Joan Rivers died Thursday afternoon , a week after being transported to hospital in critical condition. She was 81 years old.

The comedy legend, born as Joan Alexandra Molinsky, was rushed to hospital in New York after she went into distress during a procedure at an endoscopy clinic.

In a career that expanded almost five decades, Rivers wore many hats. She was an actress, comedian, talk show host, critiquer of celebrity fashion, red carpet regular and a winner of Celebrity Apprentice.

She also has a jewelry line which has been on QVC, the home shopping channel, for more than two decades. She was estimated to be worth about $150 million.

But many people, from celebrities to journalists, have talked about how mean Rivers was to people and how she crossed the line to offend others in the name of humour.

Rivers usually defended her points by explaining that she is just making people laugh and her comments aren't anything people wouldn't say to their friends.

She came to prominence after an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1965. Here is Rivers performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967.

Here she is being interviewed by Carson in 1986. Carson asked her about meeting the Queen to which Rivers replied, "She was wearing soap on a rope for jewelry." Rivers considered Carson a mentor, but when Rivers launched a rival show, Carson never spoke to her again.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield was interviewing Rivers about her new book and decided to ask Rivers why she makes so many offensive jokes.

Rivers didn't like the line of questioning and after a brief rant stormed away from the camera. Late Show host David Letterman jokingly stormed out of an interview he was conducting with her a couple days later.

Rivers spent a lot of time on red carpets during her career, but one of her most memorable moments before an award show may not be when interviewing a celebrity, but when trying to give a shout out to her crew. She talks about how great they are and then proceeds to forget all of their names and make some racist comments.

Of course, what most people know her for is making fun of other people's choice of clothing. Here she is taking some shots at the royals for what they wore to William and Kate's wedding. "This is the last picture they got before the house was dropped on her," Rivers said about Princess Anne.