Joan Rivers' daughter Melissa reveals twist of fate saved her mom's archive of jokes from being destroyed in LA fires
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Melissa Rivers has revealed how a twist of fate saved a collection her late mother's greatest treasures from being lost in the recent LA fires that destroyed her Pacific Palisades home.
The 56-year-old shared that Joan Rivers' precious catalogue of jokes had been collected from the property just a few months before the blaze took hold.
'The jokes and the major archival pieces, fortunately, about two and a half, three months ago were picked up for a national comedy center,' the Group Text podcast host told People.
The filing cabinet, which stored the materials, held around 65,000 original jokes collected over the iconic comedian and television host's 64-year career.
Joan passed away in 2014 at the age of 81 due to complications from what was meant to be a routine outpatient throat surgery.
Preserving Joan's jokes comes after Melissa revealed she had also managed to secure Joan's only Emmy, which she won in 1990 for Outstanding Talk Show Host.
Melissa Rivers 56, has revealed that the catalogue of her late mother Joan Rivers' jokes were collected from her property just a few months before the LA fires destroyed her Pacific Palisades home
The 56-year-old shared that Joan Rivers' precious catalogue of jokes had been collected from the property (pictured) just a few months before the blaze took hold
Other items belonging the former Fashion Police star, including her clothes, have been auctioned off over the years to support the late comedian's favorite charity, God's Love We Deliver, which provides food to people suffering from serious illness who can't cook for themselves.
Joan's jewelry, Melissa reports, was stored away in a safe deposit box at a bank, which she assumes was built to withstand fire.
Regarding the loss of her home, Rivers, who is engaged to Steve Mitchel said, 'When we say we lost everything, well you can't get it until you see the video.'
'It's not just my life, but my son Cooper's life too.'
Rivers shares Cooper, 24, with her ex-husband John Endicott. 'We were both only children, and just all of it is gone,' she said, adding it was surreal to see her entire life contained in three L.L. Bean boat totes.
'We're all doing the best we can,' she told the publication.
'Cooper's made of the same tough stuff I am. And we are all leaning on each other and coping.'
Her biggest regret is losing bathrobes that belonged to her mother and her late father, Edgar Rosenberg, but she was able to save a photo of her dad, who died in 1987.
'I had her bathrobe and my dad's bathrobe... I lost the only three things of theirs that I kept in my house because they reminded me so much of them,' she said.
Preserving Joan's jokes comes after Melissa revealed she had also managed to secure Joan's only Emmy , which she won in 1990 for Outstanding Talk Show Host (Pictured in Los Angeles in July 2013)
Red circle shows Melissa's Pacific Palisades property
In the Palisades fire alone, around 5,300 structures have been destroyed
Rivers has found temporary housing, but isn't sure when she and other members of the community will be able to rebuild and return.
'I mean I can't even picture how it will look a year from now,' she said.
'The shops are gone. It was a complete decimation of an entire town. I keep thinking about all of these people who either owned stores or worked in the stores, some of them have lost not only their homes, they've lost their livelihood as well.
The former Joan & Melissa: Joan Know Best? star has been keeping busy by checking on friends and relying on humor to deal with the loss. 'It's my superpower,' she explained, 'I am my parents' daughter.'
Melissa had notably purchased the home in the Pacific Palisades nearly four years ago in 2021 for $7.7 million.
The expansive property boasted five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and a backyard designed for luxury living, complete with a swimming pool, spa area, and outdoor fireplace.
Previously, Melissa owned another home in the Palisades, which she sold in 2019 for around $5.2 million.
The 5,850-square-foot estate, built in 1953, featured six bedrooms and 5.25 bathrooms.
Rivers said she and her fiance, Steve Mitchel lost everything in the Palisades fire. 'Just all of it is gone,' she said, adding it was surreal to see her entire life contained in three L.L. Bean boat totes (Pictured in Beverly Hills in May 2024)
Joan - who passed away in 2014 at the age of 81 - won the Daytime Emmy Award in 1990 for Outstanding Talk Show Host for The Joan Rivers Show (seen above)
Melissa originally bought this property in the late 1990s through a trust for $2.35 million.
At the time, she was serving as executive producer and co-host of the E! series Fashion Police, which debuted in 1995 and prominently featured her fiery mother.
Before she found a new legion of fans with Fashion Police, Joan found fame as a trailblazing comic, building a career marked by groundbreaking achievements and a bold, unapologetic style.
She began in stand-up comedy in the 1950s, and her big break came in 1965 when she appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, catapulting her to national stardom.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Joan became a familiar face on television, notably as a guest host on The Tonight Show, where she became the first woman to permanently guest-host.
In 1986, she launched The Joan Rivers Show, a daytime talk show that earned her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 1990.
Off-screen, Joan's personal life was defined by her turbulent marriage to TV producer Edgar Rosenberg, whom she married in 1965.
Three years later, they welcomed their only child, Melissa.
Off-screen, Joan's personal life was defined by her turbulent marriage to TV producer Edgar Rosenberg, whom she married in 1965; (Edgar, Joan and Melissa in 1987)
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Joan became a familiar face on television, notably as a guest host on The Tonight Show, where she became the first woman to permanently guest-host; (with Oprah in 1986 on The Tonight Show)
Tragically, their marriage ended in 1987 when Rosenberg, who had suffered from clinical depression, took his own life.
This heartbreak came just months after he and Joan were let go from her short-lived late-night talk show on Fox.
Joan passed away on September 4, 2014, after complications from what was meant to be a routine throat procedure on August 28.
She suffered severe brain damage due to a lack of oxygen during the procedure.
In the wake of her mother's death, Melissa filed a malpractice lawsuit against the clinic and doctors involved in the operation.
The case was settled in 2016, with one of the key conditions being that the doctors publicly acknowledged responsibility for Joan’s death.
