Edgar Rosenberg

He was winding up four days of routine financial meetings in Philadelphia and had told his administrative assistant to confirm his return flight to Los Angeles. He had just finished reading Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" and was looking for another good book. He was trying to figure out when he could reschedule dinner with actor Vincent Price. And, as he always did whenever he went out of town, Edgar Rosenberg kept in close telephone contact with his wife. "I spoke to him the day before," comedienne Joan Rivers said Tuesday night, her voice filled with disbelief and anguish.

The story about Joan Rivers isn't mentioned on the cover of the December issue of GQ. Her name does not appear in the table of contents, either. In fact, the elongated gossip item is buried on pages 138 and 140 of the 360-page issue, tucked between Campari and Neiman-Marcus ads like a pearl in the bowels of an oyster, waiting to be discovered.

In a message taped before his suicide, the husband of comedian Joan Rivers said ill health made him feel like a burden to people close to him, police said Sunday. In one of three recordings made before his death Friday, producer Edgar Rosenberg also cited "possible business problems," Sgt. Edward Geigert said. In Los Angeles, Rosenberg was eulogized at a memorial service Sunday as a man who had nurtured the career of his wife and deeply loved his family.

Joan Rivers, who had a tradition of cracking jokes about hubbie Edgar Rosenberg, is trying out new material about him now that he's gone--even alluding (at least in one gag) to his suicide three months ago. At the same time, she bitterly complained that former boss Johnny Carson never called to express sympathy after Rosenberg's death. It all surfaced last week at Carlos 'n' Charlie's, where she occasionally tests new routines. At the end of her set, she took questions from the audience.

Edgar Rosenberg, husband of and comic foil for comedian Joan Rivers, was found dead in his Philadelphia hotel room Friday, apparently of a drug overdose, police said. He was 62. The veteran producer and longtime manager of his wife's career apparently died of an overdose of Valium, said Police Detective Gerald Whartenby. Officials were summoned when Rosenberg's business manager called him at the Four Seasons Hotel on Friday morning and received no answer.

Joan Rivers, who had a tradition of cracking jokes about hubbie Edgar Rosenberg, is trying out new material about him now that he's gone--even alluding (at least in one gag) to his suicide three months ago. At the same time, she bitterly complained that former boss Johnny Carson never called to express sympathy after Rosenberg's death. It all surfaced last week at Carlos 'n' Charlie's, where she occasionally tests new routines. At the end of her set, she took questions from the audience.

The final wrinkles are being ironed out in the plan to have Joan Rivers and Elizabeth Taylor meet, eye-to-violet eye. It's the first close encounter of the stars kind since Ms. Rivers began discussing Ms. Taylor as part of her act--and it's all-for-charity, as the riveting Rivers revealed. She credited Michaele Vollbracht--the designer of the big, wild, colorful dresses--for putting it all together. (He's buddies with both the ladies.) The benefit is set for Nov. 17 at Spago.

Joan Rivers looked fairly calm late last week as she ate catered Chinese food off a plastic plate in an office at KTTV in Hollywood. The familiar razor-blade voice was silent, and the manicured fingers, often seen in mid-jab, were occupied with utensils. In place of the flashy designer originals, she wore a simple black dress, and reading glasses rested low on her nose. The moment was deceptive.

The story about Joan Rivers isn't mentioned on the cover of the December issue of GQ. Her name does not appear in the table of contents, either. In fact, the elongated gossip item is buried on pages 138 and 140 of the 360-page issue, tucked between Campari and Neiman-Marcus ads like a pearl in the bowels of an oyster, waiting to be discovered.

Joan Rivers finally moved into her center slot on "Hollywood Squares" this weekend. Rivers postponed joining the syndicated TV game show following the suicide of her husband, businessman/producer Edgar Rosenberg, on Aug. 14. The first show featuring Rivers debuts the week of Oct. 19.

He was winding up four days of routine financial meetings in Philadelphia and had told his administrative assistant to confirm his return flight to Los Angeles. He had just finished reading Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" and was looking for another good book. He was trying to figure out when he could reschedule dinner with actor Vincent Price. And, as he always did whenever he went out of town, Edgar Rosenberg kept in close telephone contact with his wife. "I spoke to him the day before," comedienne Joan Rivers said Tuesday night, her voice filled with disbelief and anguish.

In a message taped before his suicide, the husband of comedian Joan Rivers said ill health made him feel like a burden to people close to him, police said Sunday. In one of three recordings made before his death Friday, producer Edgar Rosenberg also cited "possible business problems," Sgt. Edward Geigert said. In Los Angeles, Rosenberg was eulogized at a memorial service Sunday as a man who had nurtured the career of his wife and deeply loved his family.

Edgar Rosenberg, husband of and comic foil for comedian Joan Rivers, was found dead in his Philadelphia hotel room Friday, apparently of a drug overdose, police said. He was 62. The veteran producer and longtime manager of his wife's career apparently died of an overdose of Valium, said Police Detective Gerald Whartenby. Officials were summoned when Rosenberg's business manager called him at the Four Seasons Hotel on Friday morning and received no answer.

Joan Rivers looked fairly calm late last week as she ate catered Chinese food off a plastic plate in an office at KTTV in Hollywood. The familiar razor-blade voice was silent, and the manicured fingers, often seen in mid-jab, were occupied with utensils. In place of the flashy designer originals, she wore a simple black dress, and reading glasses rested low on her nose. The moment was deceptive.

The final wrinkles are being ironed out in the plan to have Joan Rivers and Elizabeth Taylor meet, eye-to-violet eye. It's the first close encounter of the stars kind since Ms. Rivers began discussing Ms. Taylor as part of her act--and it's all-for-charity, as the riveting Rivers revealed. She credited Michaele Vollbracht--the designer of the big, wild, colorful dresses--for putting it all together. (He's buddies with both the ladies.) The benefit is set for Nov. 17 at Spago.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge refused Tuesday to dismiss Joan Rivers' $50-million libel suit against writer Ben Stein, whose lawyer argued that Rivers was "libel-proof" because she often joked about her late husband. Rivers sued Stein and the publisher of Gentleman's Quarterly magazine after it published an article by Stein quoting Rivers about her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, after his suicide. Rivers claims Stein's story is completely false.