Joan Rivers has passed away after suffering complications from throat surgery, her daughter announced on Thursday. She was 81 years old. 

"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers," Melissa Rivers said in a written statement. "She passed peacefully at 1.17pm surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother."

Rivers suffered a cardiac arrest during the operation on her vocal cords at a New York clinic on 28 August. She was rushed to hospital and placed on life support, but never recovered consciousness.

Brooklyn-born Rivers was a pioneer for female comedians, rising to fame in the male-dominated New York comedy scene of the 60s. With her acid tongue and envelope-pushing humour, she more than held her own alongside peers like Woody Allen, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.

She got her big television break when she landed a recurring spot on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. She famously bested Carson at his own game when she landed a rival nighttime slot hosting her own series: The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, where she interviewed everyone from Grace Jones, GWAR and the New York club kids of the 90s. 

Her take-no-prisoners approach to shock humour sometimes caused controversy. But for Rivers, nothing was too sacred.

Take, for instance, this quip about Michael Jackson: "The whole thing was my fault. I told him to date only 'twenty-eight-year-olds'. Who knew he would find 20 of them?"

But Rivers was also widely loved by many for her own brutal honesty about herself, not least her willingness to expose her most intimate moments (and her experiences with plastic surgery) – a trait most on show in Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, her no-holds-barred 2011 reality series with her daughter.

As she put it: "Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century."

The comedian was never one to rest on her laurels. Before her illness, Rivers had just filmed a special award show episode of her TV show Fashion Police. "I don't like when the ladies come up and say, 'Oh, you broke barriers for women,'" she once said in a PBS interview. "I'm still breaking barriers. And I can still take you, sweetheart, with both hands tied behind my back."