PHYLLIS DILLER
Comedienne, film, television and stage actress, author,
recording artist, spokesperson, gourmet cook, entrepreneur,
concert pianist, painter, philanthropist, humanitarian
and unquestionably one of the most beloved people in
show business,
Phyllis Diller is acclaimed as the world's only female
stand-up comic of international stature. A contemporary
of very, very funny women such as Lucille Ball, Phyllis
was the first woman to make people laugh just "like"
men did. Her rapid-fire delivery of self-deprecating
jokes, attired in outrageous costumes, followed by an
unmistakable cackle has earned her the title of "FIRST
LADY OF LAUGHTER"!
Phyllis Ada Driver was born in 1917, the only child
of Frances and Perry Driver. She was given piano and
voice lessons with the encouragement of her mother.
Following a childhood accident in 1926 in a Model T
Ford, her face was injured leaving her nose permanently
disfigured. Continually self-conscious of a crooked
nose and believing that she was ugly, Phyllis found
witty and humorous ways to charm her classmates, a skill
that would serve her well in the future.
Encouraged by her family, Phyllis had hopes of becoming
a concert pianist and to that end attended Chicago's
Sherwood Music Conservatory. Her zany behavior while
attending Northwestern University and her 1939 elopement
with her first husband, Sherwood Diller, put a temporary
end to her musical career. She had wanted 9 children
but after having 5 children in 10 years, she changed
her mind. Upon moving to San Francisco, she was content
to be a housewife and raise her children but money was
always a problem. Suffering from agoraphobia, Sherwood
had a difficult time keeping a job and was chronically
out of work. Phyllis supplemented the income as a copy
ad writer where concise and sharp writing became very
valuable to her as a comedy writer.
Always a knack for making people laugh, Sherwood Diller
encouraged Phyllis to try comedy. Miss Diller first
walked on stage when she was 37 years old. In 1955,
after what was to be a 2-week engagement at San Francisco's
Purple Onion, Miss Diller continued on for an additional
89 weeks earning $125 a week. Desperation drove her
to success. She then went on tour; polishing her act,
dropping impersonations, developing the housewife and
daily life routine that made her high priestess of the
ridiculous. Touring was difficult on the family and
slowly she had to allow her children to live with relatives.
After the Jack Paar Show and the Ed Sullivan Show, her
career rocketed. In 5 years she made it to Carnegie
Hall and headlined at virtually every major supper club.
In 1960, her career well on its way, Phyllis and Sherwood
settled in Webster Groves, MO where they could bring
their children back to live with them. While in St.
Louis, she appeared in Gaslight Square's Crystal Palace
with the Smothers Brothers, Barbra Streisand, and others.
1961 found her doing Summer Stock in Chicago playing
opposite Ward Donovan in Wonderful Town, the same Ward
Donovan who would become her 2nd husband four years
later. Her career continued to skyrocket as she teamed
up with Bob Hope on television and film. They were to
become close friends. A hallmark of her career was entertaining
the troops in Vietnam with Bob Hope.
In 1971, Phyllis Diller went on a piano concert tour
from Hawaii to the continental United States and Canada,
playing Beethoven and Bach. She did this for a period
of ten years and played with more than 100 symphony
orchestras. Her last concert was in 1981.
Phyllis Diller is the recipient of a recent award from
the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery for "the tremendous
breakthrough in acceptance for our field, when she was
the first person to have the courage to proclaim her
surgery and show her results publicly."
Though she has stopped performing stand-up comedy and
piano concerts (and no longer travels), her many pursuits
in show business keep her very busy for an 86 year old.
She was actively involved in the recent 100th Birthday
tribute to her mentor, Bob Hope, and has had a flurry
of television appearances this year, including a return
to Hollywood Squares, Seventh Heaven, and The Bold And
The Beautiful. Having scored triumphs on stage, in film,
and on television she seems most excited now about her
newest medium: painting in acrylics, watercolor, and
spit.
She is listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records
as the only comedian to deliver twelve punch lines per
minute, and broke the attendance record at the MUNY
Opera in St. Louis when she played the Wicked Witch
of the West in The Wizard Of Oz in 1991. Hailed as the
first woman in stand-up comedy, she still laughs easily
with her most famous laugh-truly music to those of us
who love laughter.
It is with great pleasure on behalf of ARTS FOR LIFE
to present this Lifetime Achievement Award to Phyllis
Diller, Comedienne and Pioneer in Comedy.
Biography-June
8, 2003.
