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How Joy Behar Achieved A Net Worth of $30 Million

Joy Behar

Joy Behar is an American stand-up comic who is known for her dry sense of humor and the ability to make others laugh. She is an accomplished professional in multiple niches of the media and entertainment business. She has amassed a fortune with an estimated net worth of $30 million. How did she come to be so incredibly wealthy? We were interested in finding out so we checked into her personal and career history to learn more about her. Here is what we discovered.

Her early years

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Behar was born in Brooklyn, New York October 7, 1942. She was an only child raised in a Roman Catholic Italian home. Her parents were working class. Her name at birth was Josephine Victoria Occhiuto. She changed the name to Joy to use as her professional/state name. She attended high school and graduated then enrolled at Queen's College. She earned her bachelor's in sociology in 1964. Joy then continued with her education earning an MA degree in English Education in 1966 from Stony Brook University.

Her early career

Joy didn't start out her professional career as an entertainer or even as a funny person. She became a school teacher, instructing high school students in English. While she was teaching, she took an interest in acting. Joy is a lifelong learner and when she wasn't busy teaching her students, she studied acting.

Her career in entertainment

Behar's first experiences with the entertainment industry were realized in the 1980s. She worked at "Good Morning America" in production credits as a receptionist before embarking on her career in stand-up comedy. She started performing at comedy clubs and her talent was recognized by crowds that kept coming back for more. She used her life experiences to make people laugh. Joy became well known around comedy club circuits, but she wanted more from her career. She was an established comedian and her fame began to grow. She was soon making television appearances on television shows including "Live From Queens," and "Baby Boom." Her career began to take off when she became the host of "Way Off Broadway," her own talk show. She also appeared on a variety of HBO comedy shows along with a few film roles including "This Is My Life," "Manhattan Murder Mystery," and "Cookie."

Joy Behar's big break

According to Cheat Sheet, Joy's biggest career break came in 1997 when she became a member of the cast of the popular daytime talk show "The View." The long-running series gave her the exposure that allowed her serious side to show through as well as the intermittent humorous side. Behar became involved in a variety of different discussions along with co-panelist Whoopi Goldberg. In one episode, she and Goldberg became so upset over a difficult argument that they got up from their seats and walked off the set. This show was riddled with controversial topics and discussions. Some guests were particularly difficult and were only there to fight and argue, which made it difficult to get to the real conversations the group was attempting to conduct.

Joy Behar's other endeavors

Joy's first acting gig was in the movie "Hiding Out" in 1987. She played the part of Gertrude in the film. She also appeared in "Ugly Betty," "Spin City," and "Nashville." Behar was also a voice actor for "Ice Age: Continental Drift." According to Tecake, Joyce is also a writer. She has published a total of five books. The first publication was published in 1999, titled, "Joy Schtick: or What Is the Existential Vacuum and Does It Come with Attachments?"

Her personal life

Joy made time to marry and have a family. She married Joe Behar in 1965. The marriage lasted for sixteen years before the couple realized that it was over. They called it quits, divorcing in 1981. Joy found love again and married Steve Janowitz in 2011. The second time around must be a charm because they're still together. Joy has one child, a daughter named Eve by her first marriage. Joy had lived with Steve for several years before they decided to make their marriage official. They currently share a very close relationship.

How did Joy earn so much money?

Joy has worked all her life. While it's obvious that she didn't earn a $30 million fortune as a teacher, she was successful in her career as a comedian and as an actress. She earned an undisclosed amount of money from the various talk shows she co-hosted and she has appeared in several comedy circuits as well as film and television appearances. The bulk of Joy Behar's fortune was made in the entertainment business. According to her biographies, she really didn't discuss any other career ventures and she didn't come from a wealthy family that could have left her a fortune.

Final thoughts

Joy Behar is still active in the entertainment business, although it's been a tough year for everyone in the business with the massive shutdowns in public gathering places. She gained notoriety during the 1980s and 1990s during the years of her stand-up comedy acts, but her career began to unfold and mature into serious as well as comedic acting roles. She is a multi-talented entertainer who can fit into almost any scenario. She is also a highly educated woman who possesses good writing skills which led her to become a published author with several works in print. Her time as a talk show host was also successful and helped to contribute the fortune that she now enjoys. Joy Behar was wise with the money that she earned and not prone to blowing it on spending binges. She lives a very comfortable life with her husband Steve Janowitz and continues to work in the entertainment business.

Allen Lee

Written by Allen Lee

Allen Lee is a Toronto-based freelance writer who studied business in school but has since turned to other pursuits. He spends more time than is perhaps wise with his eyes fixed on a screen either reading history books, keeping up with international news, or playing the latest releases on the Steam platform, which serve as the subject matter for much of his writing output. Currently, Lee is practicing the smidgen of Chinese that he picked up while visiting the Chinese mainland in hopes of someday being able to read certain historical texts in their original language.

Read more posts by Allen Lee

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