Joy Behar

Joy Behar

Behar attending the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards, March 13, 2010
Born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto
October 7, 1942
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, US
Occupation Actress
comedian
writer
Co-host on The View
Host on The Joy Behar Show, Joy Behar: Say Anything!
Years active 1984–present
Spouse(s) Joe Behar
(m.1965–1981; divorced; 1 child)
Steve Janowitz
(m. 2011–present)

Joy Behar (/ˈbeɪhɑːr/; born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto; October 7, 1942)[1] is an American comedian, writer, actress and was a co-host on the ABC talk show The View. She hosted The Joy Behar Show on HLN from 2009 to 2011[2][3] and Joy Behar: Say Anything! on Current TV, from 2012[4] until the channel switched formatting in August 2013.

Early life and career

Behar was born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, to a Catholic family of Italian descent. Her mother, Rose (née Carbone), was a seamstress, and her father, Gino Occhiuto, was a truck driver for Coca-Cola.[5][6] Behar earned a BA in sociology from Queens College in 1964 and a MA in English education from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1966. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, she taught English at Lindenhurst Senior High School in Lindenhurst, New York.[7][8]

Career

Early years

Behar started her career in show business in the early 1980s as a receptionist and later a producer on Good Morning America.[9] She was a stand up comedian, and made appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, and The New Show, a short lived Lorne Michaels NBC project. In 1987 she had a talk show on Lifetime Television called Way Off Broadway. From there she continued to work the comedy club circuit, was a regular on NBC's Baby Boom, and had minor film roles including Cookie, This Is My Life, and Manhattan Murder Mystery. She also was a WABC radio talk show host, and made appearances on HBO Comedy Specials One Night Stand and Women of the Night 2.

The View

Behar (left) on The View with Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.

In 1997, Behar became one of the original panel members of the ABC daytime talk show The View, which was co-created by Barbara Walters. Behar originally appeared only on the days when Walters was off, but she ultimately became a permanent co-host. Behar occasionally hosted a segment called "Joy's Comedy Corner" in which she presented both established and up-and-coming comedians.

Behar had well-publicized disputes with Star Jones, a former co-host of the program. On March 27, 2006, Jones phoned in to the show to discuss a recent operation that she had undergone. After talking with the show's co-hosts, Behar abruptly stated to Jones, "OK, Star. That's enough about you. On to us. Bye. Keep your tits perky!"[10] Jones then responded, "Even today, you [Behar] are still a bitch."[10][11]

In August 2009, Behar and the other co-hosts, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd, and Barbara Walters, won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host following over a decade of nominations for the show.[12]

The View's panel (left–right Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck) interview United States President Barack Obama on July 29, 2010.

On March 7, 2013, it was announced that Behar would be leaving the show at the end of the current season.[13][14][15][16] She told Deadline, "It seemed like the right time...You reach a point when you say to yourself, 'Do I want to keep doing this?' There are other things on my plate I want to do – I've been writing a play, I've been neglecting my standup".[13] Her last show was on August 9, 2013 in which the program staged a "This is Your Life" style tribute to Behar.[17]

The Joy Behar Show

Beginning in 2007, she occasionally filled in as a guest host on Larry King Live. On June 11, 2009, Behar announced that she would be hosting her own news/talk program on CNN's HLN beginning in the fall of 2009, titled The Joy Behar Show. She did not leave The View, but worked on both shows simultaneously.[2] Despite reportedly being the network's second highest-rated show, HLN decided to cancel the talk show after only two years.[18] The final broadcast of the The Joy Behar Show aired on December 15, 2011.[19]

Joy Behar: Say Anything!

In June 2012, it was formally announced[20] that Behar would be getting another talk show, Joy Behar: Say Anything!,[4] premiering September 4, 2012[4] on the Current TV network. Its content is expected to be in line with her previous HLN series.[21] Before the new show's launch, Behar began acting as fill-in host for Eliot Spitzer's Current TV talk show, Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer, starting on July 18, 2012.[22] The show ended in August 2013 due to Current TV being purchased by Al Jazeera and being replaced by Al Jazeera America.

