Legendary comedian Phyllis Diller has died

**milven** · 08-20-2012, 03:21 PM

LOS ANGELES -- Legendary comedian Phyllis Diller has died.

Diller died at her L.A. home, surrounded by family.

She was 95.

Diller was recovering from a fall and had been sick for the last few months.

She had been living in hospice care at her home.

Diller suffered a heart attack in 1999 and was later fitted with a pacemaker.

Phyllis began her career all the way back in 1952.

She rose to fame with her TV specials alongside Bob Hope in the 1960s.

Later that decade, Phyllis starred in her own show called "The Phyllis Diller Show" ... as well as a variety show called "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show." She was also a regular on "Laugh In."

Though her main claim to fame is her stand-up comedy act, Diller has also appeared in other films besides the three mentioned above, including a cameo appearance as Texas Guinan, the wisecracking nightclub hostess in the 1961 film Splendor in the Grass.

She appeared in more than a dozen, usually low-budget, movies, including voice work as The Monster's Mate in the Rankin/Bass animated film Mad Monster Party [[1967), co-starring Boris Karloff.

More recent television appearances for Diller have included at least three episodes between 1999–2003 on the long-running family drama 7th Heaven, in one of which she got drunk while cooking dinner for the household, and a 2002 episode of The Drew Carey Show, as Mimi Bobek's grandmother. She posed for Playboy, but the photos were never run in the magazine.

Her voice can be heard in several animated TV shows, including The New Scooby-Doo Movies [[1972) as herself, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius [[2002)as Jimmy's grandmother, and on Family Guy in 2006 as Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma Griffin.

**ralpht** · 08-20-2012, 04:21 PM

Sorry to learn this. She was quite the entertainer that I grew up watching on TV.

**Roberta75** · 08-20-2012, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by ralpht

Sorry to learn this. She was quite the entertainer that I grew up watching on TV.

Miss Phyllis Diller went home to meet her maker with a smile on her face Ralph. Heaven is a funnier place now that Phyllis has arrived. She was a great lady and one of the funniest gals ever to grace our TV screens.

Farewell Miss Phyllis you're leaving
It's time for you to go
Your humor was a blessing
And we will miss you so
We shared so much laughter
You brightened up our days
You brought joy to all who saw you
With your kind and funny ways
You lifted up our spirits
When we were feeling blue
No matter what was happening
You knew just what to do

God is here to take you home
Now you and I must part
We'll think of you forever
You will live within our hearts.

Thank you Miss Phyllis Diller

Roberta.

**stephanie** · 08-20-2012, 07:56 PM

This woman helped to open up the door for female comedians along with Moms Mabley I used to see both of them on Ed Sullivan as a child. I guess she is there with Fang right now and that laugh of hers. RIP

**marv2** · 08-20-2012, 11:23 PM

Loved her. She was funny as heck. Comedy has sure change a lot since she was at her peak. She and Bob Hope together always made me laugh. Thanks Phyllis and rest in peace.

Marv

**marv2** · 08-20-2012, 11:24 PM

Yeah "Fang", her husband! LOL!!!

**daviddesper** · 08-20-2012, 11:44 PM

Back in the day, comedians were funnier than they are today and you know what....they didn't have to resort to four-letter words and body parts to do it. Phyllis was the best of the best and as you guys said, she set the bar for all female comics who followed her.

I hope her passing will lead to some CD re-issues of her material. If you have never heard her routine entitled "Driving Downtown," it is an absolute hoot.

Although I am sad about her passing, I am happy to be reading that so many people really did respect her talent and her contribution to the industry.

**milven** · 08-21-2012, 08:39 AM

Aug 20, 8:43 PM [[ET)

A selection of comic lines from Phyllis Diller, who died Monday at age 95:

- "I once wore a peekaboo blouse. People would peek and then they'd boo."

- "I never made 'Who's Who,' but I'm featured in 'What's That?'"

- "When I told Fang I was going to have my face lifted, he said, 'Who'd steal it?'"

- "You know you're old when your walker has an airbag."

- "I was the world's ugliest baby. When I was born, the doctor slapped everybody."

- "I became a stand-up comedienne because I had a sit-down husband."

- "My vanity table is a Black & Decker workbench."

- "The only thing domestic about me is I was born in this country."

- "They say housework can't kill you, but why take the chance?"

- "I have so many liver spots, I ought to come with a side of onions."

- "Think of me as a sex symbol for men who just don't give a damn."

- "The best contraceptive for old people is nudity."

- And actor Dylan McDermott shares this line via Twitter: "One time [[Diller) came over with a 70-year-old guy. Told me she was 'robbing the cradle.'"