SIN Entertainment
AIDS causes. I'm on the board of [an organization] that
gives meals to home-ridden AIDS patients, and Pm active
in Pediatric AIDS. Guide Dogs for the Blind is another
commitment. A friend of mine has a child with diabetes,
so Juvenile Diabetes is very important. Every charity is
important.
oan Rivers has scaled the heights of career come-
dy and touched the depths of personal tragedy. All
the laughter she brought to stage, screen and TV
audiences remained in the shadows while she
coped with the shock of her husband's suicide in 1987.
When Rivers addresses supporters of the Jewish Fed-
eration's Women's Campaign on Wednesday, March 5,
the entertainer will explain her outlook and how she
comes to terms with life's ups and downs.
"Can we talk?" — River's signature question — was
answered affirmatively during a recent phone conver-
sation that anticipated her visit and covered family, ca-
reer, philosophy and even a new romance:
j
/–'
Q: Has your religion been a comfort to
you?
A: I'm very proud to be Jewish. I think the philosophy
is incredible and wonderful. I'm proud of Israel. Pm proud
of what we've done. A comfort? No. It's never been a com-
fort to me. I wish I could lie to you. I love the traditions. I
love the holidays. I love the strength of all the people. I love
that we get through. All that, to me, is terrific.
Q: What do you have planned for your
appearance in Michigan?
Q: Do you come from a funny family?
A: There's a lecture series I've been doing on how to
survive anything. It's truly on survival — overcoming
all odds, pulling your life into shape and not letting any-
thing stop you.
A: I think that's all hereditary. My dad was very funny.
My sister, who's a lawyer, is very funny. My mom wasn't
that funny, but she was funny enough.
Q: Do you think there's something in
the Jewish experience that lends itself
to humor?
Q: The theme of the program that
you'll speak at is "Choices." What do
you consider the most important choic-
es you've made in your own life?
A: There used to be but not anymore. We're all so ho-
mogenized now.
A: Not to dwell on bad things was a very conscious
choice — moving forward, just getting on with it and
living in a positive, rather than a negative, way. I
really believe in that whole Jewish philosophy that if
we don't forgive, we don't forget.
Q: Do you think that all the choices
women now face make their lives eas-
ier or harder?
A: It's much more difficult now. In my mother's day,
a woman was a housewife, and her job was to take care
of her family — her children and her husband. That's
what it was about, and she knew what it was about.
Maybe she was happy; maybe she wasn't happy.
But she knew. Now, a woman can live with a man, or
she cannot live with a man. She can get married, or she
cannot get married. She can have a career, or she can-
not have a career. It's too much. Women don't know
where they are, what they're supposed to do or where
they fit in, and it's reflecting in society. It's reflecting
\--j in what's happening to the family.
Q: How are your personal attitudes
today different from when you started
out in your career?
A: I'm much more cynical. That's all because I think
I've seen everything. I've seen a lot of nice people do
mean things. What hasn't changed is that I'm still very
starstruck. I still adore my business. If I see people
filming a commercial on a New York street, I'll stop and
look.
Q: How is your time divided profes-
sionally?
A: I'm doing lectures, and I still go out and do
concerts. I love one-on-one. I do a lot of television
appearances — "Regis and Kathy Lee" and "Politically
Incorrect." I do a series for the Entertainment network
on all the great events — the Tonys, the Emmys and
the Golden Globes, and I do fashion reviews for them.
My book Bouncing Back is coming out. Everything
is going fine, but that's just one of the ups. I know
there are the downs. I've been through ups and downs
so many times that I just take it and grow with it.
Q: What would people be most sur-
prised to know about you?
Joan Rivers was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actress in a
Play for her performance in Sally Marr...and her escorts.
Q: Are you still in the jewelry business?
A: Joan Rivers Jewelry is bigger than ever. We're now
all through Canada. We're all throughout the United King-
dom. We're going into Germany. I design the jewelry (with
someone else), and we have an eight-person company. We
manufacture it, and we do it all. That's why it's become
successful. I've learned for anything that's going to be ter-
rific, you have to be on top of it yourself.
Q: What are your most important per-
sonal interests?
A: Eight years ago, my most personal activity was tak-
ing care of and watching over my daughter, Melissa, but
she's well on her way. She works on Entertainment TV,
and she lives in California. She has a very nice young man.
She's very happy, and it's a very nice moment in her life,
so that's good. Personally, I just take care of myself, and
that's a pleasure. I go out with a very nice man, Orin
Lehman, the former commissioner of parks in New York
City.
Q: What's the best advice you ever gave
your daughter, and did she take it?
A: Probably the best advice is telling her to enjoy the
moment, not to waste her tears and to be aware of the good
times. I think she's pretty much that way. My husband
wasn't. You know the half empty-half full glass? My hus-
band was always half empty. I by to instill in my daugh
ter that the glass is half filll.
Q: Are you active with any Jewish or
other causes?
A: UJA obviously. I was Tay-Sachs chairwoman for
many years. I give every year to the Wiesenthal fund. Those
are my three main Jewish causes. I'm also active with
A: That Pm a fat pig! Actually, that I can relax. I can
get on a plane and go to sleep. It's a wonderful thing, and
Pm very happy about it. If I have a Sunday when Pm do-
ing nothing, I truly do nothing.
Q: Is romance easier at this time in your
life than it was when you were a teen-
ager or young adult?
A: It's worse now. It's more embarrassing, particular-
ly thinking about what you look like. To worry about
whether someone is going to call again is very degrad-
ing, and yet we do it. We should be two by two; look at
Noah. You want a companion and you want somebody
to be with, but it's very tough.
Q: What do you like to do when you
have time to get away?
A: My daughter and I love sailing. We charter a boat
and just go off somewhere. If I'm near water, Pm happy.
Q: What projects do you have coming
up?
A: Pm writing another Broadway play. I think P11 be
doing a syndicated radio show. I have another book in the
works. I just finished a tape called "Shopping for Fitness,"
which is very funny. It doesn't stop.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: I think to survive in show business you have to have
ideas. You have to keep coming up with something. You
can't stay still That's why they keep saying Madonna rein-
vents herself over and over again. You have to. You have
to keep moving. ❑
Joan Rivers appears for the Federation Women's Cam-
paign and Education Department at 11 a.m. Wednesday,
March 5, at Adat Shalom Synagogue. Her appearance is
sold out. For information, call (810) 642-4260.