Phyllis Diller

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Biography

Phyllis Diller (born July 17, 1917) is an American actress and comedian . She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes self-deprecating jokes about her age and appearance, her terrible cooking, and a husband named "Fang", while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder. Diller's signature is her unusual laugh.

Early life

Diller was born Phyllis Ada Driver in Lima, Ohio , the daughter of Frances Ada (née Romshe) and Perry Marcus Driver, an an insurance agent.The censuses from 1920 and 1930 state that the Driver family lived on West Mark Street, in Lima She has German and Irish ancestry (the surname "Driver" had been changed from "Treiber" several generations back). http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/phyllisd/d0/i0000003.htm#s1 Her mother was about twenty years younger than her father. Diller was raised a Methodist. Diller attended Shawnee High School (Lima, Ohio)|Lima's Central High School , then studied for three years at Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois . She then transferred to Bluffton College in Bluffton, Ohio , where she met fellow "Lima-ite" and classmate Hugh Downs .
Diller was a housewife, mother, and advertising copywriter. During World War II , Diller lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan , while her husband worked at the historic Willow Run Bomber Plant . In the mid-1950s, she made appearances on The Jack Paar Show and was a contestant on Groucho Marx 's quiz show You Bet Your Life .

Although she has made her career in comedy, Diller studied the piano for many years. She later decided against a career in music after hearing her teachers and mentors play with much more ability than she thought that she would be able to achieve. She still plays in her private life, however, and owns a custom-made harpsichord .

Career

Diller began her career working at KROW radio in Oakland in 1952. In November of that year, she began filming a television show titled "Phyllis Dillis, the Homely Friendmaker." The 15-minute series was a BART (Bay Area Radio-Television) production, directed for television by American Broadcasting Company|ABC 's Jim Baker. The cameraman later admitted that there was no film: The camera was open during the filming. In the mid 1950s, while residing in the East Bay city of Alameda, California , Diller was employed at KSFO radio in San Francisco, California|San Francisco . Bill Anderson wrote and produced a television show at KGO-TV called "The Belfast Pop Club," which was hosted by Don Sherwood. "Pop Club" was a half-hour show that combined playing records with "experts" rating them, and dancing girls encouraging audience participation. The show was an early advertisement for Belfast Root Beer, known today as Mug Root Beer . Anderson invited her onto his show on April 23, 1955 as a vocalist.

Diller first appeared as a stand-up at The Purple Onion on March 7, 1955 and remained there for 87 straight weeks. Diller appeared on "Del Courtney's Showcase" on KPIX television on November 3, 1956. Diller's fame was expanded when she co-starred with Bob Hope in 23 television specials and three films in the 1960s: Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! , Eight on the Lam , and ''The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell . Although only Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! performed well at the box office, Hope invited Diller to perform with him in Vietnam in 1966 with his United Service Organizations|USO troupe during the height of the Vietnam War .

Though her main claim to fame is her stand-up comedy act, Diller has also appeared in other films besides the three mentioned above, including a cameo appearance as Texas Guinan , the wisecracking nightclub hostess in the 1961 film Splendor in the Grass . She appeared in more than a dozen, usually low-budget, movies, including voice work as The Monster's Mate in the Rankin/Bass animated film Mad Monster Party (1967), co-starring Boris Karloff .

Diller also starred in two short-lived television series|TV series : the half-hour situation comedy|sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton (later retitled The Phyllis Diller Show ) on American Broadcasting Company|ABC from 1966–1967, and the variety show The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show on NBC in 1968. More recent television appearances for Diller have included at least three episodes between 1999–2003 on the long-running family drama 7th Heaven , in one of which she got drunk while cooking dinner for the household, and a 2002 episode of The Drew Carey Show , as Mimi Bobek's grandmother. She posed for Playboy , but the photos were never run in the magazine. Her voice can be heard in several animated TV shows, including The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972) as herself, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2002) as Jimmy's grandmother, and on Family Guy in 2006 as Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma Griffin.
image:Phyllis Diller Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Diller in 1973
Beginning December 26, 1969, she had a three-month run on Broadway in Hello, Dolly& #33; (musical)|Hello, Dolly! (opposite Richard Deacon (actor)|Richard Deacon )''Lampshade, p. 211 as the second to last in a succession of replacements for Carol Channing in the title role, which included Ginger Rogers , Martha Raye , Betty Grable , and Pearl Bailey . After Diller's stint, Ethel Merman took over the role until the end of the show's run in December 1970. Lampshade , p. 213

In 1993, she was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame .

