Joan Rivers Comedian dies at age 81

  Comedian Joan Rivers died in a New York hospital Thursday afternoon, a week after suffering cardiac arrest during a medical procedure, her daughter said."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 said in a written statement.Rivers, 81, had been on life support at Manhattan's Mount Sinai hospital, where she was taken after she stopped breathing at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic last Thursday.Born Joan Molinsky in Brooklyn in 1933, her family moved to the suburbs of Westchester, N.Y. when she was nine.