UPDATE 1 -- American comedian Joan Rivers dead at 81, days after surgery

USPA News - American comedian Joan Rivers, who was best known for `The Joan Rivers Show` in the early 1990s and more recently the E! celebrity fashion show `Fashion Police,` died Thursday at a hospital in New York City, her daughter said. She was 81 years old.

Rivers died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 1:17 p.m. local time on Thursday, exactly a week after she suddenly stopped breathing while undergoing surgery on her vocal cords at Yorkville Endoscopy Clinic in New York`s Upper East Side. She had remained on life support ever since. "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers," Melissa Rivers, the daughter of Joan Rivers, said in an e-mailed statement. "She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother." Melissa Rivers added: "Cooper and I have found ourselves humbled by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers we have received from around the world. They have been heard and appreciated. My mother`s greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon." Rivers rose to prominence in the late 1960s, first as a guest on `The Tonight Show` before launching her own rival program, `The Late Show.` She also hosted the successful `Joan Rivers Show` between 1989 and 1993, which earned her a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host. More recently, Rivers co-hosted the E! celebrity fashion show `Fashion Police` and starred alongside her daughter Melissa in reality TV series `Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best"`.