In 1998, Diller provided the vocals for the Queen in Walt Disney Pictures|Disney / Pixar 's animated movie '' A Bug's Life . In 2005, Diller was featured as one of many contemporary comics in a documentary film, The Aristocrats (film)|The Aristocrats . Diller, who avoids blue comedy , did a version of an old, risqué vaudeville routine in which she describes herself passing out when she first heard the joke, forgetting the actual content of the joke.

In 2000, she was awarded the Women in Film Los Angeles|Women in Film Women_in_Film_Crystal_+_Lucy_Awards#THE_LUCY_AWARD|Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television http://wif.org/past-recipients

In 2003, after hearing of the donation of Archie Bunker's chair to the Smithsonian Institution , Diller opened her doors to the National Museum of American History and offered up some of her most iconic costume pieces and her gag file, a steel cabinet with 48 file-drawers containing more than 50,000 jokes and gags typewritten on index cards by Diller during her career. From August 12-October 28, 2011, the Albert H. Small Documents Gallery at the National Museum of American History displayed Diller's gag file and some of the objects that became synonymous with her comedic persona-an unkempt wig, wrist-length gloves, cloth-covered ankle boots and a bejeweled cigarette holder.

On January 24, 2007, she appeared on The Tonight Show and performed stand-up, before chatting with Jay Leno .

Diller had a cameo appearance in an episode of ABC's Boston Legal on April 10, 2007. She appeared as herself, confronting William Shatner 's character Denny Crane , alleging to have had a torrid love affair with him. They seemed to have enjoyed a romantic moment in a foxhole during World War II .

Diller is a member of the Society of Singers , which supports singers in need. In June 2001 at the request of fellow Society member and record producer|producer Scott Sherman , she appeared at Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City and Philadelphia Pride events. The mayor of Philadelphia officially proclaimed June 8, 2001, as "Phyllis Diller Day." She was presented an official proclamation onstage to a standing ovation. In 2006, Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom proclaimed February 5, 2006 "Phyllis Diller Day in San Francisco," which she accepted by phone.

She has also recorded at least five comedy LP record s, one of which was Born To Sing , released as Columbia Records|Columbia CS 9523.

Although known for decades for smoking from long cigarette holders in her comedy act, Diller is a lifelong nonsmoker, and the cigarette holders were stage props that she had specially constructed.

Personal life

Diller, a longtime resident of the Brentwood, Los Angeles, California|Brentwood area of Los Angeles , California , credits much of her success to Bob Hope , in large part because he included her in many of his films and his Vietnam USO shows. She is an accomplished pianist as well as a painter.

Family

Diller has been married and divorced twice. She also dated Madman Muntz|Earl "Madman" Muntz , a pioneer in oddball TV and radio ads. She had six children from her marriage to her first husband, Sherwood Anderson Diller. Her first child was Peter (b. 1940; Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse , p. 53 d. 1998 of cancer ). Lampshade , p. 247-248 Her second child Sally, born in 1944, has suffered from schizophrenia most of her life. Her third child, a son, lived for only two weeks in an Neonatal intensive-care unit|incubator . Lampshade , p. 57 A daughter, Suzanne, was born in 1946, Lampshade , p. 60; followed by another daughter Stephanie (b. 1948 Lampshade , p. 64 d. 2002 of a stroke ) Lampshade , p. 258 and a son Perry (b. 1950). Lampshade , p. 69 Diller's second husband was actor Warde Donovan (born Warde Tatum), whom she married on 7 October 1965 and divorced the following year; they apparently re-married and divorced for a second time in 1974. Her youngest son Perry, now 60, oversees her affairs today. Diller is not the mother of actress Susan Lucci , nor TV personality Dorothy Lucey , despite urban legend s to that effect, frequently passed through viral email s under trivia headings such as "Did You Know...? " The husband frequently mentioned in her act, "Fang", was entirely fictional, and not based on either of her actual husbands.

Plastic surgery

Diller has candidly discussed her plastic surgery , a series of procedures first undertaken when she was 55. The results have drawn numerous awards and acknowledgments from plastic surgeons and medical organizations. In her 2005 autobiography, she wrote that she has undergone "fifteen different procedures". Lampshade , p. 233 Her numerous surgeries were the subject of a 20/20 (US television series)|20/20 segment February 12, 1993.

Health problems

Diller has suffered medical problems, including a myocardial infarction|heart attack in 1999. After a hospital stay she was fitted with a artificial pacemaker|pacemaker and released. A bad fall resulted in her being hospitalized for neurological tests and pacemaker installation in 2005. She has since retired from stand-up comedy appearances.

On July 11, 2007, USA Today reported that she fractured her back and had to cancel a The Tonight Show|Tonight Show appearance, during which she had planned to celebrate her 90th birthday. On January 4, 2011, she appeared on CNN 's " Anderson Cooper 360 " as part of a panel of comedians.

