Phyllis Diller Biography

Comedienne, actress, author. Born Phyllis Ada Driver, on July 17, 1917, in Lima, Ohio. Phyllis was the only child of Frances and Perry Driver. After graduating high school, she continued her studies at Chicago’s Sherwood Music Conservatory for three years before eloping with Sherwood Anderson Diller in 1939. The couple soon moved to California, where they had five children.

In 1955, while working as a journalist for the San Leandro News-Observer, Phyllis Diller appeared as a contestant on Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life. Diller’s memorable performance on the show sparked the advent of her national exposure. She received an offer to make her comedic debut at San Francisco’s The Purple Onion Comedy Club, where she floored the audience with her dynamic one-liners and comical costumes. This success led to future bookings at New York’s Blue Angel as well as an appearance on The Jack Paar Show.

In her monologues, Diller adopted the stage personality of a typical housewife and spoke of topics that affected American suburbia -- kids, pets, neighbors and even mothers-in-law. Her most notable routines were filled with anecdotes about her fictitious husband "Fang," and her numerous face-lifts. Diller’s delivery was accentuated by her animated facial expressions, eccentric costumes, and overdone make-up. During performances, she would often flaunt a cigarette while laughing at her own jokes with her trademark cackle.

In 1961, Diller acquired her first minor film role, as Texas Guinan in Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass. She co-starred in a few low budget movies with long-time friend and fellow comedian Bob Hope including Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number (1966), Eight On the Lam (1967), and The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell (1968). Diller also made recurring appearances on Hope’s annual Christmas Special (1965-94).

Diller’s first stage acting appearance was in The Dark Top of the Stairs (1961). However, her most notable theatre performance was in 1970, when she replaced Carol Channing as Dolly Levi in Broadway’s Hello, Dolly!. After Hello, Dolly Diller would not return to the stage until 1988, when she played the vivacious Mother Superior in San Francisco’s Nunsense.

In 1965, Diller ended her 26-year marriage with Sherman Anderson Diller. The two were divorced in September, and Diller hastily married Ward Donovan a month later. In the late 1960s, Diller focused her creative efforts toward television. She created two poorly received television series: the sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton (1966) and the variety show The Phyllis Diller Show (1968).

In addition to her comedic talents, Diller could boast that she was both an accomplished concert pianist and author. Over the ten year period from 1972-82, under the pseudonym Dame Illya Pillya, Diller performed as a solo pianist with over 100 symphony orchestras throughout America. She has also published five best-selling books: Phyllis Diller Tells All About Fang (1963); Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints (1966); Phyllis Diller’s Marriage Manual(1967); The Complete Mother(1969); and The Joys of Aging and How to Avoid Them(1981).

In 1992, Diller received the American Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement. She currently lives in California’s affluent area of Brentwood, where she briefly served as the town’s honorary mayor. She remains close with all of her five children and continues to take on the role of a loving mother and grandmother.

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