Phyllis Diller

Diller contributed to more than 40 films, beginning with Splendor in the Grass (1961). She appeared in many television series, featuring in numerous cameos as well as her own short-lived sitcom and variety show. Some of her credits include Night Gallery, The Muppet Show, CHiPs, The Love Boat, Cybill and Boston Legal, plus 11 seasons of The Bold and the Beautiful. Her voice-acting roles included the monster's wife in Mad Monster Party?, the Queen in A Bug's Life, Granny Neutron in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and Thelma Griffin in Family Guy.

Phyllis Diller studied at Bluffton University, Lima Senior High School and Lima Central Catholic High School. The recorded working language is English. Works named in the authority record are Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Distinctions recorded are Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, Lucy Award, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame and Laurel Awards.

• Name — Phyllis Diller • Birth Name — Phyllis Ada Driver • Born — 17 July 1917 • Birthplace — Lima, Ohio, U.S. • Died — 20 August 2012 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Education — Sherwood Music School Bluffton College • Medium — Stand-up, film, television, books • Genre — Insult comedy, observational comedy, musical comedy, improvisational comedy • Subject — American culture, self-deprecation, everyday life, religion, current events • Years Active — 1939–2012 • Partner — Robert P. Hastings (c. 1985–1996; his death) • Children — 6

Diller was born Phyllis Ada Driver in Lima, Ohio on July 17, 1917, the only child of Perry Marcus Driver, an insurance agent, and Frances Ada (née Romshe). She had German and Irish ancestry (the surname "Driver" had been changed from "Treiber" several generations earlier). She was raised Methodist but was a lifelong atheist, even in childhood. Her father and mother were older than most when she was born (55 and 36, respectively) and Diller attended several funerals while growing up. The exposure to death at a young age led her to an early appreciation for life and she later realized that her comedy was a form of therapy. Diller attended Lima's Central High School, discovering early on she had comic gifts. Later, Diller observed, "I was always a pro— even as a little tiny kid. I was an absolutely perfect, quiet, dedicated student in class. But outside of class, I got my laughs." Diller studied piano for three years at the Sherwood Music Conservatory of Columbia College Chicago, but decided against a career in music after hearing her teachers and mentors play with much more skill than she thought that she would be able to achieve, and transferred to Bluffton College where she studied literature, history, psychology and philosophy.

In 1939 she met Sherwood Diller, the brother of a classmate at Bluffton, and they eloped, marrying in Bluffton on November 4, 1939. Diller did not finish college and was primarily a homemaker, taking care of their five children (a sixth child died in infancy). During World War II, Sherwood worked at the Willow Run B-24 Bomber Plant, in Ypsilanti Charter Township, Michigan. In 1945, Sherwood Diller was transferred to Naval Air Station Alameda Alameda, California, where he was an inspector. Diller began working as the women's editor at a small newspaper, and as an advertising copywriter for an Oakland department store. In 1952, Diller began working in broadcasting at KROW radio in Oakland, California. In November of that year, she filmed several 15-minute episodes of Phyllis Dillis, the Homely Friendmaker—dressed in a housecoat to offer absurd "advice" to homemakers. The 15-minute series was a Bay Area Radio-Television production, directed for television by ABC's Jim Baker. Diller also worked as a copywriter and, later, director of promotion and marketing at KSFO radio in San Francisco, and as a vocalist for a music-review TV show called Pop Club, hosted by Don Sherwood. At age 37, on March 7, 1955, at the North Beach, San Francisco basement club, The Purple Onion, she made her professional stand-up debut. Up until then, she had only tried out her jokes for fellow PTA members at nearby Edison Elementary School. Maya Angelou, who was already performing at the club, wrote that Diller "would not change her name because when she became successful she wanted everyone to know it was, indeed, her herself". Her first professional show was a success and the two-week booking stretched out to a record 89 consecutive weeks. Diller had found her calling and eventual financial success while her husband's business career failed. She explained, "I became a stand-up comedian because I had a sit-down husband." In a 1986 NPR interview, Diller said she had no idea what she was doing when she started playing clubs, and in the beginning she never saw another woman on the comedy circuit. With no female role models in a male-dominated industry, she initially used props and drew from her educational and work background as a basis for satire, spoofing classical music concerts and advice columns. She wrote her own material and kept a file cabinet full of her gags, honing her nightclub act. Sid Caesar, Milton Berle and Jonathan Winters were early influences, but Diller developed a singular comedic persona — a surreal version of femininity. This absurd caricature with garish baggy dresses and gigantic, clownish hair made fun of her lack of sex appeal while brandishing a cigarette holder (with a wooden cigarette because she didn't smoke), punctuating the humor with a hearty cackle to show she was in on the joke. At the time, Diller said, "They had no idea what I was. It was like—'Get a stick and kill it before it multiplies!'" Her first national television appearance was as a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life in 1958. Multiple bookings on the Jack Paar Tonight Show led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which brought her national prominence as she continued to perform stand-up throughout the United States. Starting in 1959 and throughout the 1960s, she released multiple comedy albums, including the titles Wet Toe in a Hot Socket!, Laughs, Are You Ready for Phyllis Diller?, and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller.

