E. Rosenberg; Producer, Husband of Joan Rivers

Edgar Rosenberg, husband of and comic foil for comedian Joan Rivers, was found dead in his Philadelphia hotel room Friday, apparently of a drug overdose, police said. He was 62.

The veteran producer and longtime manager of his wife’s career apparently died of an overdose of Valium, said Police Detective Gerald Whartenby. Officials were summoned when Rosenberg’s business manager called him at the Four Seasons Hotel on Friday morning and received no answer.

Hotel security officers found Rosenberg lying on the floor next to his bed at about 11:30 a.m.

Police said a note also was found at the scene but would not divulge its contents.

A publicist for Rivers said Rosenberg, who was executive producer of Fox Television’s “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers” until it was dropped in May, had been depressed recently.

Had Heart Surgery

“Rosenberg had suffered a major heart attack in 1984 and underwent quadruple-bypass surgery and has been in poor health recently and depressed,” said Richard Grant, a Los Angeles-based publicist for Rivers.

Rosenberg had been in Philadelphia since Tuesday for meetings and was to return to Los Angeles on Friday morning, Whartenby said. Grant said Rosenberg was to have re-entered Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles later Friday.

He added that Rosenberg was hospitalized in Ireland last week for gastrointestinal bleeding.

Grant said there would be no immediate statement from Rivers. “It’s just a little bit too much for her right now,” he said.

Strong Relationship

Rosenberg was often the brunt of his wife’s jokes, but friends said they had a strong relationship. She once described his heart attack as the hardest time in her life.

They married 22 years ago and had one child, Melissa, born in 1968.

“Everyone should have had the love affair that Joan and Edgar had,” said Brad Turell, vice president of information at Fox.

Memorial services are scheduled for Sunday at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.