Sept. 4, 2014 - Joan Rivers, the queen of comedy, has died in New York. She was 81. Rivers was undergoing surgery on her vocal cords at a clinic in New York City on Aug. 28 when she stopped breathing and had to be transported to Mount Sinai Hospital. Rivers entered show biz as a stand-up comic. She first gained fame with her appearances on ''The Tonight Show'' with Johnny Carson. Rivers recently transformed herself into a comedian fashion critic of the red carpet with the popular E! Network show, 'Fashion Police.' PICTURED: Date Unknown - New York, New York, U.S.- Star buck Nightclub - Hamming it up in one of the city's newest watering holes of the rich and famous are comedians DAVID BRENNER and JOAN RIVERS. (Credit Image: © Hefferson Siebert/Keystone Pictures USA/ZUMAPRESS.com)