• Illustration — Diller at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 1966 From 1961 to 1965, Phyllis Diller lived in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Several of her children had stayed with Sherwood's relatives in St. Louis, and the oldest, Peter, attended Washington University. In the early 1960s, Diller performed at the Bon Soir in Greenwich Village, where an up-and-coming Barbra Streisand was her opening act. She was offered film work and became famous after co-starring with her mentor Bob Hope, who described her as "a Warhol mobile of spare parts picked up along a freeway." They worked together in films such as Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Eight on the Lam (1967), and The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968), all critically panned, but did well at the box office. Diller accompanied Hope to Vietnam in 1966 with his USO troupe near the height of the Vietnam War. She appeared regularly as a special guest on many television programs including The Andy Williams Show. She was a Mystery Guest on What's My Line? but the blindfolded panel (including Sammy Davis Jr.) discerned Diller's identity in three guesses. Diller made regular cameo appearances, making her trademark wisecracks on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Noted for her self-deprecating humor, Diller's typical joke repertoire included one in which she ran after a garbage truck pulling away from her curb. "Am I too late for the trash?" she would yell. The driver's reply: "No, jump right in!" She became a semi-regular on The Hollywood Squares, starting in 1967, appearing in 28 episodes until 1980. Diller continued to work in film, making an appearance as Texas Guinan, the wisecracking nightclub hostess in Splendor in the Grass (1961). Throughout the 1960s, she appeared in more than a dozen, usually low-budget, films. She also began a career in voice work, providing the voice of the Monster's Mate in Mad Monster Party? (1967). Diller also starred in the short-lived television series The Pruitts of Southampton (1966–1967); later retitled The Phyllis Diller Show, a half-hour sitcom on ABC. She received a Golden Globe nomination in 1967 for her role in Pruitts. Diller hosted a variety show in 1968 titled The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show. Beginning December 26, 1969, she had a three-month run in Hello, Dolly! (opposite Richard Deacon), 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.

• Illustration — Diller in 1973 Diller continued working in television throughout the 1970s and 1980s, appearing as a judge on premiere and subsequent episodes of The Gong Show and as a panelist on the Match Game PM show. She also guest-starred in The Mouse Factory, Night Gallery, Love American Style, The Muppet Show, CHiPs and The Love Boat. In 1978, she hosted a Showtime comedy special which featured Robin Tyler, who became the first out lesbian on U.S. national television. Between 1999 and 2003, she played roles in 7th Heaven and The Drew Carey Show. Her successful career as a voice actor continued when Diller guested as herself in "A Good Medium is Rare," a 1972 episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1998, Diller provided the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life. Among her other animated films are The Nutcracker Prince (1990, as Mousequeen), Happily Ever After (1990, as Mother Nature), and Casper's Scare School (2006, as Aunt Spitzy). She voiced characters in several television series, including Robot Chicken, Family Guy, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Captain Planet, Cow and Chicken, Hey Arnold! as Arnold's grandpa's sister Mitzi, The Powerpuff Girls, Animaniacs, Jimmy Neutron as Jimmy's grandmother, The Wild Thornberrys and King of the Hill. She also played Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma, on Family Guy in 2006.

