[link]

Joan Whitney Payson was a sports enthusiast who was a minority shareholder in the old New York Giants Major League Baseball club. She and her husband opposed moving the team to San Francisco in 1957. After the majority of the shareholders approved the move, Ms. Payson sold her stock and began working to get a replacement team for New York City. Along with M. Donald Grant, the only other director who opposed the Giants' move, Payson put together a group that won a New York franchise in the Continental League, a proposed third major league. The National League responded by awarding an expansion team to Payson's group, which became the New York Mets.

Payson served as the team's president from 1968-1975. Active in the affairs of the baseball club, she was much admired by the team's personnel and players. She was inducted posthumously into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1981. She was also the first woman to buy majority control of a team in a major North American sports league, rather than inheriting it.^[3]

Payson was instrumental in the return of Willie Mays to New York City baseball in May 1972 by way of trade and cash from the Giants.^[4]

Thoroughbred horse racing[link]

Joan Whitney also inherited her father and grandfather's love of thoroughbred horse racing. Following her father's death, her mother took over management of his Greentree Stable, an equestrian estate and horse racing stable in Saratoga Springs, New York, and the Greentree breeding farm in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1932, her mother gifted her a colt named Rose Cross whom she raced under the nom de course, Manhasset Stable. Rose Cross won the 1934 Dwyer Stakes and finished a good fifth in the Belmont Stakes.

In partnership with her brother, Joan Whitney operated the highly successful Greentree stable, winning numerous important Graded stakes races including the Kentucky Derby twice, the Preakness Stakes once, and the Belmont Stakes four times. Payson and her husband owned an art-filled 50-room mansion at Greentree, the Whitney family estate in Manhasset, New York.^[5]

Joan Whitney Payson died in New York City, aged 72, after the 1975 baseball season. She is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth, Maine. Following her death, her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, assumed the title of president of the Mets.

Her heirs sold their stock in the New York Mets in January 1980 as well as Greentree Farm. In 2005, the equestrian property in Saratoga Springs was put up for sale with an asking price of $19 million. In 1991, her son, John Whitney Payson, permanently installed the Joan Whitney Payson Collection in the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine where the Charles Shipman Payson Building cornerstones the Museum and is home to seventeen paintings by Winslow Homer he donated.

References[link]

David Wright may refer to:

• David Wright (artist) (1912–1967), British artist and illustrator
• David Wright (baseball) (born 1982), American Major League Baseball player
• David Wright (British musician) (born 1953), British keyboard player, composer and producer
• David Wright (British diplomat) (born 1944), British ambassador to Japan
• David Wright (Canadian diplomat), Canadian diplomat
• David Wright (footballer) (born 1980), British footballer
• David Wright (poet) (1920–1994), South African poet
• David Wright (politician) (born 1966), British politician, Labour M.P. for Telford
• Dave Wright (runner) (born 1951), South African ultramarathon runner
• David Wright (writer) (born 1964), American writer and journalis5
• Hoss Wright (David Wright), American drummer
• David McCord Wright (1909–1968), American economist
• David McKee Wright (1869–1928), Irish-born Australian poet and journalist
• David R. Wright (born 1935), American politician from Pennsylvania
• David Wright (swimming coach) (born 1948), New Zealand swimming coach
• David McKenzie Wright (1874–1937), Conservative member of Canadian House of Commons

See also[link]

• Dave Wright (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Joan Jett
Joan Jett, with The Blackhearts, performing at the "Tribute to Our Heroes" celebration at Fort Hood, Texas in May 2005
Background information
Birth name	Joan Marie Larkin
Also known as	Joan Jett
Born	(1958-09-22) September 22, 1958 (age 53)
Origin	Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Rock, hard rock, punk rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Blackheart, Epic, Boardwalk, MCA, CBS/Sony, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	The Runaways, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Website	www.joanjett.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Melody Maker[1]

Joan Jett (born September 22, 1958) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and occasional actress., best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982,^[2] as well as for their other popular recordings including "Crimson and Clover", "I Hate Myself for Loving You", "Do You Want to Touch Me", "Light of Day", "Love Is All Around", "Bad Reputation".

