Joy Behar, Comedienne and Co-Host Of The View, Celebrates Her Birthday

Joy Behar, the flame-haired actress, comedienne, writer, and talk show host stands poised to celebrate a very special milestone.

Happy Birthday, Joy Behar!

And that’s because she was born on October 7, 1942, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, which means that this talented multi-hyphen is turning 78 years old today! After her college graduation, Behar worked as an English teacher at Long Island’s Lindenhurst Senior High School…and all the while she studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio.

In the 1980s, Behar took up a post as a receptionist at Good Morning America, the early morning news and talk program on ABC. She eventually worked her way up to the position of producer.

After a stint on the short-lived Lorne Michaels sketch comedy series The New Show, Behar found herself tapped to host her very own talk show. Way Off Broadway had a brief run on the Lifetime network, and Behar then turned her attention to hosting a series titled Live From Queens.

After that program ended, Behar concentrated on honing her stand-up routines, though she did continue to take small roles in feature films such as Cookie, This Is My Life, and Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery.

For a short time, Behar appeared as a series regular on the sitcom Baby Boom, and she also hosted a talk show for the WABC.  In 1997, Behar became one of the original panelists on the ABC daytime talk show The View.

Originally an alternate for series co-creator Barbara Walters, Behar eventually became a permanent co-host. In the show’s early years, Behar shared the roundtable with (among others) Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos, and, of course, Walters.

Behar’s initial tenure with the series ended on August 9, 2013, though she did serve as a frequent guest co-host over the course of the next two years. Finally, in September of 2015, she returned as a permanent co-host.

Aside from her work on The View and her comedic endeavors, Behar is also known for hosting a number of eponymous talk shows including HLN’s The Joy Behar Show, Current TV’s Joy Behar: Say Anything and TLC’s Late Night Joy.

Behar is also a veteran of the stage – having appeared in plays such as The Food Chain, The Vagina Monologues, and Love, Loss and What I Wore – and a published authoress whose work includes two children’s books devoted to the adventures of a fictional pooch named Max.

Behar has been married to Steve Janowitz since 2011. She has a daughter Eva Behar Scotti from a previous marriage to Joe Behar. She is a grandmother to Luca Scotti.

Entertainment Hub would like to wish Joy Behar a very happy birthday and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below. The View airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.