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"&lt;img alt=\"Joan Rivers Dead\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/09/04/0828-joan-rivers-tmz-5.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Joan Rivers&lt;/strong&gt; -- who made the world laugh for over 50 years with her jokes, put-downs and one-liners -- has died in NYC ... a week after her heart suddenly stopped beating during vocal cord surgery. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was 81.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Joan's daughter &lt;strong&gt;Melissa Rivers&lt;/strong&gt; took her mom off life support so she could pass comfortably in a private room.&amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The death has been reported to the NYC Medical Examiner's Office -- and officials tell TMZ the office will open an investigation to determine cause of death.&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Melissa just issued a statement saying, \"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers.\"&lt;br /&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;\"She passed peacefully at 1:17 PM surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff of Mount Sinai hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.\"&amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt=\"0904-melissa-rivers-INF-02\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/09/04/0904-melissa-rivers-inf-7.jpg\" /&gt;\"Cooper and I have found ourselves humbled by the outpouring of love, support and prayers we have received from around the world. They have been heard and appreciated.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;\"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.\"&amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=\"http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/04/joan-rivers-death-hollywood-reacts/\"&gt;&lt;img alt=\"joan-rivers-hollywood-reacts-05\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/09/04/joan-rivers-hollywood-reacts-6.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rivers is widely credited for opening doors for countless female comediennes. She broke through in a big way during her appearances on \"The Tonight Show\" with Johnny Carson.&lt;/p&gt;\nShe also famously enraged Carson by accepting a gig to host a competing late night show on FOX.&amp;#160;Carson never spoke to her again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;{{tmz_video_0}}&lt;br /&gt;Rivers was born in 1933 -- she worked as a writer and fashion consultant before entering show biz as a stand-up comic in the early '60s. She was famously self-deprecating ... often self-critical of her looks and her marriage to &lt;strong&gt;Edgar Rosenberg&lt;/strong&gt; ... who&amp;#160;committed suicide in 1987. &amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Joan's late '80s FOX show tanked, which somewhat derailed her career. It was resurrected in a big way in 2010 in the wake of the documentary \"Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was universally adored by fellow comedians, including fellow legend &lt;strong&gt;Don Rickles&lt;/strong&gt;, who once said about her ... \"&lt;span&gt;Joan is not only a very intelligent lady, but extremely masterful at comedy timing. Sharing the stage with her has always been a joy for me.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;{{tmz_video_1}}&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara Walters&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160;was asked about Joan last year, saying ... \"&lt;span&gt;I wouldn't dare to try to be funny about Joan Rivers because she is the smartest, best-informed and funniest woman I know.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Joan and her daughter Melissa began working as a team hosting various red carpet and fashion shows on E! and other networks, including \"Fashion Police.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;{{tmz_video_2}}Joan's credits could fill a book ... including appearances in \"The Muppets Take Manhattan,\" \"The Carol Burnett Show,\" \"Hollywood Squares,\" \"Pee Wee's Playhouse,\" \"Celebrity Apprentice,\" \"Saturday Night Live\" ... and on and on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;{{tmz_video_3}}&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;{{tmz_video_4}}&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a class=\"lightbox-link\" href=\"http://www.tmz.com/photos/2014/08/28/joan-rivers-through-the-years-photos/\"&gt;&lt;img alt=\"0828_remembering_joan_rivers_footer\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/08/28/0828-remembering-joan-rivers-footer-3.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/04/joan-rivers-dead-dies-throat-surgery/9/>