Citing advanced age and a lack of "lasting energy," Diller retired from stand-up in 2002. Her final performance was at the Suncoast that year in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time she stated, "If you can't dance to comedy, forget it. It's music." The 2004 documentary Goodnight, We Love You: The Life and Legend of Phyllis Diller, directed by Gregg Barson, was shot on the night of her last performance. It follows Diller to a press conference, backstage, and into her home, to cover the story of her career. Rip Taylor, Don Rickles, Roseanne Barr, Red Buttons, Jo Anne Worley and Lily Tomlin are featured, discussing Diller's comedy legacy. Although retired from the stand-up circuit, Diller never fully left the entertainment industry. In 2005, she was featured as one of many contemporary comics in the documentary The Aristocrats. Diller, who avoided 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. On January 24, 2007, Diller appeared on The Tonight Show and performed stand-up before chatting with Jay Leno. Leno has stated that Diller would infrequently call him to contribute jokes during his time as the host of The Tonight Show. That same year, she had a cameo appearance portraying herself in an episode of Boston Legal. In 2011, she appeared in an episode of her friend Roseanne Barr's reality show Roseanne's Nuts. In January 2012, she recorded a version of Charlie Chaplin's song "Smile" with Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale for the album Get Happy.

• Illustration — Diller in February 2007 Publishing her first best seller in 1966 and releasing more throughout the decade, Diller's books on domestic life featured her self-deprecating humor. The titles include Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual, and The Complete Mother. In 1981, she published The Joys of Aging & How to Avoid Them. Her autobiography, Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse – My Life in Comedy, co-written with Richard Buskin, was published in 2006. In it, Diller told of an unhappy childhood with undemonstrative, emotionally withholding parents, and an equally unhappy first marriage. From these beginnings, her performing style—telling rapid-fire jokes—emerged, which she compared to music: "One joke followed the other with a flow and a rhythm.... Everything had a natural feel to it." In the early 1990s, Diller had many short, humorous pieces published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Diller had studied the piano for many years and was an accomplished pianist but decided against a career in music after hearing her teachers and mentors play with much more skill than she thought that she would be able to achieve. She still played in her private life, however, and owned a custom-made harpsichord. Between 1971 and 1981, Diller appeared as a piano soloist with symphony orchestras across the country under the stage name Dame Illya Dillya. Her performances were spiced with humor, but she took the music seriously. A review of one of her concerts in The San Francisco Examiner called her "a fine concert pianist with a firm touch."

A self-taught artist, Diller began painting in 1963. She worked in acrylics, watercolors, and oils throughout the 1970s and filled her Brentwood, California home with her portraits and still lifes. In 2003, at age 86, she held the first of several "art parties", selling her artwork along with her stage clothes and costume jewelry.

Diller credited much of her success to a motivational book, The Magic of Believing (1948) by Claude M. Bristol, which gave her confidence at the start of her career. She was married and divorced twice. She had six children with her first husband Sherwood Anderson Diller, and she outlived two of her grown children. Diller's second husband was actor Warde Donovan, whom she married on October 7, 1965. She filed for divorce three months later, after discovering Donovan was bisexual and an alcoholic, but they reconciled on the day before the divorce was to become final. The couple divorced in 1975. Robert P. Hastings was her partner from 1985 until his death on May 23, 1996. In a 2000 interview, she called him the love of her life, saying that he admired her for being an independent person. The character of "Fang", the husband whom she frequently mentioned in her act, sprang from an appropriation of elements of the comic strip The Lockhorns. Diller portrayed herself as a horrible cook in her stand-up routines, but she was reputed to be an excellent cook. She licensed her recipe for chili and sold it nationally as "Phyllis Diller Chili". Diller candidly discussed her plastic surgery, a series of procedures first undertaken when she was 55, and she wrote that she had undergone 15 procedures. Her numerous surgeries were the subject of a 20/20 segment on February 12, 1993.

