Joan Rivers’s funeral Sunday at Temple Emanu-El on New York’s Upper East Side was filled with comedy, songs, and celebrities, just as the comedian would have liked. Hugh Jackman sang “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady on Stage,” and Tony-winning Audra McDonald sang Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” Howard Stern delivered one of the eulogies, describing Rivers as “the best friend in the world...a big sister...a crazy aunt at a bar mitzvah.” Throngs of celebrities were in attendance, including Barbara Walters, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Alan Cumming, Ivanka Trump, and Carolina Herrera. Rivers’s only child, Melissa, read a letter she had written to her mother when she was alive. “I am grateful for every day [her son] Cooper and I have with you,” she said. Rivers died last week at the age of 81 after she went into cardiac arrest during a routine procedure. The clinic where it was performed is currently under investigation.
