| Phyllis Diller comedienne-actress
Phyllis Ada Driver was born in Lima, Ohio, on July 17,
1917. Hoping to become a concert pianist, she studied at
the Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago for three
years before getting married to Sherwood Anderson Diller,
in 1939. Diller spent the next several years raising five
children and working as a newspaper columnist and
publicist. During this period she also became rather well
known amongst her family and friends for her peculiar
sense of humor and gained a small measure of notoriety
doing stand-up comedy routines at local social functions.
In 1955 Diller's husband convinced her to try doing
comedy as a profession. She made her debut in March, at
San Francisco's Purple Onion club. She was originally
signed for a two-week gig, but her act was so popular
with the audience that she was held over for almost two
years. Her career was launched with a subsequent
appearance on Jack Paar's show, and got a major boost
when Bob Hope saw her in a
Washington, D.C., club. She eventually appeared in three
of his movies and 23 of his TV specials. The first of her
five major comedy albums was cut in 1959.
Although comedy remained Diller's primary occupation,
she never gave up her dreams of being a concert pianist,
and she appeared as a piano soloist with some 100
symphony orchestras across the United States.
Phyllis Diller retired from touring in 2002, but
continued to do occasional film and television work until
her death, which came on August 20, 2012.
Marriages
Sherwood Anderson Diller, November 4, 1939-1965
(divorced); 5 children
Warde Donovan, October 7, 1965-1975 (divorced)
Filmography
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
The Fat Spy (1966)
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
Eight on the Lam (1967)
Silent Treatment (1968)
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)
Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?
(1968)
Mad Monster Party? (1969) voice
The Adding Machine (1969)
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) TV voice
Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970) TV
Plimpton! Did You Hear the One About? (1971) TV
The Shape of Things (1973) TV
A Pleasure Doing Business (1979)
Pink Motel (1982)
Alice Through the Looking Glass (1987) TV voice
Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (1987) TV
Doctor Hackenstein (1988)
Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1990)
The Nutcracker Prince (1990) voice
The Boneyard (1991)
The Perfect Man (1993)
Happily Ever After (1993) voice
The Silence of the Hams (1994)
A Bug's Life (1998) voice
The Debtors (1999)
The Nuttiest Nutcracker (1999) voice
Everything's Jake (2000)
Kiss My Act (2001)
The Last Place on Earth (2002)
Hip! Edgy! Quirky! (2002)
Motocross Kids (2004)
West from North Goes South (2004)
The Aristocats (2005)
Unbeatable Harold (2006)
Forget About It (2006)
Casper's Scare School (2006) voice
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)
Blaze of Glory (2008)
Television Appearances
The Pruitts of Southampton (series, 1966)
Batman (1 episode, 1966)
Love, American Society (4 episodes, 1969-1973)
Get Smart! (1 episode, 1969)
The Good Guys (1 episode, 1969)
Night Gallery (1 episode, 1971)
Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1 episode, 1973)
CHiPs (1 episode, 1978)
The Love Boat (2 episodes, 1979-1982)
Tales from the Darkside (1 episode, 1995)
Night Heat (1 episode, 1988)
227 (1 episode, 1990)
Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1 episode, 1991)
Dream On (1 episode, 1993)
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (1 episode, 1994)
Boy Meets World (1 episode, 1994)
Blossom (1 episode, 1994)
The Bold and the Beautiful (17 episodes, 1996-2004)
Emily of New Moon (2 episodes, 1998-1999)
Animaniacs (1 episode, 1998)
7th Heaven (3 episodes, 1999-2003)
King of the Hill (1 episode, 1999)
The Wild Thornberrys (1 episode, 1999)
Hey Arnold! (1 episode, 1999)
Hollywood Off-Ramp (1 episode, 2000)
Titus (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2
episodes, 2002-2004)
Even Stevens (1 episode, 2002)
The Drew Carey Show (1 episode, 2002)
Life with Bonnie (1 episode, 2003)
The Powerpuff Girls (1 episode, 2004)
Chutes and Letters (1 episode, 2005)
Robot Chicken (1 episode, 2005)
Temptation (1 episode, 2006)
Family Guy (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
along with numerous talk, variety, and game show
appearances, as well as many Bob Hope Specials
Honors and Awards
Golden Apple for Most Cooperative Actress, 1966
Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, 1990
Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy, American Comedy
Awards, 1992
Television Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1993
Women in Film Lucy Award, 2000
San Diego Film Festival Governor's Award, 2004
Minutemen Award, U.S. Treasury Department
Distinguished Service Citation, Ladies' Auxiliary of the
VFW
Humanitarian Award, AMC Cancer Research Center
USO Liberty Bell Award
Diller was also nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall
of Shame for her version of Rolling Stones'
"Satisfaction."
Books
Phyllis Diller Tells All About Fang (1963)
Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints (1966)
Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual (1967)
The Joys of Aging & How to Avoid Them (1981)
Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse (2005)
autobiography
Source
Internet Movie DataBase www.imdb.com
See Also
Bob Hope
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