By 1997, as she passed her 80th birthday, Diller began to suffer from various ailments. In 1999, her heart stopped during a hospital stay. She was fitted with a pacemaker but had a bad drug reaction and became paralyzed. Through physical therapy, she was able to walk again. Approaching age 90, Diller retired from stand-up comedy appearances. On July 11, 2007, USA Today reported that she had fractured her back and had to cancel an appearance on The Tonight Show, during which she had planned to celebrate her 90th birthday. On May 15, 2012, Diller conducted her final interview accepting the "Lifetime Achievement" award from her hometown of Lima, Ohio, as part of a panel of comedians. Diller died at home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on August 20, 2012, at age 95, from heart failure. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea.

In 1999, Diller was played by Karri Turner in the JAG episode "Ghosts of Christmas Past" which took place Christmas Eve 1969.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1958 — You Bet Your Life — Herself (Nightclub Performer) — Episode: "#8.19" • 1961-1970 — The Ed Sullivan Show — Herself (Guest) — 6 episodes • 1963-1964 — What's My Line? — Herself (Mystery Guest) — 2 episodes • 1964-1967 — I've Got a Secret — Herself (Guest / Panelist) — 4 episodes • Match Game — Herself (Team Captain) — 20 episodes • 1964-1971 — The Bob Hope Show — Herself (Guest) — 10 episodes • 1965-1971 — The Andy Williams Show — Herself (Guest) — 5 episodes • 1965-1974 — The Dean Martin Show — Herself (Guest) — 8 episodes • 1966 — Batman — Scrubwoman — Episode: "The Minstrel's Shakedown" uncredited • The Red Skelton Hour — Clara Appleby — Episode: "Love at First Fright" • 1966-1967 — The Phyllis Diller Show — Phyllisa Pruitt — Series regular; 30 episodes • 1966-1969 — The Hollywood Palace — Herself (Host) — 6 episodes • 1967 — The Carol Burnett Show — Herself (Guest) — Episode: "#1.6" • 1967-1980 — The Hollywood Squares — Herself (Panelist) — 28 episodes • 1968 — The Red Skelton Hour — Greta Gargoyle — Episode: "Dial M for Moron" • It Takes Two — Herself — Episode: "Pilot" • The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show — Herself (Host) — 4 episodes • 1968-1973 — Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Herself (guest) — 6 episodes • 1969 — The Red Skelton Hour — Bobo Van Beacon — Episode: "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, Unless You're a Banana" • That's Life — unknown role — Episode: "Chalk Can Be Sexy" • Love, American Style — Daphanie Daniels — Episode: "Love and the Phonies" • The Liberace Show — Herself (Guest) — Episode: "#5.23.1969" • Get Smart — Maxwell Smart — Episode: "Pheasant Under Glass" (uncredited) • The Good Guys — Lilli Resphighi — Episode: "No Orchids for the Diner" • 1970 — Swing Out, Sweet Land — Belva A. Lockwood — Television Movie • The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians — Herself — Voice, Television Movie • 1971 — Night Gallery — Pamela — Voice, episode: "Pamela's Voice" • Love, American Style — Bella — Episode: "Love and the Heist" • Love, American Style — Edna — Episode: "Love and the Vacation" • The Reel Game — Herself (Celebrity Guest) — Episode: "#1.18.1971" • The Red Skelton Hour — Herself (Killer Diller) — Episode: "Sheriff Hater" • The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour — Herself (Guest) — Episode: "#1.5" • 1972 — The New Scooby-Doo Movies — Herself — Voice, episode: "A Good Medium Is Rare" • 1973 — Wait Till Your Father Gets Home — Detective Phyllis Diller — Voice, episode: "The Lady Detective" • Love, American Style — Sally Walker — Episode: "Love and the Comedienne" • The Bobby Darin Show — Herself (Guest) — Episode: "#1.10" • 1974 — Tattletales — Herself — 11 episodes • Celebrity Roast — Herself — Episode: "Bob Hope/Telly Savalas" • 1975 — Uncle Croc's Block — Witchy Goo-Goo — Series regular; 16 episodes • Celebrity Roast — Herself — Episode: "Lucille Ball/Jackie Gleason/Sammy Davis Jr./Michael Landon/Valerie Harper" • 1976 — The Gong Show — Herself (Guest Judge) — Episode: "Phyllis Diller" • The Muppet Show — Herself (Special Guest Star) — Episode: "Phyllis Diller" • 1977 — The Bobby Vinton Show — Herself (Guest) — 2 episodes • 1978 — America 2-Night — Herself (Guest) — Episode: "Phyllis Diller" • CHiPs — Wanda — Episode: "Crack-Up" • Comedy Roast — Herself — Episode: "Jack Klugman/George Burns/Betty White" • 1979 — The Love Boat — Viola Penny — Episode: "The Scoop/The Audit Couple/My Boyfriend's Back" • 1980 — Password Plus — Herself (Celebrity Contestant) — 2 episodes • 1981 — Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters — Herself — 1 episode • 1982 — The Love Boat — Martha Morse — Episode: "The Anniversary Gift/Honey Bee Mine/Bewigged, Bothered and Bewildered" • Madame's Place — Herself — Episode: "But Please, No Jokes" • 1983 — All-Star Family Feud Special — Herself (Celebrity Contestant) — Episode: "Richard's Rosebuds vs. Phyllis Fighters" • 1984 — As the World Turns — Fairy Godmother — Episode: "Cinderella Concert" • Comedy Roast — Herself — Episode: "Joan Collins" • 1984-1985 — Body Language — Herself (Panelist) — 15 episodes • 1985 — The Jeffersons — Herself — Episode: "You'll Never Get Rich" • Tales from the Darkside — Nora Mills — Episode: "The Trouble with Mary Jane" • Glitter — unknown role — Episode: "Rock 'n' Roll Heaven" • 1987 — Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge — Jonathan's Mother — Television film • Alice Through the Looking Glass — The White Queen — Voice, television film • 1987-1989 — Super Password — Herself (Celebrity Contestant) — 25 episodes • 1988 — Full House — Herself — Episode: "But Seriously, Folks" • Night Heat — Mrs. Malik — Episode: "Better Part of Valor" • 1989 — Family Feud — Herself (Contestant) — Episode: "The Funny Men vs.the Funny Women" • Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration — Herself — Television film • 1990 — 227 — Louanne Costello — Episode: "The Class of '90" • 1991 — Captain Planet and the Planeteers — Dr. Jane Goodair — Voice, episode: "Smog Hog" • 1992 — Carol: Leifer: Gaudy, Bawdy & Blue — Herself — Television film • 1993 — Dream On — Mrs. Barish — Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape" • 1993-1994 — Blossom — Mrs. Peterson/Herself — 4 episodes • 1994 — Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle — unknown role — Episode: "The Never-Want-To-Go-To-Bedders Cure" • Boy Meets World — Madame Ouspenkaya — Episode: "Who's Afraid of Cory Wolf?" • 1996 — Cybill — Herself — Uncredited, Episode: "Romancing the Crone" • 1996-2012 — The Bold and the Beautiful — Gladys Pope — recurring role; 18 episodes, (final appearance) • 1998 — Animaniacs — Suzy Squirrel — Voice, episode: "The Sunshine Squirrels" • Diagnosis Murder — Herself — Episode: "Talked to Death" • 1998-1999 — Emily of New Moon — Great Aunt Nancy Priest — 2 episodes • 1999 — King of the Hill — Lillian — Voice, episode: "Escape from Party Island" • Cow and Chicken — Red's Mom / Cop — Voice, episode: "Professor Longhorn Steer/I.M. Weasel: He Said, He Said/A Couple of Skating Fools" • I Am Weasel — Red's Mother — Voice, episode: "I Am Artiste" • The Wild Thornberrys — Samantha — Voice, episode: "Two's Company" • Hey Arnold! — Mitzi Shortman — Voice, episode: "Grandpa's Sister" • 7th Heaven — Mabel — Episode: "Nobody Knows" • 2000 — Hollywood Off-Ramp — unknown role — Episode: "Unfunny Girl" • 2001 — Arli$ — Herself — Episode: "As Others See Us" • Kiss My Act — Herself — Television film • The Test — Herself (Panelist) — Episode: "The Cajones Test" • 2001-2002 — Titus — Grandma Titus — 2 episodes ("Grandma Titus" and "Houseboat") • 2002 — The Drew Carey Show — Bebe — Episode: "Look Mom, One Hand!" • Even Stevens — Coach Korns — Episode: "Snow Job" • 2002-2003 — 7th Heaven — Gabrielle — 2 episodes • 2002-2004 — The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron — Grandma Neutron — Voice, 2 episodes • Hollywood Squares — Herself (Panelist) — recurring role; 30 episodes • 2003 — Life with Bonnie — Phyllis Frost — Episode: "It's a Wonderful Job" • Star Dates — Herself — Episode: "Phyllis Diller" • 2004 — The Powerpuff Girls — Mask Scara — Voice, episode: "A Made Up Story" • 2005 — Quintuplets — Aunt Sylvia — Episode: "Chutes and Letters" • Robot Chicken — Herself / Various — Voice, recurring role; 3 episodes • 2006 — Casper's Scare School — Aunt Spitzy — Voice, Television film • Robot Chicken — Herself / Various — Voice, episode: "Easter Basket" • 2006-2007 — Family Guy — Thelma Griffin — Voice, 3 episodes • 2007 — Boston Legal — Herself — Episode: "Brotherly Love" • 2011 — Roseanne's Nuts — Herself — Episode: "Grannies Night Out"