Recent pursuits

She wrote her autobiography in 2005, titled Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse . A direct-to- DVD version of the project, complete with early live clips of Diller, and interviews with her showbiz colleagues including Don Rickles , among others, was released in December 2006. A screenplay about Diller's early years in stand-up, according to blind item s in the trades, is in preproduction with Patricia Clarkson slated to play the comedian. Diller spends much of her time painting, cooking, and gardening.

Filmography

Features:

Splendor in the Grass ( 1961 in film|1961 )

The Fat Spy ( 1966 in film|1966 )

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)

Eight on the Lam ( 1967 in film|1967 )

Silent Treatment ( 1968 in film|1968 ) (unfinished)

'' The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)

Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968)

Mad Monster Party ( 1967 in film|1967 ) (voice)

The Adding Machine (film)|The Adding Machine (1969)

The Sunshine Boys (film)|The Sunshine Boys ( 1975 in film|1975 )

A Pleasure Doing Business ( 1979 in film|1979 )

Pink Motel ( 1982 in film|1982 )

Doctor Hackenstein ( 1988 in film|1988 )

Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog ( 1990 in film|1990 )

The Nutcracker Prince (1990) (voice)

The Boneyard ( 1991 in film|1991 )

Wisecracks ( 1992 in film|1992 ) (documentary)

The Perfect Man ( 1993 in film|1993 )

Happily Ever After (1993 film)|Happily Ever After (1993) (voice)

The Silence of the Hams ( 1994 in film|1994 )

'' A Bug's Life ( 1998 in film|1998 ) (voice)

The Debtors ( 1999 in film|1999 )

The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999) (voice) (direct-to-video)

''Everything's Jake ( 2000 in film|2000 )

The Last Place on Earth ( 2002 in film|2002 )

Hip& #33; Edgy& #33; Quirky! (2002)

Bitter Jester ( 2003 in film|2003 ) (documentary)

Motocross Kids ( 2004 in film|2004 )

West from North Goes South (2004)

Goodnight, We Love You (2004) (documentary)

The Aristocrats (film)|The Aristocrats ( 2005 in film|2005 ) (documentary)

Madman Muntz: American Maverick (2005) (documentary)

Who Killed the Electric Car? ( 2006 in film|2006 ) (documentary)

Unbeatable Harold (2006)

Forget About It (film)|Forget About It (2006)

Celebrity Art Show ( 2008 in film|2008 ) (documentary)

Blaze of Glory (2008) (voice)

You Know the Face ( 2009 in film|2009 ) (documentary)

Looking for Lenny (2009) (documentary)

How to Live Forever (2009) (documentary)

Short Subjects:

Rowan & Martin at the Movies ( 1968 in film|1968 )

The Lion Roars Again ( 1975 in film|1975 )

Television work

The Phyllis Diller Special ( 1963 in television|1963 )

The Pruitts of Southampton ( 1966 in television|1966 – 1967 in television|1967 )

An Evening with Phyllis Diller (1966)

The Phyllis Diller Special ( 1968 in television|1968 )

The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show (1968) (canceled after 13 episodes)

The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians ( 1970 in television|1970 ) (voice)

Night Gallery (1970) Episode "Pamela’s Voice"

Mooch Goes to Hollywood ( 1971 in television|1971 )

Love American Style "Love and the Heist" (1971)

The New Scooby Doo Movies episode 6: "A Good Medium is Rare" (1972) (voice)

''Phyllis Diller's 102nd Birthday Party ( 1974 in television|1974 )

The Gong Show ( 1976 in television|1976 – 1980 in television|1980 ) (recurring panelist throughout run)

The Muppet Show (1977)

On Location: Phyllis Diller ( 1977 in television|1977 )

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters NBC ( 1981 in television )

Whatever Became Of... ( 1981 in television|1981 ) (unsold pilot)

Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge ( 1987 in television|1987 )

Alice Through the Looking Glass (1987) (voice)

227 (1990) (One episode)

Hey Arnold! (1999) (Mitzi)

The Bold and the Beautiful (recurring cast member from 1995 in television|1995 – 2004 in television|2004 )

Kiss My Act ( 2001 in television|2001 )

Titus (TV series)|Titus (2001) (Grandma Titus)

Even Stevens (2002) (Coach Korns)

'' Casper's Scare School ( 2006 in television|2006 ) (voice)

Family Guy (Recurring voice of Thelma Griffin)

Robot Chicken (2005) Phyllis Diller Spray N' Play

Boston Legal (2007) (One of Denny's past lovers)

'' Roseanne's Nuts (2011) (Herself)

Celebrity Ghost Stories (2011) as herself

The Powerpuff Girls (2004) as Mask Scara

The Bold and the Beautiful (2012) 2 episodes as Gladys the Gardner

Copyright Citations

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