Her musical and songwriting approach is heavily influenced by the hard-edged, hard beat-driven rhythms common to many rock bands of her native Philadelphia,^{[citation needed]} often featuring lyrics surrounding themes of lost love, criticisms of insincerity, the quest for authenticity, as well as the struggles and resolutions of the American middle class. She has three albums that have been certified Platinum or Gold, and she has been referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" many times during her career.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Joan Marie Larkin was born September 22, 1958^[4][5] at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to Rockville, Maryland, in 1967 where she attended Randolph Junior High and Wheaton High School.^{[citation needed]} Jett got her first guitar at the age of 13. Joan took some guitar lessons, but quit soon after when the instructor kept trying to teach her folk songs.^{[citation needed]} She also became involved with a bartender at a club from the town,^{[citation needed]} at which point her family then relocated to the city of West Covina, California, in Los Angeles County, providing Jett the opportunity to pursue her musical endeavors.

In Los Angeles, Joan interacted with some of her idols, including Suzi Quatro, one of the first female rock musicians who played an instrument on stage.^{[citation needed]} Quatro was vital to Joan's career,^{[citation needed]} and Joan adopted many of Suzi's qualities including her shag haircut and style. Jett would quietly wait in the lobby of various hotels that Suzi was staying in during her US tours, just to catch a glimpse of her.^[6] She wore wooden platform shoes with "Suzi Quatro" carved into the side. Her favorite night spot was Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco.^[7] Joan was introduced to the glam-rock style she so adored^[2] as this genre was explosive in the UK and Europe, but never quite took off in the US. Rodney's was the only place Jett could hear this style of music, and it certainly helped develop her image.^{[citation needed]}

The Runaways[link]

Jett became a founding member of The Runaways, alongside drummer Sandy West. Micki Steele, Jackie Fox, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie completed the line-up. While Currie initially fronted the band, Jett shared some lead vocals, played rhythm guitar and wrote or co-wrote a lot of the band's material along with Ford, West and Currie. The band recorded five LPs, with Live In Japan becoming one of the biggest-selling imports in U.S. and U.K. history. The band toured around the world and some of their opening acts included Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They found success abroad, especially in Japan. In 2010, The Runaways, a movie about Joan Jett's band, was made, starring Kristen Stewart as Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.^[2][8]

While The Runaways were popular in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and South America, they could not garner the same level of success in the U.S.^[2][9] After Currie, the lead singer, left the band, the band released two more albums with Jett handling the lead vocals: Waitin' for the Night and And Now... The Runaways. Altogether they produced five albums from 1975 until they disbanded in spring of 1979.^[10]

Soon after, Jett produced The Germs' first and only album (GI).^[2]

Solo[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

In the spring of 1979, Jett was in England pursuing a solo career. She recorded three songs there with Sex Pistols' Paul Cook and Steve Jones, one of which was an early version of The Arrows' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll".^{[citation needed]}

Later that year, she returned to Los Angeles, where she began fulfilling an obligation of the Runaways' to complete a film—loosely based on the band's career—called We're All Crazee Now! Three actresses required to stand in for her departed band members included Rainbeaux Smith, who was also a rock drummer. While working on the project, Jett met songwriter and producer Kenny Laguna, who was hired by Toby Mamis to help Jett with writing some tracks for the film.^{[citation needed]} They became friends and decided to work together and she relocated to Long Beach, New York where Kenny Laguna was based. The plug was pulled on the project halfway through shooting with Jett being ill, but in 1984, after Jett had become a star, producers looked for a way to make use of the footage from the incomplete film.^{[citation needed]} Bits of the original footage of Jett were used in a completely different project, an underground movie called DuBeat-Eo, never commercially released, produced by Alan Sacks.^{[citation needed]}

Jett and Laguna entered The Who's Ramport Studios with the latter at the helm. Jett's self-titled solo debut was released in Europe on May 17, 1980. In the US, after the album was rejected by 23 major labels,^[11] Jett and Laguna released it independently on their new Blackheart Records label, which they started with Laguna's daughter's college savings. Laguna remembers, "We couldn't think of anything else to do, but print up records ourselves", and that's how Blackheart Records started.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts[link]

Joan Jett, performing in Norway, 1980s.

