Welcome to Friday’s Featured Female!
This weekly series features inspirational stories from admirable women. IMHO, it’s always good to be reminded of how strength, determination, hard work, heart and ingenuity can impact the quality of one’s life and I’m proud that these women will allow me to share their stories here.
There’s no Guest Post today. I had a different post in mind for today but when I heard that Joan Rivers had died, I knew I had to write about her. Joan was more than just a gossipy comic. She was a catalyst of change for women in comedy for certain but also for all women. I really do believe that every woman today owes this groundbreaking legend a debt of gratitude.
Today’s Special Edition of Friday’s Featured Female is dedicated to Joan Rivers (1933-2014)
No one can deny that Joan Rivers had balls of brass. Without Joan Rivers I’m certain that my life may have been very different. I didn’t know Joan Rivers personally but I do know that she paved the way for the smart (mouthed), tenacious and driven women of today.
Whether you loved her or you hated her, you knew of her and you most certainly had an opinion about her. Joan Rivers was a groundbreaker in so many ways. Who would have ever expected that a brash, petite Jewish girl from Brooklyn would revolutionize the way women were perceived in entertainment?
Joan Rivers was a multilayered woman. She was not only intelligent (she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College in the 1950’s), tenacious (she reinvented herself more times than Cher has had Farewell concerts) and had a head for business (her QVC sales have been estimated at $1 billion – she also won Celebrity Apprentice one year) but she was also no stranger to tragedy (she was shunned by her mentor Johnny Carson and widowed after her husband committed suicide in 1987).
Despite the epic peaks and valleys of life and career of Joan Rivers, she might have been the hardest working woman in entertainment. I’ll never forget watching the 2010 documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and was shocked at just how much time and effort this woman put into her act (she had card catalogues of every joke she’d ever written) and just how often she worked in comedy and in her various businesses. In 2010, the life of Joan Rivers seemed very lonely despite being so busy.
Busy is what Joan Rivers wanted to be. It isn’t often that someone so successful in their career is also known for their devotion to their family. Anyone who knows of Joan Rivers can’t help but think of her daughter, Melissa (good name choice there, Joan) and her grandson.
There’s no doubt that without Joan Rivers, women like Rosie O’Donnell, Roseanne Barr, Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, or Sarah Silverman would never be famous today. But the impact of Joan Rivers goes far beyond famous women of comedy, her life and career is an example of what hard work and never giving up might bring. Joan Rivers lived her life with a big middle finger to the world and crawled back every time she was kicked in the teeth. She was the Mistress of Reinvention and saw opportunity where others did not. Joan set conventional wisdom on its ass, spoke her mind, created her own definition of beauty and lived her life her way.
I’m sad for the loss of Joan Rivers. The Red Carpet will never be the same without her but I hope I’m not the only one to recognize how much more than laughter Joan Rivers has really given to all women everywhere.
Given my #optimistflip mantra for 2014, I couldn’t help but be struck by one of Joan’s amazing quotes. I’m going to adopt it.
Disclosure: The Joan Rivers documentary link is an affiliate link to the Amazon streaming video for $2.99. I will make a few pennies if you rent the video. If you like Joan Rivers at all, it’s worth the money and the time to get a glimpse into what made this extraordinary woman tick.
Did you love Joan or did you hate her?
I think this might be my absolute favorite FFF post you’ve ever written, and it so perfectly captures everything I’ve been thinking and feeling since I heard she died. You kind of feel as you did about Robin Williams–they were both so accessible (out and about in their hometowns, mixing with fans and such, their constant charity work and actually putting their actions, not just their money, where their mouths were) that you felt as thou you’d been invited closer to them. Joan Rivers really did open doors for so many women in so many ways, and she’d better get every bit of praise she deserves for it. And if e Oscars were smart, they’d dedicate a moment of this year’s ceremony to her, regardless of eh she pissed off over the years!
Joan–thanks for making us laugh and cry with you, you ball buster. I hope you and Edgar are reunited once again.
Major bummer.
Joan was an amazing inspirational woman.
I LOVED her documentary. I especially remember her taking her husband’s ashes and leaving them in random places…literally cracking me up right now. As much as I love her daughter…she’s also a fighter in her own right…I can’t see her taking up the “dropping ashes” hobby. Haha.
Cheers to Ms. Rivers!
🙂 Anna
WOW very nice tribute!!! I love strong outspoken women and that she was!!!! I can still hear her raspy voice in my head. Love her!
Thank you! Nice to make your acquaintance BTW!
That documentary was unreal, wasn’t it? I’m not so sure that Melissa will be sprinkling ashes but I see other ways that she will ensure her mother’s memory won’t be forgotten. It will likely be bold and gaudy just like Joan was too.
Thanks for commenting Anna!
Susie: Thank you for your kind words. You know how I feel about my own writing. I really think Joan Rivers for all that she was – good and bad – was just amazing. You’re definitely right about the RW and JR type of thing. I do hope Joan is reunited with Edgar and that she, Robin and Johnny are yukking it up as well.
I wasn’t a fan. I read her book, I hate everyone .. Starting with Me and I just don’t understand how she could make fun of people who went through unimaginable hardship in their lives all in the name of comedy. I just don’t gravitate toward those type of people in the entertainment industry or in real life.
Monica.
Joan was a legend. She paved the way for all women, not just her comedian peers, but anyone who was ever told “No” because they were female. I honestly thought she would pull through after the heart attack & induced coma, simply because she seemed so unstoppable. Great FFF today.
I can’t say I have feelings for Joan Rivers one way or another but I think you are absolutely right that she paved the way for modern women comedians, which is so important.
I’m still in shock that she’s gone. At 81 (with all the plastic surgery, but mostly her energy) she just didnt seem old!
Have you seen her web series In Bed w/ Joan? I highly recommend the episodes with Kelly Osbourne, Sarah Silverman and Chris Hardwick
She is such a pioneer! Female comics owe so much to her. I saw the documentary last year & was amazed at her process. Her work ethic was incredible! The constant touring, those index cards – such a hard worker at a time in her life when she could have just settled. I remember seeing Joan & Melissa back in ’96 when I had interned at E! She was doing those Red Carpet fashion interviews, which was so new at the time. Great tribute to her!
I so agree with the comments here. Being my age, I have followed her a long time! She was so much more than people thought of her – a very caring & wonderful woman…. this is a huge loss! Heck, even Nancy Reagan put out a statement on her – she crossed all lines & typed of people. A HUGE LOSS!!!!!
I get what you’re saying Monica. JR definitely pushed the line and was often more than inappropriate but I still admire her tenacity and for breaking the rules of what women could and couldn’t do in entertainment and business.
I totally thought she’d pull through too. Glad I wasn’t the only one who had an affinity for this woman.
Thanks Brittany!
I haven’t seen the web series. I saw the promotions for it when I was doing a little research but now I think I’ll have to. Thanks for the tip and the comment, Gracie!
I’m learning more and more about you, Jennifer. We’ll have to talk more about your E! internship. Sounds like it was fun.
I agree she definitely crossed all lines and people. Well said.
You don’t have to ask how much I adored Joan Rivers right? I have to agree with Susie that this may be my most favorite feature you’ve ever written! You captured her perfectly and I absolutely am indebted to her and everything she did for smart-mouthed, finger waving women everywhere! I will miss her!!!
Thank you for your kind words, Allie. You need to meet my buddy Susie sometime. I think you’d like her too. I’m going to miss Joan Rivers a lot. The award season is going to feel really empty this year!