Posted By  richards on September 5, 2014    
				
				    Reuters: Joan Rivers, the pioneering comedian known for    her acerbic wit, classic put-downs and for asking "Can we    talk?," died on Thursday at the age of 81 in a New York    hospital a week after her heart stopped during an outpatient    medical procedure.  
    Melissa Rivers, the comedian's only child, said her mother died    peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, at 1:17 p.m. EDT    (1717 GMT).  
    "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 Rivers    added in a statement.  
    There were no immediate details about a funeral or memorial    service.  
    Rivers was the second leading American comedian to die in less    than a month. Groundbreaking comedy star and actor Robin    Williams, 63, hanged himself on Aug. 13 in California.  
    As news of her death spread, photographers, reporters and    television crews gathered outside the hospital where Rivers    died, and fans placed bouquets of flowers at the entrance to    her apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  
    The Brooklyn-born comedian, who once described herself as "the    plastic surgery poster girl" and often joked about her numerous    cosmetic enhancements, suffered cardiac arrest during a    procedure on her vocal cords at a Manhattan clinic on Aug. 28.    She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was put on    life support.  
    A spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's Office in New York    said it is investigating the cause and manner of Rivers's death    on Thursday. She did not specify when the autopsy on Rivers    would take place and when results would be released.  
    Friends and fellow comedians on Thursday expressed their grief    and sadness and praised Rivers.  
    "No one loved life, laughter, and a good time more than Joan.    We would have dinner and laugh and gossip and I always left the    table smiling," said journalist Barbara Walters.  
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Comedian and entertainer Joan Rivers dies at age 81
				
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