--- title: Joan Rivers Dead at 81: 10 Surprising Facts About the Comedian description: Ten things you may not have known about Joan Rivers, who died at 81 on Sept. 4 canonical: https://time.com/3270479/joan-rivers-dead-surprising-facts/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-04T21:04:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:12:59.556Z og:title: 10 Things You May Not Have Known About Joan Rivers og:description: From her kiss with Barbra Streisand to her obsession with dogs and Fabergé eggs og:url: https://time.com/3270479/joan-rivers-dead-surprising-facts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153dce0933ed92a0/6986a21a361760bbb990db86/joan-rivers-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: joan-rivers-facts og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Things You May Not Have Known About Joan Rivers twitter:description: From her kiss with Barbra Streisand to her obsession with dogs and Fabergé eggs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153dce0933ed92a0/6986a21a361760bbb990db86/joan-rivers-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 10 Surprising Facts You May Not Have Known About Joan Rivers > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 4, 2014 9:04 PM UTC  Charles Sykes—NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 4, 2014 9:04 PM UTC Legendary comedian Joan Rivers died on Thursday at 81 after complications from throat surgery, her family said. Here are some facts you may not have known about the comedian and television personality: • She [collected](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/13/arts/antiques-an-easter-feast-of-rare-faberge.html) Fabergé eggs and had a fair amount of Fabergé elephants. “My husband just loved elephants,” she [said](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/13/arts/antiques-an-easter-feast-of-rare-faberge.html) when she was getting ready to sell a collection of objects in 2001\. ”It has nothing to do with politics, though I don’t think too many Democrats will be bidding on them.” • She once [kissed](http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1203/12/pmt.01.html) Barbra Streisand. They acted in the off-Broadway play _Driftwood_ in 1959\. Barbra “was all tongue,” Rivers joked to [_Bravo_](http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-happens-live/season-7/videos/kissing-babs)_._ • Starting out, she wrote jokes for [_Candid Camera_](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/04/joan-rivers-obituary/)_._ • Rivers was also once billed at a strip club by the [stand-up name](http://books.google.com/books?id=uBWFgeCNAz4C&pg=PA3&dq=joan+rivers+pepper+january&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XssIVOkJiq3IBJDxgLgC&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=joan%20rivers%20pepper%20january&f=false) “Pepper January” — offering “Comedy with Spice.” • The funniest people, [in her opinion](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/books/review/joan-rivers-by-the-book.html?%5Fr=1&), were Robert Benchley, Woody Allen, Steve Martin and Sarah Vowell. • Out of all their red carpet interviews, she and her daughter Melissa Rivers [picked](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAui26A4es8) Tommy Lee Jones as the least friendly. • European history was her favorite literary genre, she [admitted](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/books/review/joan-rivers-by-the-book.html?%5Fr=1&). Growing up she was a fan of Mary Poppins, _The Secret Garden_ and _The Middle Moffat._ • A dog lover, she [called](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304007504579347131155710764) herself “the Angelina Jolie of barkers.” A study says owning a dog makes you 10 years younger. My first thought was to rescue 2 more, but I don’t want to go through menopause again. — Joan Rivers (@Joan\_Rivers) [August 6, 2014](https://twitter.com/Joan%5FRivers/status/497121143581851649?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) • She couldn’t get enough of a good [steak or shepherd’s pie](http://www.gourmet.com/food/gourmetlive/2010/111710/a-bite-with-joan-rivers). • She won [_Celebrity Apprentice_](http://www.hulu.com/watch/72844)in 2009. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3270479/joan-rivers-dead-surprising-facts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3270479/joan-rivers-dead-surprising-facts/"},"headline":"10 Surprising Facts You May Not Have Known About Joan Rivers","datePublished":"2014-09-04T21:04:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:12:59.556Z","description":"From her kiss with Barbra Streisand to her obsession with dogs and Fabergé eggs","url":"https://time.com/3270479/joan-rivers-dead-surprising-facts/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153dce0933ed92a0/6986a21a361760bbb990db86/joan-rivers-facts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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