Joy Behar

Early life

Behar was born Josephine Occhiuto in Williamsburg, New York, 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. Behar earned a BA in sociology from Queens College in 1964 and an MA in English education from Stony Brook University in 1966. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, she taught English at Lindenhurst Senior High School in Lindenhurst, New York.

Career beginnings

Behar started her career in show business in the early 1980s as a receptionist and later a producer on Good Morning America.

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 and was a host on the show Live from Queens. 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 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

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 into 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!" Jones then responded, "Even today, you [Behar] are still a bitch."

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.

On March 7, 2013, it was announced that Behar would be leaving the show at the end of the current season. 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". Her last show was on August 9, 2013 in which the program staged a "This is Your Life" style tribute to Behar.

After departing in 2013, Behar continued to guest co-host throughout 2014 and 2015. On August 25, 2015, ABC announced that Behar would return as a regular co-host starting with the premiere of the 19th season on September 8, 2015. Behar was quoted as saying, "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Plus, Steve was getting tired of applauding every time I gave my opinion. But I'm happy to be back home. And I'm looking forward to sticking my two cents into the hot topics, especially now that Hillary and the Donald are in the spotlight.”

On October 10, 2016, Behar received a significant amount of criticism for referring to Bill Clinton's sexual assault accusers as "tramps." Behar apologized for the sexual slur shortly afterwards.

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. Despite reportedly being the network's second highest-rated show, HLN decided to cancel the talk show after only two years. The final broadcast of The Joy Behar Show aired on December 15, 2011.

Joy Behar: Say Anything!

In June 2012, it was formally announced that Behar would be getting another talk show, Joy Behar: Say Anything!, premiering September 4, 2012 on the Current TV network. Its content is expected to be in line with her previous HLN series. 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. The show ended in August 2013 due to Current TV being purchased by Al Jazeera and being replaced by Al Jazeera America.

Late Night Joy

Behar's new weekly late night talk show, Late Night Joy, premiered on TLC on November 4, 2015. Each episode features Behar having intimate chats with friends in her New York City apartment.

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.

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.

Personal life

From 1965 to 1981, Behar was married to college professor Joe Behar. Their daughter, Eve, was born in 1970. Through Eve, Behar has a grandson named Luca (born February 2011).

Since 1982, Behar has been in a relationship with Steve Janowitz, whom she called her "spousal equivalent". In March 2009, Behar announced on The View that she might eventually marry Janowitz, but she called off the engagement three months later because she wanted people to stop talking about it. They eventually married on August 11, 2011.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

GLAAD Media Award

Daytime Emmy Award