While Rivers got a big showbiz boost from her famous mother (and cohost) Joan Rivers, this pleasant TV personality started out on her own with appearances on
Beverly Hills, 90210 and
Hangin' with MTV. In 1994, after a long period of estrangement, she costarred with her mother in the TV-movie
Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story about how they coped with the 1987 suicide of her father, Edgar Rosenberg. The next year, the duo signed a contract with E! Entertainment Television to cohost fashion and red-carpet programs. As the sane straight woman to her loopy mom, Rivers kept things moving smoothly and left the laughs to Joan. In 2005 the mother-daughter team moved to the TV Guide Channel but left two years later.
Melissa Rivers Fast Facts:
- Made her feature-film debut in 1978 in Rabbit Test, directed and cowritten by her mother, Joan Rivers.
- Has been a competitive equestrian since she was a youngster.
- Studied acting with legendary teacher Sanford Meisner.
- Worked as a correspondent for E! Entertainment Television, CBS This Morning and Hangin' with MTV.
- Cowrote an advice column with her mother Joan Rivers for McCall's magazine from 1999 to 2001.
- Appeared in the 2003 reality series I'm a Celebrity — Get Me Out of Here and finished in second place, winning $100,000, which she donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
- Designed sterling-silver jewelry sold on QVC.
- Served as a PETA spokesperson for an antifur campaign.
- Melissa Rivers Relationships:
- Edgar Cooper Endicott - Son
- Edgar Rosenberg - Father
- Joan Rivers - Mother
- John Endicott - Ex-husband
- College:
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (BA in European History, 1989)