With Laguna's assistance, Jett formed the Blackhearts. She placed an ad in the L.A. Weekly "looking for three good men."^[12] John Doe of X sat in on bass for the auditions held at S.I.R. studios in Los Angeles. He mentioned a local bass player, Gary Ryan, who had recently been crashing on his couch. Ryan was part of the L.A. punk scene and had played bass with local artists Top Jimmy and Rik L. Rik. He had been a fan of the Runaways and Jett for years. Jett recognized him at the audition and he was in. Ryan in turn recommended guitarist Eric Ambel, who was also at the time part of Rik L. Rik. The final addition to the original Blackhearts was drummer Danny "Furious" O'Brien, formerly of the infamous San Francisco band The Avengers. This line-up played several gigs at the Golden Bear and Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood before embarking on their first European tour which consisted of an extensive tour of the Netherlands, and a few key shows in England including the Marquee in London.^[13]

Upon returning to the States, Jett, Ryan, and Ambel moved to Long Beach, New York. O'Brien stayed behind in England to pursue other interests. Auditions were set up and Lee Crystal, formerly of The Boyfriends and Sylvain Sylvain, became the new drummer.^[13] Joan Jett and the Blackhearts then toured throughout the US and built quite a following in New York. Jett and Laguna used their personal savings to press copies of the Joan Jett album and set up their own system of distribution, sometimes selling the albums out of the trunk of Laguna's Cadillac at the end of each concert.^[14] Laguna was unable to keep up with demand for her album. Eventually, old friend and founder of Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart, made a joint venture with Laguna and signed Jett to his new label, Boardwalk Records and re-released the Joan Jett album as Bad Reputation. After a year of touring and recording, The Blackhearts recorded a new album entitled I Love Rock 'n' Roll for the label. Ambel was replaced by local guitarist Ricky Byrd during the recording.^[13]

With Byrd on guitar, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts recorded their hit album. The new single was a re-recording of the title track, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which in the first half of 1982 was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in a row.^[15] It is Billboard’s No. 56 song of all time.^[16]

A string of Top 40 hits followed, as well as sellout tours with The Police, Queen, and Aerosmith, among others. She was among the first English-speaking rock acts to appear in Panama and the Dominican Republic.^[17]

After receiving her own MTV New Year's Eve special, Jett beat out a number of contenders to appear in the movie Light of Day with Michael J. Fox. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Light of Day" especially for the movie,^[18] and her performance was critically acclaimed.^[19] It was about this time that Ryan and Crystal left the Blackhearts. They were soon replaced by the powerful rhythm section of Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton. Later that year, Jett released Good Music, which featured appearances by The Beach Boys, The Sugarhill Gang and singer Darlene Love.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts became the first rock band to perform a series of shows at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway, breaking the record at the time for the fastest ticket sell-out.^[17] Her next release, Up Your Alley, went multi-platinum and was followed by The Hit List, which was an album consisting of cover songs. During this time, Jett co-wrote the song "House of Fire", which appeared on Alice Cooper's 1989 album Trash.

Her 1991 release Notorious, which featured The Replacements' Paul Westerberg and former Billy Idol bassist Phil Feit, was the last with Sony/CBS as Jett switched to Warner Brothers. A CD single of "Let's Do It" featuring Jett and Westerberg was also released during this time and appeared in the song credits for the movie Tank Girl. In 1993, Jett and Laguna released Flashback, a compilation of various songs on their own Blackheart Records.

Jett produced several bands prior to releasing her debut and her label Blackheart Records released recordings from varied artists such as thrash metal band Metal Church and rapper Big Daddy Kane.

The press touted Jett as the "Godmother of Punk"^[20] and the "Original Riot Grrrl." In 1994, the Blackhearts released the well-received Pure and Simple, which featured tracks written with Babes in Toyland's Kat Bjelland, L7's Donita Sparks and Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna.

Later years[link]

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Joan Jett performing on May 2, 2008.

Jett returned to producing for the band Circus Lupus in 1992 and again, in 1994, for Bikini Kill. This recording was the New Radio EP for which she also played and sang back-up vocals. The Riot Grrrl movement started in the 1990s, with Bikini Kill as a representative band, and many of these women credited Jett as a role model and inspiration.

In 1997 Joan Jett was featured on the We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute record. She performed a cover of the Johnny O'Keefe song "Wild One" (or "Real Wild Child"). Jett worked with members of the punk band The Gits, whose lead singer and lyricist, Mia Zapata, had been raped and murdered in 1993.^[2] The results of their collaboration was a live LP, Evil Stig and a single, "Bob", whose earnings were contributed to the investigation of Zapata's murder. To this end, the band and Jett appeared on the TV show America's Most Wanted, appealing to the public for information. The case was solved in 2004, when Zapata's murderer, Jesus Mezquia, was brought to trial and convicted.

