Joan Rivers’ Outrageous Loves: Johnny Carson, JFK & More

A new biography of Joan Rivers reveals some shocking secrets — adding some new names to the comedienne's bizarre list of lovers! The National ENQUIRER had previously caught Joan dropping some very interesting names about her love life, but Leslie Bennetts' new book "Last Girl Before The Freeway" puts Johnny Carson on the list!

The ENQUIRER covered how Joan and her longtime mentor Johnny had a vicious falling-out after the comedienne tried to compete against him on the FOX network's short-lived "Late Show" talker. But the new book reveals that the breakup might have been more personal. Bennetts notes that Joan talked about "touching Carson's penis, and I would like to know if she was telling the truth!"

The book provides new details about Joan's passion for wealthy men, and how her own troubled marriage to to TV producer Edgar Rosenberg was often rocked by infidelities. Bennets wrote: "Joan was not faithful ... by her own admission. And she left him briefly during one affair." Joan also went public in a radio interview about how she cheated on Edgar with Robert Mitchum in the 1960s .

Robert Higdon, Joan's longtime confidant, recalled in Bennets' book how that moment would lead to another shocking revelation: “One day she called me up and said, ‘Is Robert Mitchum dead? I just said on the radio that I slept with him!’ She said, ‘If he’s dead, it’s okay — but if he’s alive, it could cause some problems.’ I said, ‘The next thing you’ll tell me is you slept with John F. Kennedy!’ She said, ‘I did. I just never told you.’”

Robert Higdon, Joan's longtime confidant, recalled in Bennets' book how that moment would lead to another shocking revelation: “One day she called me up and said, ‘Is Robert Mitchum dead? I just said on the radio that I slept with him!’ She said, ‘If he’s dead, it’s okay — but if he’s alive, it could cause some problems.’ I said, ‘The next thing you’ll tell me is you slept with John F. Kennedy!’ She said, ‘I did. I just never told you.’”

Edgar would finally make Joan a widow by committing suicide in 1987 at the age of 62. Shortly afterwards, Joan turned heads when she began dating troubled Beach Boys rocker Brian Wilson. They first met on the "Tonight Show" set in 1984, when the addled music legend brought along his psychiatrist. She originally described Brian (seen here with Mike Love) as "so sad" and "so tragic" — and later saluted The ENQUIRER for covering their romance!

"You have to be in the limelight to have them making jokes about you," said Joan. "After my husband's suicide, and being fired by Fox and all that, I couldn't get arrested for about two years. Then The National ENQUIRER came out with an article about my dating Brian Wilson, and [daughter] Melissa said, 'You're back in the game!'"

Joan's love for older men with money could provide unexpected moments, too — as she revealed in 2010, after her date at the Le Cirque restaurant died during dinner! She had been dating the unnamed man for five weeks before he quietly passed away from a heart attack right before her eyes. "It’s very interesting," said Joan, "because people keep eating" — adding she'd later swiped her date's American Express card to pay for her salmon!

And while Joan got an early break as a lesbian love interest for Barbra Streisand on Broadway, she also once dropped an interesting lady's name while talking about the dates that she'd brought home to meet her parents !

And while Joan got an early break as a lesbian love interest for Barbra Streisand on Broadway, she also once dropped an interesting lady's name while talking about the dates that she'd brought home to meet her parents !

As reported by The ENQUIRER, Joan said: "I was bringing home Woody Allen before he was Woody Allen, Richard Pryor before he was Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin before she was Lily Tomlin." In 2013, Joan also talked of a lesbian kiss after she "met this lovely woman" at a party hosted by "very good friend" Lily and Jane Lynch.

Joan even turned to online dating for romance later in life, telling The ENQUIRER: "The internet is 70% men!" She also revealed in 2006 that she'd joined the Match.com website — saying her age was 67 when she was actually 72 years old. Joan was looking for older men, and declared online that her turn-ons included "money, power and sarcasm!"