In 1986, Joan Rivers made a fateful call to her mentor Johnny Carson. Rivers, the brassy comic with the thick New York accent who had made “Can we talk?” her catchphrase, told the all-powerful host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” that she was giving up a role as his handpicked heir to do her own show on Fox.

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It was, depending on how one looked at it, a bold bid for bigger stardom — or a stunning act of betrayal. Carson’s reaction was unambiguous. According to Rivers, he hung up on her — twice — and never spoke to her again in the remaining 19 years of his life. After her late-night show on Fox bombed, Rivers said she was virtually blackballed from TV.

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Click here to continue to read the Los Angeles Times obituary for Joan Rivers

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