Phyllis Diller: Pioneer Stand-Up Comedienne Dies at 95

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phyllis Diller has died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles California. Diller died Monday, August 20 at her home.

Diller paved the way for female stand-up comediennes when she took up comedy at the age of 37.

She was born Phyllis Ava Driver in Lima, Ohio on July 17, 1917. Her mom Frances Ada Driver was born in 1881 and her father Perry Marcus Driver was born during the Civil War in 1862.

She pursued a career as a pianist attending Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago for three years, but eventually gave up on a career as a musician.                                              

Diller launched her career in an unlikely place, the neighborhood laundromat as she told stories of her life at home and eventually was asked to do her comedy act at PTA meetings.

When she made her comedy club debut in 1938 at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, her two-week engagement lasted a year-and-a-half.

She was seen in many television shows and movies over the years:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226887/

Phyllis Diller appearing on Ed Sullivan Show 43 years ago in 1969.

She has appeared with 100 symphony orchestras across the United States as a guest piano soloist.

Female comediennes today like Joan Rivers, Ellen Degeneres and others owe a debt of gratitude to Diller, since there were very few female stand-up comediennes when Diller hit the comedy circuit.

Plastic surgery became another source for comedy material, after she had fifteen surgical procedures done according to her 2005 autobiography.

Since Diller has been out of the spotlight for many years, we may have forgotten just how good of a comedienne that she was.

The world has lost another voice of laughter, at a time when the world could use more laughter, instead of less.

Catching Up

It has been 36 days since last posting, so will use this post to catch up on what has been going on for the last few weeks.

First of all I want to thank the visitors who visited the website averaging about 500 a day, despite not having any new posts.

July 20 was a day that will go down in infamy as we started moving 50 miles north of Sulphur, Louisiana to Merryville, Louisiana. Moving may the most stressful thing ever, especially since it took us 12 days to complete the move, making several trips to complete the move. July 20 and July 21 were the most stressful days.

Moving in 95 degree heat is not exactly a formula, for a smooth move. You really have no idea of how much stuff you have, till you try to fit it in a rental trailer.

There was one respite from the moving, when my daughter took me to see and my grandson to the Houston Astros game against the Cincinnati Reds on July 25.

We were fortunate to find $5 parking, relatively close to Minute Maid Park. Surprisingly the Astros ownership allows fans to bring their own food and drinks to the games. A hot dog and coke at the game would have cost almost $10, so my daughter fixed sandwiches, brought some cheese crackers, cookies and a one liter of water to the park, saving $20-$25. The gate attendants check each bag with food, to make sure fans are not sneaking Big Mac’s or Taco Bell tacos into the game.

We arrived extra early since they were giving away Houston Astros baseball caps to the first 1,000 fans and we knew ahead of time where to be to get in line for the caps. So between the cheaper food and free baseball caps we saved a lot of money.

My grandson was on the concourse in left field and the Reds were having batting practice and hit a ball in his direction, when his mom decided to call him, since we weren’t sure where he was and he reached to pick up the phone and the ball arrived at the same time and another fan jumped in front of him to catch the ball. So he at least came close to having a souvenir baseball.

The game itself was a typical Houston Astros game, with the Astros losing late in the game to the Reds, but just being in a major league ballpark made it worthwhile for me.

Then it was time for a reality check as the move to Merryville continued. Finally on the morning of August 1, we completed the move and are now living in a trailer in the country, almost halfway between Merryville and Deridder.

Rhonda and me have both had health problems since the move. Last Monday was a bad day for both of us, with Rhonda in bad pain from an intestinal blockage and me having an acute acid reflux attack.

It was far worse for Rhonda as she was admitted into the hospital on Monday night, but was released on Tuesday after the blockage had been cleared.

Tuesday was my worst day having thrown up ten times during the day. It may explain why my weight has dropped from 209 the last time  I went to VA to 179 pounds last night, since unexplained weight loss is a symptom of acid reflux disease.

Just wanted to update the readers on what has been going on and am planning to start making nostalgic and current posts in the next post.