World
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. Reuters writes:
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.
