Phyllis Ada Diller (July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and exaggerated, cackling laugh.
Diller was born Phyllis Ada Driver in Lima, Ohio, the only child of Perry Marcus Driver, an insurance agent, and Frances Ada (née Romshe). She had German and Irish ancestry as 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.
Here’s “I Enjoy Being a Girl” from above album.
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, later, director of promotion and marketing, at KSFO radio in San Francisco and 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. 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 and appeared in more than 20 of his TV specials.
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| Phyllis with Bob Hope |
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.
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.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Britannica)
