ENTERTAINMENT
CAN WE
co-0E07.e
GARY ROSENBLATT
Editor
oan Rivers does have a
serious side. And she
showed it during an inter-
iew this past week. But not
for long.
Asked whether she would
want her 21-year-old
daughter, Melissa, to marry
a Jew, the comedienne said
yes, she felt it was important
because "Jews still make the
best husbands. They are the
most family-oriented; they
want the best education for
their children, and they
have good values."
She added that Jews are
brighter, more motivated
and more industrious than
others.
"We're Koreans with
payos (sidecurls)" she said,
laughing at her own line, as
she often does.
Judaism and its traditions
are a strong force in Miss
River's life, and when her
husband, Edgar Rosenberg,
committed suicide four years
ago, she sat shiva for him.
Though she praised the
psychological healing pro-
cess of shiva, she noted
quietly that "nothing was a
comfort to me."
She added, though, that
she has seen how her
friends, celebrities Steve
Lawrence and Eydie Gorme,
were greatly comforted by
the Jewish mourning
customs after the death of
their son.
She speculated that
perhaps her experience was
less positive because the
rabbi at the time of her
husband's death had not
really known him.
"Lights are very impor-
tant to me," Miss Rivers
said, "and I love the
memorial services at the
temple. That's an anchor for
me. And I love the lights for
Yom Kippur and at Chanu-
kah.
"We celebrate every-
thing," she said, explaining
that after lighting the meno-
rah and exchanging gifts
every night during Chanu-
kah, she decorates for
Christmas, followed by Rus-
sian Christmas.
il
Jewish holidays, par-
ticularly Passover and
breaking the Yom Kippur
fast, are "major, joyful
events in my house."
Miss Rivers describes
herself as "not observant,
but ethnically, very Jew-
ish." She said she belongs to
Temple Emanuel, the large
Reform congregation not far
from her Manhattan apart-
ment. ("We need more
Georgian temples," she
cracked. "We Jews are so
smart but we have the worst
architecture and the worst
art.")
Joan Rivers was born Joan
Molinsky some 57 years ago
in Brooklyn.
During our interview, she
nibbled cottage cheese and
fruit in the television sta-
tion's conference room, look-
ing a bit paler and sounding
a bit raspier than she does
on television. In conversa-
tion, she comes across as
warm and direct, talking
fast and laughing easily.
"Who makes you laugh?" I
asked at one point.
"Me," she responded im-
mediately. (She went on to
add Lily Tomlin, Howie
Mandell and Sam Kinison.)
Her humor is sharp, brash
and urban. But she does not
categorize herself as a Jew-
ish comedienne. "I think of
myself as a comedienne who
happens to be Jewish," she
explained. "I'm just funny.
"We're really one genera-
tion past true ethnic Jewish
humor," she added, and
spoke warmly of Yiddish as
a "rich language with
wonderful idioms. My
parents used Yiddish as
their secret language, and I
miss not knowing it."
Miss Rivers attributes part
of her success as a talk show
host to asking the real ques-
tions. "I used to watch these
shows and say to myself,
`they're asking the wrong
questions.' Her style, she
said, is to prepare
thoroughly, listen carefully
and "hope to find the unex-
pected." And she doesn't
beat around the bush.
She said she asks what
everyone is dying to . know
but is too embarrassed to
ask.
Anticipating my response,
she said that what everyone
A semi-serious talk
with Joan Rivers
?
would want to know about
Joan Rivers is "who is she
sleeping with — after all, it's
been almost four years (since
her husband's death) and
she is a beautiful woman."
She recalled with a
chuckle that on one of her
recent shows she asked ac-
tress Sean Young who were
the five most important
Hollywood executives for a
starlet to sleep with on her
way to the top. "And she
listed them for me," Miss
Rivers said, a bit surprised
herself.
It's that brash, outrageous
streak that has made Joan
Rivers so popular over the
years, trashing icons like
Queen Elizabeth for her hor-
sy looks, Elizabeth Taylor
for her ample figure and
Nancy Reagan for her lack of
one.
Miss Rivers no doubt
wears the same size dress as
"Nothing is off limits for me"
Joan Rivers
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
65