Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller also known as Phyllis Ada Driver was an American citizen. She has served as an actress and a stand-up comedian. She made her first appearance as a participant on Groucho Marx's game show. After which, she became a successful comedian, author, and actress. She was well known for her different costumes, over-the-top makeup and her trademark laugh. In 1992, she was honored with the American Comedy Award in the category of Lifetime Achievement. Diller was also very well known as an author and pianist.

Phyllis Diller was born on 17 July, 1917 in Lima, Ohio. Her parents were Perry Marcus Driver and Frances Ada. She did her studies from Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago. Her course was for three years, after which she got married to Sherwood Diller in 1939. The two moved to California after their marriage. The couple had six children but their sixth child died in infancy.

In her initial days, she worked as a journalist for San Leandro News-Observer. Diller participated in “You Bet Your Life”, and “Groucho Marx's” game show. She is known for her performance in the show which earned her a national recognition.

In many of her stage shows, she mostly opted to play the character of a typical housewife, who spoke on various topics that affected American neighbor’s kids, pets, and even mothers-in-law. She is well known for her performance as “Fang”, which was based on frictions husband and her various face-lifts. Diller's different costumes, over-the-top makeup and her trademark laugh, was known by everyone and served her as a plus point in her career.  During many of her performances, she would light her cigarette and laugh at her own jokes with her usual laugh.

In 1961, she made her first appearance in the movie “Splendor in the Grass” as Texas Guinan.  She was even part of many small budget movies like Eight on the Lam, Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number, and The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell.  Her first stage performance was in The Dark Top of the Stairs. However, her most notable theater performance was in 1970, in Broadway's Hello, Dolly! In Hello, Dolly! Diller played as Dolly Levi. In 1988, she played the negative role of Mother Superior in San Francisco's Nunsense.

In 1965, she finished her 26-year old relationship with husband Sherman Anderson Diller. The two got divorced in September of that year, and Diller hastily married Ward Donovan just one month later. In the late 1960s, Diller shifted her focus towards television. She created two television series: the sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton in 1966 and the variety show The Phyllis Diller Show two years later, in 1968. Both the shows did not do well and were very badly appreciated.

In addition to her comedic talents, Diller was also a skilled concert pianist and author. In a span of 10-year period, from 1972 to 1982, under the stage name of "Dame Illya Pillya," she has performed as a solo pianist throughout America, with more than 100 symphony orchestras. She published five best-selling books throughout her career, including The Joys of Aging and How to Avoid Them, Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, Phyllis Diller Tells All about Fang, Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual, The Complete Mother.

In 1992, Diller was awarded with the American Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Diller died on August 20, 2012, at her residence in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, where she had briefly served as honorary mayor.