Jett is a guest artist on Marky Ramone's solo album Start of the Century on the track "Don't Blame Me". She is a guest vocalist on Peaches' album Impeach My Bush on the tracks "Boys Want to Be Her" and "You Love It".

At an October 2001 9/11 benefit in Red Bank, New Jersey,^[21] Jett and Springsteen appeared together on stage for the first time and played "Light Of Day".

In 2004, Jett and Laguna produced "No Apologies" by Warped Tour favorite The Eyeliners, after signing them. Jett also guested on the track "Destroy" and made a cameo appearance in the music video.

In 2005, Jett and Laguna signed punk rockers The Vacancies and produced their second album, A Beat Missing or a Silence Added (reaching the top 20 in CMJ Music Charts) and their third album in 2007, Tantrum. That same year she was recruited by Steven Van Zandt to host her own radio show on Van Zandt's Underground Garage radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. She hosted a four-hour show titled Joan Jett's Radio Revolution, broadcast every Saturday and Sunday. The program moved from Sirius 25 to Sirius 28 shortly before being canceled in June 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Jett and Laguna celebrated the 25th anniversary of Blackheart Records with a sellout show at Manhattan's Webster Hall.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2006, Joan Jett released her album, Sinner, on her own label, Blackheart Records. To support the album, the band appeared on the 2006 Warped Tour and on a fall 2006 tour with Eagles of Death Metal. Various other bands like Antigone Rising, Valient Thorr, The Vacancies, Throw Rag and Riverboat Gamblers were to have joined the tour for a handful of dates each.

Jett sang a duet with Chase Noles on "Tearstained Letters", a song on the Heart Attacks' 2006 album, Hellbound and Heartless.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts headlined the Albuquerque, New Mexico Freedom Fourth celebration on July 4, 2007, with an estimated crowd of 65,000 in attendance at the annual outdoor event.

In November 2007, Jett and the Blackhearts appeared with Motörhead and Alice Cooper in a UK arena tour; Jett opened eight American shows on Aerosmith's 2007 World Tour.

Following The Dave Clark Five's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on March 10, 2008, Jett, as part of the ceremony, closed the program with a performance of the DC5's 1964 hit "Bits and Pieces." She was introduced by actor Tom Hanks, who said, "Ladies and gentlemen – at one time, if I had been lucky, one of the most beautiful 'Mrs. Tom Hanks' you can imagine, but I'm not complainin' — Joan Jett!"

Jett and the Blackhearts appeared on several dates of the True Colors Tour 2008.^[22] in the summer of 2008. She opened for Def Leppard in August.

In June 2010, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts opened for Green Day on their UK tour alongside acts such as Frank Turner and Paramore.

The group was the opening act for Aerosmith's September 2010 Canadian tour.^{[citation needed]}

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts were part of the lineup for Australia's The Falls Music & Arts Festival, December 29 through January 1, 2010, in Australia.^[23]

Jett was an executive producer for the film The Runaways, which chronicled the Runaways' career. Floria Sigismondi, who directed videos for Marilyn Manson, the White Stripes and David Bowie, wrote and directed. Production of the movie began filming around Twilight's Kristen Stewart's filming schedule, (i.e. of the sequels New Moon and Eclipse). Stewart played Joan Jett in the film. In order to prepare for the role, Stewart met Jett around the 08/09 New Year. In an interview, Stewart revealed that she hoped to be able to sing some of the songs in the film.^[24] The film explores the friendship between Jett and Runaways' lead singer, Cherie Currie, played by Dakota Fanning, and premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on Jan 24, 2010. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts appeared at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, at Harry-O's, for The Runaways promotion, which was also attended by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.

March 2010 saw the release of a 2-CD Greatest Hits album with four newly re-recorded songs. March 2010 also saw the release of a hardcover biography and picture book, spanning her career from the Runaways to the present day.

