After starting out in the stand-up arena, Joan was a guest on The Tonight Show in 1965. The show was hosted by Johnny Carson, whom she often referred to as her mentor.
The show established her comic career, comprising self-deprecation and poking fun at celebrities.
She would often be the guest host when Johnny was away and when he announced he was leaving, Joan was expected to be his successor - but she was unceremoniously dumped.
After she launched a rival programme in 1986, The Late Show With Joan Rivers, Johnny never spoke to her again.
Joan was the first woman to host her own late-night talkshow on network television. She moved on to a successful daytime slot, The Joan Rivers Show, from 1989 to 1993, which won her a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talkshow Host.
Throughout her life, Joan did stand-up comedy and right up until she was rushed to hospital on August 28 - in cardiac arrest after a routine throat procedure went horribly wrong - she was travelling cross-country each week from New York, where she lived, to Los Angeles, where Fashion Police was taped.
In a Manhattan hospital, Joan was placed in an induced coma, then on life support, and didn't recover - sending her fans into shock.
Joan's commentaries on celebrities and politics have often been criticised and continually sparked controversy, especially in her final weeks when she was on tour promoting her last book, Diary of a Mad Diva. She wrote 12 books and all of them were bestsellers. Many celebrities said they bought them just to see if they got a mention.
Joan's reality show, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, gave fans an insight into the private lives of Joan, her daughter Melissa and grandson Cooper.
Melissa was estranged from her mother for some time after Joan's husband, Edgar, died but they worked out their differences and were the best of friends in Joan's last years.
Joan adored her grandson and we often enjoyed watching her, Cooper and his young friends off on adventures.
One of my fave memories of Joan was when she "hijacked" a Hollywood tour bus and gave the surprised and delighted passengers a running commentary during their trip.
Another was when she appeared on The David Letterman Show, carrying Edgar's ashes to scatter under the sofa cushions. Dave's tribute to Joan following her death brought tears to my eyes, it was so lovely.
Melissa produced Fashion Police, which was a platform for Joan to slam celebrities' outfits and lifestyles as only she could. One of her most memorable quotes was: "I only say what everyone else is thinking."
After her death, many of the celebrities she panned sent messages of love via Facebook and Twitter, letting us know they adored Joan in spite of her damning - and often vulgar - comments on their red-carpet outfits.
Joan also talked candidly about her multiple cosmetic surgeries and was a patient of plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin, beginning in 1983.
She had her nose thinned while still at college and her next procedure, an eye lift, was performed in 1965 (when she was in her 30s) as an attempt to further her career.
When promoting her book, Men Are Stupid ... And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery, she quipped: "I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware."
Underneath her tough-woman persona, Joan was a kind, loving soul who gave tirelessly to charities, her family, her friends and her co-workers. In 2008, she was commended by the City of San Diego for her philanthropic work: The HIV/Aids community there dubbed her their "Joan of Arc".
Her funeral on Monday (NZ time) was an invitation-only service, held at the Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. The ceremony was attended by numerous public figures, including Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Griffin, Donald Trump, Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Walters, Kelly Osbourne, Diane Sawyer and Giuliana Rancic.
During the ceremony, actor Hugh Jackman sang, Broadway actress Audra McDonald performed and talkshow host Howard Stern delivered the eulogy.
He described Joan as "brassy in public, classy in private ... a troublemaker, trailblazer, pioneer for comics everywhere, who fought the stereotypes that women can't be funny".
Thanks for the laughs, Joan. I'm sure the angels are falling off their clouds in fits of giggles.
You weren't done - and I will miss you.
