Joan Rivers Attended Connecticut College, Owned New Milford Home

Breakthrough comedienne, talk-show host and fashion critic Joan Rivers, who died on Thursday following complications during throat surgery, attended Connecticut College in 1950 and had a home in New Milford.

Rivers, 81, attended the Connecticut College for Women in New London from 1950-1952 before transferring to Barnard College, according to a blog post by the Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives at Connecticut College.

According to the post, Rivers, who was Joan Molinsky at the time, performed in several plays during her freshman and sophomore years.

An article published in the Connecticut College News on Nov. 7, 1951 called Rivers “the hit of the evening with her impersonation of a woman trying to save a seat at an outdoor concert,” the post says.

She also owned an expansive estate on New Preston Hill Road in New Milford, which sold for more than $4 million in October 2013.

Rivers was on life support for several days after she stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest during minor throat surgery Aug. 28.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers,” her daughter, Melissa Rivers, said in a statement obtained by NBC News. “She passed peacefully at 1:17pm 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 of my mother.”

Connecticut College tweeted about Rivers’ death Thursday afternoon.

Rivers made a name for herself as permanent guest host on "The Tonight Show Starting Johnny Carson" and struck out on her own with daytime talk show, “The Show.”

She went on to become a film director, writer and actress, was also a best-selling author and wrote a Grammy-nominated comedy album.

Rivers won NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2011 and hosted “Fashion Police” on the E! Network. She was nominated for five Emmy Awards and won outstanding talk show host in 1990.

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