By Joe Vitale

Joan Rivers, a comedian and actress whose career spanned a long and winding 50 years, died on Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She was 81.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” her daughter, Melissa Rivers, said in a statement on Thursday. “She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. 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.”

According to numerous reports, Rivers had been unconscious and on life support for the past week. She was in critical but stable condition, said her daughter on Wednesday, but on Thursday, stopped breathing during surgery on her vocal chords.

Originally Joan Alexandra Molinsky, Rivers was born in Brooklyn in 1933 to Russian immigrants. She graduated from Barnard College and spent seven years doing rounds as a comedy club entertainer in Greenwich Village.

In 1965, Rivers got her big break with an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

Rivers became an instant hit, earning a daytime show, called “That Show.”

Throughout her career, she appeared in several movies including Rabbit Test (1978), starring Billy Crytal.

Among many television programs, she was given her own late night show in 1986, entitled “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.” It was canceled the following year.

After a number of career setbacks, including the suicide of her husband and producer of 22 years, Edgar Rosenberg, she launched her own syndicated daytime talk show in 1989. The show won her an Emmy Award.

In 1994, Rivers co-wrote and starred in Sally Marr…and Her Escorts. She won a Tony Award nomination for best actress.

Well into her 70s, Rivers pursued selling a line of jewelry and was portrayed in a well-received documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. 

Still an avid comedy performer, she starred in a reality television show, “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?,” which went on air in 2011. She also was a host on the E! Entertainment Television Series, “Fashion Police.”

She published a total of 11 books, most recently I Have Everyone…Starting With Me, which was released in 2012.

As of Thursday, many celebrities and fans have taken to social media to honor Rivers’ successful career as an entertainer.