Phyllis Diller facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Phyllis Diller
Diller in a 1966 publicity photo
Birth name	Phyllis Ada Driver
Born	(1917-07-17)July 17, 1917 Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Died	August 20, 2012(2012-08-20) (aged 95) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television, books
Alma mater	Bluffton College
Genres	Insult comedy, observational comedy, musical comedy, improvisational comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, self-deprecation, everyday life
Spouse	Sherwood Anderson Diller ​ ​ (m. 1939; div. 1965)​ Warde Donovan Tatum ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1975)​
Children	6

Phyllis Ada Diller (born Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was a famous American comedian, actress, author, musician, and artist. She was best known for her funny stage character. This character had wild hair, unusual clothes, a loud, cackling laugh, and often made jokes about herself.

Phyllis Diller was one of the first women comedians to become very famous in the U.S. Many other well-known comedians, like Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, and Ellen DeGeneres, said she inspired them. She was also one of the first celebrities to talk openly about having plastic surgery.

Diller appeared in more than 40 films, starting in 1961 with Splendor in the Grass. She was also in many television shows, including Night Gallery, The Muppet Show, and Boston Legal. She also lent her voice to cartoon characters, like the Queen in A Bug's Life and Granny Neutron in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Early Life and Humor

Phyllis Ada Driver was born in Lima, Ohio, on July 17, 1917. She was the only child of Perry Marcus Driver and Frances Ada. Her parents were older when she was born. Growing up, she went to several funerals, which made her appreciate life more. She later realized that her comedy helped her deal with things.

She went to Central High School in Lima and soon found out she had a talent for humor. Even though she was a quiet student, she loved making people laugh after school. Diller studied piano for three years but decided against a music career. She then went to Bluffton College to study literature, history, psychology, and philosophy. There, she met Sherwood Diller, and they married in 1939. Phyllis did not finish college. She became a housewife and took care of their six children, though sadly, one child died when they were a baby.

Comedy Career

Starting Out in the 1950s

After moving to Alameda, California, Phyllis Diller started working in radio in 1952. She also filmed short TV segments where she gave funny, silly advice to homemakers. Her husband encouraged her to try stand-up comedy.

On March 7, 1955, at age 37, Diller performed her first stand-up show. It was in the basement of a club called The Purple Onion in San Francisco. Before this, she had only tried out her jokes for other parents at her children's school. Her first professional show was a big hit! Her two-week booking turned into 89 weeks in a row. Diller had found her true calling. She once said, "I became a stand-up comedian because I had a sit-down husband."

When Diller started, there were almost no other women in comedy. She used props and made fun of classical music concerts and advice columns. She wrote all her own jokes and kept them organized in a file cabinet. She developed a unique comedy style. She wore baggy, colorful dresses, had huge, clown-like hair, and carried a long cigarette holder (even though she didn't smoke). Her loud, hearty laugh became her trademark.

Her first national TV appearance was on Groucho Marx's quiz show in 1958. After appearing many times on The Tonight Show, she became famous across the country after appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show. From 1959 into the 1960s, she released several comedy albums, like Wet Toe in a Hot Socket! and Laughs.

Becoming a Star in the 1960s

Diller wearing colorful clothes in the 1960s

Diller at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, in 1966

In the early 1960s, Diller performed at a club where a young Barbra Streisand was her opening act. Diller soon started getting movie roles. She became very famous after starring with her mentor, Bob Hope. Hope once described her as "a Warhol mobile of spare parts picked up along a freeway." They worked together in films like Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!. Diller also joined Hope on a trip to Vietnam in 1966 to entertain soldiers.

She was a regular guest on many TV shows, including The Andy Williams Show and What's My Line?. She made many funny, quick appearances on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Diller often made jokes about herself. For example, she'd joke about running after a garbage truck and yelling, "Am I too late for the trash?" The driver would reply, "No, jump right in!" She also became a regular on The Hollywood Squares starting in 1967.

Diller continued acting in films, appearing in more than a dozen movies during the 1960s. She also began doing voice work, like for the Monster's Mate in Mad Monster Party (1967). She starred in her own TV shows, The Pruitts of Southampton (1966–1967) and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show (1968). She even received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Pruitts.

In late 1969, she performed in the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! for three months. She was one of several famous actresses to take on the main role after Carol Channing.

Later Career: 1970–2012

Phyllis Diller in 1973

Diller kept working in television throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She was a judge on The Gong Show and a panelist on Match Game PM. She also guest-starred on shows like The Muppet Show, CHiPs, and The Love Boat. Later, between 1999 and 2003, she appeared in 7th Heaven and The Drew Carey Show.

Her successful career as a voice actor continued. In 1972, she voiced herself in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1998, Diller was the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life. She also voiced characters in other animated films like The Nutcracker Prince (1990) and Happily Ever After (1990).

She voiced characters in many TV series, including Robot Chicken, Family Guy (as Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma), Hey Arnold!, and Jimmy Neutron (as Jimmy's grandmother).

Retirement and Final Appearances

Phyllis Diller retired from stand-up comedy in 2002 because of her age and energy levels. Her last performance was in Las Vegas, Nevada. She said, "If you can't dance to comedy, forget it. It's music." A documentary called Goodnight, We Love You: The Life and Legend of Phyllis Diller was filmed on the night of her last show. It covered her long career.

Even after retiring from stand-up, Diller didn't completely leave entertainment. In 2005, she was in the documentary The Aristocrats. In 2007, she appeared on The Tonight Show and performed stand-up before talking with host Jay Leno. Leno said Diller would sometimes call him to share jokes. That same year, she had a small role as herself in an episode of Boston Legal. In 2011, she appeared on 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 for their album Get Happy.

