BY DONNA WESTFALL

40 years ago, we attended a small night spot in Beverly Hills to be entertained by a brash, upcoming comedienne.  Her name, Joan Rivers.   The woman was so funny that we laughed until we couldn’t breath.  People were falling on the floor laughing.  This was before her nose was thinned in 1983.

Her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants who came to this country the legal way.  Last name Molinsky.  Her stand up routine would have one line zingers like, “I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.”

A recipient and advocate for plastic surgery and proud of it, she’s become author, actress, producer, director, has done voice overs, and created her own line of jewelry.  Distinguished by her loud, raspy voice, her New York accent and her trademark, “Can we talk?!”

Two days ago she was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York after a cardiac and/or respiratory arrest during throat surgery.

Today, her family is with her while she is on life support, hoping and praying that she will recover.  Our prayers are with you too, Joan Rivers.