Phyllis Diller
- Née:
- Phyllis Ada Driver
- Died:
- August 20, 2012, Los Angeles, California (aged 95)
Phyllis Diller (born July 17, 1917, Lima, Ohio, U.S.—died August 20, 2012, Los Angeles, California) was an American comedienne and actress who was one of the first female stand-up comics, noted for her zany and raucous personality and self-deprecating humour. Her routine often included barbs about her ineptitude as a mother, her fictitious husband “Fang,” and her looks—she sported a trademark outrageously coiffed hairstyle and poked fun at her perceived ugliness as well as her skinniness and her penchant for plastic surgery.
Diller, a mother of five children, was working at a San Francisco radio station when her first husband persuaded her to develop a routine that she later performed at the city’s Purple Onion nightclub. Her cackling laugh, perfect timing, and one-liners about the travails of suburban living struck a chord with audiences. Her initial two-week run, which began in 1955, was extended to almost two years. After taking her act on the road, Diller performed at the Blue Angel in New York City. In the early 1960s she made her first appearance on The Jack Paar Show, which vaulted her to stardom. Comedian Bob Hope was especially drawn to her brand of humour, and she costarred with him in three films—Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Eight on the Lam (1967), and The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell (1968)—and appeared in more than 20 of his TV specials.
From 1966 to 1967 Diller headlined her own TV sitcom, The Pruitts of Southampton (also known as The Phyllis Diller Show), as the matriarch of a penniless family struggling to maintain the appearance of wealth. She was a fixture on the small screen, with numerous appearances on talk shows, on the game show Hollywood Squares, and in a recurring role (1999–2004) as Gladys Pope on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. In addition, she was an accomplished cook, best-selling author, and concert pianist who performed with some 100 symphony orchestras in the United States under the pseudonym Dame Illya Dillya. In 1992 Diller was the recipient of the American Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and in 2005 she published her autobiography, Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse.
