Joy Behar

Joy Behar (born Josephine Victoria Occhiuto on October 7, 1942) is an American comedian, television host, actress, and playwright. Born in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn to a family of Italian descent, she earned a BA in sociology from Queens College and an MA in English education from Stony Brook University, and taught English on Long Island before entering show business. She worked the comedy club circuit as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s and appeared on HBO specials such as One Night Stand and Women of the Night 2. In 1997 she became one of the original panelists of the ABC daytime talk show The View, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2009. She also hosted The Joy Behar Show on HLN, Joy Behar: Say Anything! on Current TV, and Late Night Joy on TLC. Behar has written several books, including The Great Gasbag, and her play My First Ex-Husband premiered Off-Broadway in 2025.