Other work[link]

Jett, a sports fan, has remained actively involved in the sports world. Her cover of "Love is All Around" (the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show) was used by the NCAA to promote the Women's Final Four, as well as the song "Unfinished Business" which was never commercially released. "Love Is All Around" went into radio play and became the number one requested song without an existing (support) CD. Jett supplied theme songs for the ESPN X-Games premiere and has contributed music to all their games since. At Cal Ripken Jr.'s request, she sang the national anthem, at the Baltimore Orioles game in which he tied^[25] Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played. The melody for her song "I Hate Myself For Loving You" is used as the theme music for NBC Sunday Night Football with re-worked lyrics and retitled "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night". Jett has also been a consistent supporter of the US Armed Forces, has toured for the USO^[26] for over 20 years, and even played West Point.

Satire and tributes[link]

In 1983, musical satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic released a parody of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" entitled "I Love Rocky Road," changing the singer's passion for rock music with that for ice cream.

The comic strip Bloom County included a character named Tess Turbo; her band was The Blackheads.^{[citation needed]}

Film, stage and television appearances[link]

Jett's first appearance on film is in the 1981 live concert film Urgh! A Music War, performing "Bad Reputation" with the Blackhearts at The Ritz in New York City. She made her acting debut in 1987, co-starring with Gena Rowlands and Michael J. Fox in the Paul Schrader film Light of Day.^[2] She appeared in independent films, including The Sweet Life and Boogie Boy.

In 1997 she appeared on the sitcom Ellen^[27], in the episode Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, performing the title song. In 1992, she was a guest star in "Free Fall", a first season episode of TV's Highlander: The Series.^{[citation needed]}

The 1999 show Freaks and Geeks used the song "Bad Reputation" as the opening theme.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Jett appeared in the Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show in the role of Columbia. That same year, Jett appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger as an ex-CIA agent turned assassin hired to kill Walker and Alex.

In 2002, Jett appeared in the film By Hook or by Crook in the role of News Interviewee.

From 2000 to 2003, Jett hosted a showcase of new film and video shorts, Independent Eye,^[28] for Maryland Public Television.

In 2008, Jett made a cameo appearance in Darren Lynn Bousman's rock opera/file Repo! The Genetic Opera as the guitarist in Shilo's room during the piece "Seventeen".^[29] In 2008, she appeared in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Reunion" as a rock and roll talk show host who is murdered.

Politics[link]

Joan Jett promoting PETA in 2010.

Jett supported Howard Dean in the 2004 election because of his position on the War in Iraq.^[30] She has also been a vegetarian for over 20 years^[31] and supports the farm animal welfare group Farm Sanctuary.^[32]

Accolades and awards[link]

• Jett was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in October 2006.^[33]
• In 2003, Jett was named in the Rolling Stone greatest 100 guitarists of all time at number 87.^[34] She was one of only two women in this list, the other being Joni Mitchell at number 72.
• Jett is listed as one of Blender's "hottest women of rock" 21 years after she started The Runaways".^[35]
• Gibson manufactured a signature model of her Melody Maker, a white double cutaway with a zebra humbucker and "kill" toggle switch.^[1] Jett bought her guitar from Eric Carmen, following the breakup of the Raspberries.^[36]
• On September 27, 2011, it was announced that Jett was a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2012; she was ultimately passed over.^[37]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joan Jett

• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Bad Reputation Nation
• Blackheart Records
• Joan Jett at the Notable Names Database
• Joan Jett at the Internet Movie Database
• Joan Jett at Allmusic

Interviews

• Interview: Joan Jett on Sinner
• Joan Jett Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
• Joan Jett interview from PETA2
• Joan Jett interview with SPIN
• Joan Jett interview with The Beachcomber
• Crimson and Clover – Joan Jett interview BEAT

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Joan Rivers
Rivers in 2010
Birth name	Joan Alexandra Molinsky
Born	(1933-06-08) June 8, 1933 (age 79) Brooklyn, New York City New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1950–present
Spouse	James Sanger (1955) Edgar Rosenberg (1965–1987; his death)
Website	"joan.co". http://www.joan.co/.

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (born June 8, 1933), better known by her stage name Joan Rivers, is an American television personality, comedian, and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries. Rivers' comic style relies heavily on her ability to poke fun at herself and other Hollywood celebrities.