Other Talents

Author

Phyllis Diller in February 2007

Phyllis Diller published her first best-selling book in 1966. She released more books throughout the decade, all about home life and featuring her self-deprecating humor. Some titles include Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints and Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual. In 1981, she published The Joys of Aging & How to Avoid Them.

Her autobiography, written with Richard Buskin, came out in 2006. In it, Diller shared about her childhood and first marriage. She explained how her fast-paced joke-telling style came from these experiences. She compared it to music, saying, "One joke followed the other with a flow and a rhythm."

Musician

Diller had studied piano for many years and was a skilled player. However, she decided not to pursue a music career because she felt she couldn't reach the same level as her teachers. She still played piano in her private life and owned a special harpsichord.

From 1971 to 1981, Diller performed as a piano soloist with symphony orchestras across the country. She used the stage name Dame Illya Dillya. Her performances included humor, but she took the music seriously. A newspaper review once called her "a fine concert pianist with a firm touch."

Artist

Phyllis Diller was also a self-taught artist. She started painting in 1963. She worked with acrylics, watercolors, and oils throughout the 1970s. Her home in Brentwood, California, was filled with her portraits and still lifes. In 2003, at age 86, she held her first "art party," where she sold her artwork along with her stage clothes and jewelry.

Personal Life

Diller said that a motivational book, The Magic of Believing (1948), helped her gain confidence at the start of her career. She was married and divorced twice. She had six children with her first husband, Sherwood Anderson Diller. She outlived two of her adult children.

Her second husband was actor Warde Donovan. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1975. Robert P. Hastings was her partner from 1985 until his death in 1996. In an interview, she called him the love of her life.

In her comedy act, Diller often mentioned a character named "Fang," her husband. This character was inspired by a comic strip. While Diller joked about being a terrible cook in her routines, she was actually known to be an excellent cook. She even licensed her chili recipe and sold it nationally as "Phyllis Diller Chili."

Diller openly talked about her plastic surgery. She had her first procedures at age 55 and said she had undergone 15 procedures in total. Her many surgeries were even featured on a TV show called 20/20. The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery gave her an award for making plastic surgery more openly discussed.

Later Years and Passing

By 1997, after turning 80, Diller began to have various health issues. In 1999, her heart stopped during a hospital stay. She received a pacemaker but had a bad reaction to medicine and became paralyzed. Through physical therapy, she was able to walk again. As she neared 90, Diller retired from stand-up comedy.

On July 11, 2007, it was reported that she had fractured her back. She had to cancel an appearance on The Tonight Show where she planned to celebrate her 90th birthday. On May 15, 2012, Diller gave her final interview. She accepted a "Lifetime Achievement" award from her hometown of Lima, Ohio.

Phyllis Diller passed away at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on August 20, 2012, at the age of 95. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea.

Influence and Legacy

One of Diller's self-designed costumes and her pump organ at the Alameda Museum, California, 2015.

Phyllis Diller was one of the first solo female comedians in the U.S. to become a household name. She believed that making people laugh is a powerful art form. As a pioneering woman in stand-up, she inspired many female comedians, including Joan Rivers, Lily Tomlin, Ellen DeGeneres, and Roseanne Barr.

Roseanne Barr, who listened to Diller's records as a child, called her a true artist and revolutionary. She said, "It was timeless, that wacky, tacky character she created; the cigarette holder was genius, paradoxically regal. She was a victorious loser hero, the female iteration of Chaplin's Little Tramp."

Fellow comedian Joan Rivers praised Diller's early comedy for showing a woman's point of view. Rivers said, "She was the first one that there was such rage and such anger in her comedy. She had the anger that is now in all of us. And that's what made it so funny because she spoke for all these women that were sitting home with five children and a husband that didn't work."

A New York Times article noted that Diller's flashy look can be seen in Lady Gaga's concert outfits. It also mentioned that Eddie Murphy's loud laugh when telling jokes was similar to Diller's style.

Diller was a strong supporter of plastic surgery when cosmetic procedures were often kept secret. Her public talks about having several facelifts, nose jobs, and other procedures added to her act. She once joked to Bob Hope in 1971 that she had a facelift because "I got sick and tired of having the dog drag me out to the yard and bury me." The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery gave her an award for making plastic surgery more open.

In 2003, Diller offered some of her most famous costumes and her joke file to the National Museum of American History. Her joke file was a steel cabinet with 48 drawers holding over 50,000 jokes she had written on index cards. In 2011, the museum displayed Diller's joke file and some items linked to her comedy character. These included a messy wig, long gloves, cloth-covered ankle boots, and a fancy cigarette holder.

Awards and Honors

• Golden Apple Award for Most Cooperative Actress – 1966.
• Laurel Award for Female New Face 11th place – 1967.
• Golden Globe nomination for Actress in a Television Series – The Pruitts of Southampton – 1967.
• Awarded Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Television – January 15, 1975.
• Women's International Center Living Legacy Award – 1990.
• American Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement – 1992.
• Diller lived in St. Louis from 1961 to 1965 and was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1993.
• Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Service Show Host – A Tribute to Bob Hope – 1998.
• Women in Film Lucy Award, recognizing her achievements in enhancing the perception of women through the medium of television – 2000.
• San Diego Film Festival Governor's Award – 2004.
• Lifetime Achievement Award from hometown Lima, Ohio – 2012.
• Diller's July 17 birthday is officially "Phyllis Diller Day" in Alameda, California, where she started in radio and television.

Film Appearances

Television Appearances

See also

In Spanish: Phyllis Diller para niños