Joan Rivers R.I.P
The caustic comedian’s dream of a star-studded funeral was fulfilled
Sunday, as scores of celebrities packed Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side
to pay their respects.
Howard Stern and TV anchor Deborah Norville delivered eulogies, while
Hugh Jackman sang “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady on Stage.”
The service also included a solo from Tony-winning actress Audra
McDonald, who sang “Smile.” The NYPD bagpipers played “New York, New York” and
a series of show tunes as they led the procession of VIPs out of the synagogue
before throngs of fans and paparazzi.
Stern opened his remarks with an appropriately vulgar — and unprintable
— crack about the effects of aging on one of Rivers’ body parts before
lavishing praise on the showbiz legend who died Thursday at 81.
“She was my hero. A trailblazer,” said Stern.
“I hope Joan is somewhere right now chasing Johnny Carson with a
baseball bat,” he added, alluding to Rivers’ feud with “The Tonight Show” host
late in his career.
Rivers famously said she wanted her funeral to be a spectacle for the
ages, with cameras flashing and stars weeping.
“I want craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a
scene!” she wrote in her 2012 book “I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me.”
“I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi
rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents.”
So it was only proper that the big-name attendees — all of whom counted
Rivers as a close friend — were no strangers to the red carpet.
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