Early life[link]

Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman; January 6, 1906 – October 1975) and Meyer C. Molinsky (December 7, 1900 – January 1985).^[1][2] She was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and her family later moved to Larchmont, in Westchester County, 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^[3] and anthropology. Before entering show business, Rivers worked at various jobs such as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center,^[4] a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency^[4] and as a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Stores.^[5] During this period, the agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.^[6]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

During the late 1950s, Rivers appeared in a short-run play, Driftwood, playing a lesbian with a crush on a character played by a then-unknown Barbra Streisand. The play ran for six weeks.^[7] In 1961, Rivers briefly performed on stage in Chicago at The Second City comedy club. Rivers performed in numerous comedy clubs in the Greenwich Village area of New York City in the early 1960s, including The Bitter End and The Gaslight Cafe,^[8] before making her first appearances as a guest on the TV program The Tonight Show originating from New York, hosted at the time by Jack Paar.^[9]

By 1965, Rivers had a stint on Candid Camera as a gag writer and participant; she was "the bait" to lure people into ridiculous situations for the show. She also made her first appearance on The Tonight Show with new host Johnny Carson, on February 17, 1965.^[10] During the same decade, Rivers made other appearances on The Tonight Show as well as The Ed Sullivan Show, while hosting the first of several talk shows. She had a brief role in The Swimmer (1968), starring Burt Lancaster. A year later, she had a short-lived syndicated daytime talk show; Johnny Carson was her first guest.^[11] In the middle of the 1960s, she released at least two comedy albums, The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album^[12] and Joan Rivers Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories.^[13]

By the 1970s, Rivers was appearing on various television comedy and variety shows, including The Carol Burnett Show and a semi-regular stint on Hollywood Squares. From 1972 to 1976, she narrated The Adventures of Letterman, an animated segment for The Electric Company. In 1973, Rivers wrote the TV movie The Girl Most Likely to..., a black comedy starring Stockard Channing. In 1978, Rivers wrote and directed the film Rabbit Test, starring her friend Billy Crystal. During the same decade, she was the opening act for singer Helen Reddy on the Las Vegas Strip. In July 1970, Joan performed as the opening act for Sergio Franchi during an acclaimed appearance at the Mill Run Theater in Chicago.^[14] Joan also was the opening act for Sergio Franchi (three year contract) at the MGM Grand Hotel from 1974-1976.^[15][16] Joan became a Las Vegas Strip headliner herself in the 1980s.

1980s–1990s[link]

Rivers has spoken of her primary Tonight Show life as having been Johnny Carson's daughter, a reference to his longtime mentoring of her and, during the 1980s, establishing her as his regular guest host by August 1983. It was not her only work, however. On April 9, 1983, she hosted Saturday Night Live.^[17] In the same period, she released a best-selling comedy album on Geffen Records, What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most? The album reached No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.^[18]

Autograph with famous catchphrase, about 1983

Also in 1984, Rivers published a best-selling humor book, The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abramowitz, a mock memoir of her brassy, loose comedy character. A television special based on the character, a mock tribute called Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abramowitz, was not successful with the public.

The decade was controversial for Rivers. She sued female impersonator Frank Marino for $5,000,000 in 1986, after discovering he was using her real stand-up material in the impersonation of her that he included in his popular Las Vegas act. The two comics reconciled, even appearing together on television in later years.^[19]

Also in 1986 came the move that cost Rivers her longtime friendship with Carson, who had first hired her as a Tonight Show writer. The soon-to-launch Fox Television Network announced that it was giving her a late night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.^[20] The new network planned to broadcast the show 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, making her a Carson competitor. Carson claimed he learned of the show from Fox and not from Rivers herself. In 2008, during an interview with Dr. Pamela Connolly on television's Shrink Rap, Rivers claimed she did call Carson, but he hung up on her at once and repeated the gesture when she called again.

The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers turned out to be flecked by tragedy. When Rivers challenged Fox executives, who wanted to fire her husband Edgar Rosenberg as the show's producer, the network fired them both. On May 15, 1987, three months later, Rosenberg committed suicide in Philadelphia; Rivers blamed the tragedy on his "humiliation" by Fox.^[21] Fox attempted to continue the show with a new name (The Late Show) and rotating guest hosts.

A year after the Late Show debacle, Rivers was a guest on TV's Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. By 1989, she tried another daytime TV talk show, The Joan Rivers Show,^[22] which ran for five years and won her an Emmy in 1990 for outstanding talk show host.^[23]

In 1994, Rivers and daughter Melissa first hosted the E! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for the Golden Globe Awards.^[24] Beginning in 1995, they hosted the annual E! Entertainment Television pre-awards show for the Academy Awards.^[24] Beginning in 1997, Rivers hosted her own radio show on WOR in New York City.

