Joan Rivers dies, but ‘she would want us to return to laughing soon’

Joan Rivers, the caustic stand-up comic and television host who blazed a trail at a time when comedy was all but off-limits to women, died in hospital in New York. She was 81. “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 pm surrounded by family and close friends,” daughter Melissa Rivers said. The actress had been in hospital since August 28, when she reportedly stopped breathing during a medical procedure on her vocal cords at a clinic in New York. “My mother’s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon,” Melissa said.

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