Other work

Behar has also made theater appearances in The Food Chain and The Vagina Monologues. Behar wrote a book of humorous essays and stories called Joy Shtick – Or What is the Existential Vacuum and Does It Come with Attachments?, published in 1999. She has also written a children's book called Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog, published in 2006.

Behar frequently incorporates her Italian-American culture into her comedy and once told Charlie Rose on his PBS program that her grandmother kept a picture of Mussolini in her home.

She appeared on the eighth season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and finished in fourth place, behind Robin Tunney, Christopher Meloni and Macy Gray, but ahead of Andy Dick. She played for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Behar played the part of "Dr. Lucy" in the 2011 comedy film Hall Pass.[23]

Personal life

From 1965 to 1981, Behar was married to Joe Behar, a college professor. Their daughter, Eve, was born in 1970.[24][25] In February 2011, Behar became a grandmother when her daughter had a son, Luca.[26]

Since 1982, Behar has been in a relationship with Steve Janowitz, whom she called her "spousal equivalent".[27] In March 2009, Behar announced on The View that she might eventually marry Janowitz,[28] but she called off the engagement three months later[29] because she wanted people to stop talking about it. Behar and Janowitz married on August 11, 2011; Behar chose to maintain her last name.[30]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

GLAAD Media Award

Daytime Emmy Award

References

  1. ↑ Behar turned 67 in October 2009, according to http://cityfile.com/dailyfile/7478
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Joy Behar Gets a TV Show All Her Own – TV News, Joy Behar : People.com
  3. ↑ Ariens, Chris. Joy Behar's HLN Show Canceled, TVNewser, November 17, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 'Joy Behar: Say Anything' to premiere Sept. 4.
  5. ↑ Smith, Dinitia (November 9, 1992). "Joy Shtick". New York Magazine (New York Media): 50–51. ISSN0028-7369.
  6. ↑ Zukerman, Eugenia (2003). In My Mother's Closet: An Invitation to Remember. Sorin Books. pp. 192–193. ISBN 1-893732-47-9.
  7. ↑ Delatiner, Barbara (September 3, 2000). "A Comic Who Now Feels at Home on Island". The New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Joy Behar Bio". ABC. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ Gallagher, Pat (April 15, 2013). "Joy Behar -- Standing Up Laughing". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Star, Joy Bleeped, Cut Off in On-Air Fight on 'View'"
  11. ↑ "The View Joy Behar Star Jones" on YouTube
  12. ↑ "Bold wins at Daytime Emmy Awards", Los Angeles Times
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Andreeva, Nellie (March 7, 2013). "Update: Joy Behar Leaving ABC’s ‘The View’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Joy Behar Leaving The View". People. March 8, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  15. ↑ de Moraes, Lisa (March 8, 2013). "Joy Behar to exit 'The View'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Joy Behar leaving "The View"". CBS News. March 7, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Joy Behar says goodbye to 'The View'". Entertainment Weekly. August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Joy Behar on Her Comeback Talk Show on Current TV". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Joy Behar to Anchor New Primetime Show "The Joy Behar Show"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Joy Behar To Host Show on Al Gore's Current TV". The Inquisitr. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  21. ↑ Guthrie, Marisa (June 11, 2012). "Joy Behar Joins Current TV". The Hollywood Reporteraccessdate=28 July 2012.
  22. ↑ "Al Gore announces new Joy Behar show". USA Today. June 11, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Hall Pass (2011) – Full cast and crew". IMDb. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  24. ↑ Righi, Len (November 10, 2008). "Joy Behar relishes her "View"". The Seattle Times (from The Morning Call). Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  25. ↑ Joy Behar at the Internet Movie Database
  26. ↑ Behar becomes a grandmother
  27. ↑ "Talk show host Joy Behar weds boyfriend of 29 years". CNN. August 13, 2011.
  28. ↑ Joy Behar May Marry Boyfriend People, March 17, 2009
  29. ↑ Joy Behar Marriage Can Wait OK!, July 31, 2009
  30. ↑ Shira, Dahvi (August 12, 2011). "Joy Behar Marries Steve Janowitz". People. Retrieved August 13, 2011.

Further reading

External links

Media offices
Preceded by
n/a		 The View second co-host
1997–2013 		Succeeded by
Jenny McCarthy