Rivers also appeared as one of the center square occupants on the 1986-89 version of The Hollywood Squares, hosted by John Davidson.

2000–present[link]

By 2003, Rivers had left her E! red-carpet show for a three-year contract (valued between $6–8 million) to cover award-show red-carpet shows for the TV Guide Channel.^[25]

Joan Rivers poses for a photograph at the Pierre Hotel, May 24, 2001

Rivers appeared in three episodes of the TV show Nip/Tuck during its second, third and seventh season playing herself.^[26][27][28] Rivers appears regularly on television's The Shopping Channel (in Canada) and QVC (in both the United States and the UK), promoting her own line of jewelry under brand name "The Joan Rivers Collection". She was also a guest speaker at the opening of the American Operating Room Nurses' 2000 San Francisco Conference. Both Joan and Melissa Rivers are frequent guests on Howard Stern's radio show, and Joan Rivers often appears as a guest on UK panel show 8 out of 10 Cats.

Rivers was one of only four Americans invited to the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles on April 9, 2005.^[29]

In 2006, Rivers was featured on the adult animated show, Drawn Together as Princess Clara's vagina that had received too much plastic surgery. Clara's 'vajoana' often repeated the phrase "who are you wearing, who are you wearing?".

On August 16, 2007, Rivers began a two-week workshop of her new play, with the working title "The Joan Rivers Theatre Project," at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco.^[30] On December 3, 2007, Rivers performed in the Royal Variety Show 2007 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, England, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip present.

In January 2008, Rivers became one of 20 hijackers to take control of the Big Brother house in the UK for one day in spin-off TV show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. On June 24, 2008, Rivers appeared on NBC-TV’s show Celebrity Family Feud and competed with her daughter, Melissa against Ice-T and Coco.

Joan Rivers performing in her show at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Rivers and daughter Melissa were contestants in 2009 on the second Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of his or her choice; Rivers selected God's Love We Deliver.^[31] After a falling out with poker player Annie Duke, following Melissa's on-air firing (elimination) by Donald Trump, Rivers left the green room telling Clint Black and Jesse G. James that she would not be in the next morning. Rivers later returned to the show and on May 3, 2009, she became a finalist in the series. The other finalist was Duke.^[32][33] On the season finale, which aired live on May 10, Joan was announced the winner and hired to be the 2009 Celebrity Apprentice.

Rivers was featured on the show Z Rock as herself and was also a special so-called pink-carpet presenter for the 2009 broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. She was also roasted in a Comedy Central special, taped on July 26, 2009, and aired on August 9, 2009. From August 2009, Joan began starring in the new reality TV series How'd You Get So Rich? on TV Land.

Joan performing at a London Udderbelly event in 2009

A documentary film about Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival at the Castro Theatre on May 6, 2010.

In 2011, Rivers appeared in a commercial for Go Daddy, which debuted during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV.^[34]

Joan and her daughter Melissa Rivers premiered the new show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best on WE tv. The series follows Joan moving to California to be closer to her family. She moves in with daughter Melissa while searching for a home of her own. It was recently revealed that WE TV has ordered a new season consisting of 10 episodes premiering in January 2012.

In 2011, Rivers was featured as herself in Season 2 of Louis C.K.'s self-entitled show Louie, where she performed on-stage.

Personal life[link]

Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger,^[35] the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted six months^[36] and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.^[37] Her second marriage was on July 15, 1965^[38] to Edgar Rosenberg, who 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)^[39] who is featured with his mother and grandmother in the WE tv series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?^[40]

In her book, Bouncing Back (1997), she described how she developed bulimia and contemplated suicide. Eventually, she recovered with counseling and the support of her family.