• Year — Title — Artist(s) — Role — Ref. Reference • 2001 — "Love You Madly" — Cake — Herself

• Year — Title — Voice • 1996 — You Don't Know Jack Volume 2 — Herself

• Year — Title — Label — Format — Notes • 1959 — Wet Toe in a Hot Socket — Mirrosonic/London/Hallmark — vinyl/CD — with The Three Flames at the Bon Soir, CD reissued 2016 • 1961 — Laughs — Verve — vinyl — at the Bon Soir NY March 1961 • 1962 — Are You Ready for Phyllis Diller? — Verve — vinyl — produced by Jim Davis • 1968 — Born to Sing — Columbia — vinyl/streaming — produced by David Rubinson • 2001 — Live From San Francisco — Laugh.com — CD/streaming — recorded 2000 • 2009 — On Comedy — Laugh.com — CD/streaming — interviewed by Kelly Carlin

• Year — Title — Label — Format — Notes • 1964 — Great Moments of Comedy — Verve — vinyl — Celebrity Series • 1967 — The Best of Phyllis Diller — Verve/Laugh.com — vinyl/CD/streaming — CD reissued 2002 • 1968 — The Beautiful Phyllis Diller — Verve — vinyl/streaming — Celebrity Series, photography by Roddy McDowall • 1968 — What's Left — Verve — vinyl/CD — Celebrity Series

• Year — Title — Studio — Format • 1977 — On Location with Phyllis Diller — HBO/Standing Room Only — broadcast / DVD 2006 • 1987 — How to Have a Moneymaking Garage Sale — J2 Communications — VHS • 2001 — Live in Concert — Laugh.com — DVD • 2004 — Goodnight, We Love You: The Life and Legend of Phyllis Diller — Mansfield Avenue Productions/Image Entertainment — theatrical / DVD 2006 • 2007 — Not Just Another Pretty Face — MPI Media Group — DVD / streaming