Joy Of Brooklyn: Joy Behar inducted into Welcome Back to Brooklyn Walk of Fame
Comedian and Talk Show Host Earns Well-Deserved Spot on Celebrity Path at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Multi-talented renaissance woman Joy Behar is this year’s inductee to the Celebrity Path at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The initiation will serve as the highlight of the “Welcome Back to Brooklyn” celebration. The event is presented by Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and the One Brooklyn Fund, and culminates with a dinner on June 26 at Prospect Park honoring Behar. Behar will join an impressive list of past honorees, including Jackie Robinson, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Louis Gossett Jr., Jimmy Smits, Eubie Blake, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. The legendary Brooklynites are honored for their distinguished work in entertainment, sports, media and the arts.
Josephina Victoria Occhiuto (Behar’s birth name) was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Oct. 7, 1942 to a devout Catholic family of Italian descent. Her mother, Rose, was a seamstress, and her father, Gino, was a truck driver for Coca-Cola. Behar earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Queens College, followed by a master’s degree in English from Stony Brook University. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, she taught English at Lindenhurst Senior High School in Lindenhurst, N.Y.
In the 1980s, Behar left teaching to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She has enjoyed great success performing standup comedy and appearing in movies, theater and on television; she has written best-selling books and currently serves as co-host on the popular ABC talk show “The View.” Behar is smart, witty, candid and, as anyone who has seen her standup or watched her on “The View” knows, quite outspoken. There appears to be no end to her talents, and despite her busy schedule, she made time to talk to the Brooklyn Eagle about her vast accomplishments, upcoming projects and her Brooklyn roots.