In 2002, Rivers told the Montreal Mirror that she was a Republican.^[41]

Rivers is open about her multiple cosmetic surgeries and has been a patient of plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin since 1983. Her first procedure, an eye lift, was performed in 1965 as an attempt to further her career.^[42]

Awards[link]

• In 1990, Rivers won the Daytime Emmy Award (a TV citation) for Outstanding Talk Show Host. The same year, a star in her name was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[43]

Books[link]

• Having a Baby Can Be a Scream (1974, Self-Help/Humour)
• The Life and Hard Times of Heidi Abromowitz (1984, Humour)
• Enter Talking (1986, Autobiography)
• Still Talking (1991, Autobiography)
• Jewelry by Joan Rivers (1995, Non-Fiction)
• Bouncing Back: I've Survived Everything ... and I Mean Everything ... and You Can Too! (1997, Autobiography/Self-Help)
• From Mother to Daughter: Thoughts and Advice on Life, Love and Marriage (1998, Self-Help)
• Don’t Count the Candles: Just keep the Fire Lit! (1999, Self-Help)
• Men Are Stupid...And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery (2008, Non-Fiction)
• Murder at the Academy Awards (R): A Red Carpet Murder Mystery (2009, Fiction)
• I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me (2012, Humour)

Filmography[link]

• Once Upon a Coffee House (1965)
• The Swimmer (1968)
• Rabbit Test (1978) (also director and writer)
• Uncle Scam (1981)
• The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
• Les Patterson Saves the World (1987)
• Spaceballs (1987) (voice)
• Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
• Look Who's Talking (1989) (voice)
• Public Enemy # 2 (1993)
• Serial Mom (1994)
• Napoleon (1995) (voice)
• Goosed (1999)
• The Intern (2000)
• Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000) (voice)
• The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002) (documentary)
• Hip! Edgy! Quirky! (2002)
• Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)
• First Daughter (2004)
• The Last Guy on Earth (2007)
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) (documentary)
• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) (uncredited)
• The Smurfs (2011) (uncredited)
• Tower Heist (2011) (uncredited)

Television work[link]

• That Show starring Joan Rivers (1968–69) (syndicated daytime talk show)^[11]
• The Electric Company (cast member from 1972–1977) (voice)
• Here's Lucy (1973)
• An Audience with Joan Rivers (1984)
• Joan Rivers: Can We Talk? (1986)
• The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (host from 1986–1987)
• The New Hollywood Squares hosted by John Davidson (center square from 1988–1989)
• The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993)
• How to Murder a Millionaire (1990)
• Lady Boss (1992)
• Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994)^[44]
• Can We Shop? (1995–present)
• Another World (cast member in 1997)
• E! True Hollywood Story: Joan Rivers (parody episode of show aired April 1, 2001)^[45]
• Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (cast member in 2004, guest host in 2007)
• Nip/Tuck (2004–2005–2010)^[46]
• The Joan Rivers Position (2004–2006)
• An Audience with Joan Rivers (2006)
• 8 out of 10 Cats (2006–2007)
• Joan Rivers: Before Melissa Pulls the Plug (2006)
• Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy (in-depth interview BBC 2006)
• The Graham Norton Show (2007)
• Straight Talk (2007)
• Shrink Rap (2008) – With Dr. Pamela Connolly – More4
• Celebrity Family Feud (2008)
• Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack (Celebrity Hijacker) (2008)
• Loose Women (2008)
• The Graham Norton Show (2008)
• Z Rock (2008) – Aunt Joan
• Spaceballs: The Animated Series (2008) (voice)
• Arthur (2008, 2010) (voice) – Bubby (Francine's Grandmother)
• Celebrity Apprentice (2009) – Herself
• How'd You Get So Rich? (2009) – Herself
• The Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers (2009) – Herself
• Celebrity Ghost Stories (2009) – Herself
• The Graham Norton Show (December 31, 2009)
• Celebrity Apprentice 3 (March 14, 2010)
• Fashion Police (September 10, 2010 – present)
• The Graham Norton Show (November 5, 2010)
• Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best (January 25, 2011 – present)
• Louie S02E04 – Joan (July 14, 2011) – Herself
• The Simpsons S23E08 – "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" (December 4, 2011) (voice) – Annie Dubinsky

Theater work[link]

The following is a selected list of theater work performed by Rivers.

• Broadway Bound by Neil Simon (replacement for Kate, 1988, Broadhurst Theatre)^[47]
• Sally Marr and Her Escorts, a play suggested by the life of Lenny Bruce's mother (co-written with Erin Ladd Sanders and Lonny Price), May 1994, Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway.
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (February 2008, Geffen Playhouse)
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (August 2008, Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
• Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress (September 2008, Leicester Square Theatre, London)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joan Rivers

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joan Rivers

• Official website
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Movie Database
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joan Rivers at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• E! Entertainment Bio
• BroadwayWorld.com interview with Joan Rivers, February 19, 2009