Once upon a time, there were only two comediennes: Totie Fields and Phyllis Diller. Joan Rivers, a formerly fat, formerly Cyrano-nosed, formerly married, former Lord & Taylor publicist with a Phi Beta Kappa degree from Barnard, decided to become the third. Struggling for seven years as a stand-up comic at a time when comedy clubs were non-existent, Rivers' big chance, a Tonight show booking, came in 1965. Subsequent Tonight exposure of her fast, self-mocking, bitchy patter made her a top Vegas headliner, though attempts at a sitcom, a Broadway show, and a movie (Rabbit Test, in 1978) fizzled.

A best-seller and hit comedy albums landed her on Newsweek and People covers, and in 1983, the petite, nose-bobbed blonde became Tonight's sole guest host, substituting for Carson every third week. Her husband-manager Edgar Rosenberg survived a 1984 heart attack to engineer Joan's1986 Fox network show--a direct competitor to the mighty Tonight Show. The show lasted through a year of Johnny's wrath and lousy ratings. In 1987, Rivers had the worst year of her life: her show was canceled and Edgar committed suicide. But Barnard grads have grit. Moving from an ornate Beverly Hills faux-chateau to an ornate Manhattan faux-chateau duplex, Rivers began a syndicated daytime talk show, in 1989, for which she won a few Emmys and a new lease on life. The story of her and her daughter's struggle to survive after Edgar's death was made into a 1994 NBC movie of the week entitled Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story--starring Joan and Melissa Rivers. Lately, Rivers has been hawking ornate faux-jewels on Q.V.C., completing her latest book, Bouncing Back, and keeping company with septuagenarian millionaire Orin Lehman. Joan was born on June 8,1933 and has one daughter, Melissa and a Yorkshire terrier named "Spike" that also holds her affection.