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Phyllis Diller (born Phyllis Ada Driver on July 17, 1917, in Lima, Ohio) is an American comedian who created the stage character of a wild-haired, oddly-dressed housewife who was ugly but didn't realize it, and who spent her time cackling and waving a long cigarette holder while making jokes about a husband named "Fang." She is generally considered one of the pioneers of female stand-up comedy.
A housewife, mother and advertising copywriter, she first came to public attention as a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life in the mid-1950s. Later in the decade, her career took off after selling out 87 straight weeks at San Francisco's legendary Purple Onion nightclub. It is here that Diller honed her act. In her heyday, Diller achieved a record that still stands today in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering 12 punchlines per minute, which is typical of her often outrageous, staccato style of comedy.
Though her main claim to fame is her stand-up comedy act, Diller also has appeared in films, including a scene-stealing cameo appearance as a wisecracking lounge act emcee in the 1961 Hollywood production of Splendor in the Grass, starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty. She appeared in more than a dozen, generally low-budget movies, including as herself in the children's animated cult classic from 1968, The Monster Mash, co-starring Boris Karloff. She also starred in two short-lived television series: The Pruitts of Southampton on ABC in 1966 and the variety show The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show on NBC in 1968. In 1998, Diller parlayed her unique cackle into the vocals for "The Queen" in Disney/Pixar's animated movie A Bug's Life.
Diller, a longtime resident of Brentwood, credits much of her success to the late Bob Hope, and keeps a framed portrait of Hope above her grand piano in the living room of her home. She is an accomplished pianist as well as a painter.
Diller has publicly discussed her plastic surgery, which changed her persona from being deliberately ugly to being chic and attractive for her age. Diller's efforts have drawn numerous awards and acknowledgments from plastic surgeons and medical organizations.
Diller has been married three times. She was divorced twice and widowed once. She has several children from her marriage to her first husband, on whom "Fang" was based. Diller is a proud grandmother several times over.
Most recently, Diller has suffered serious medical problems which culminated in her being pronounced clinically dead for three minutes. She has since officially retired from standup performance.
In an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live talk show in December 2004, Diller announced that an authorized biography of her life is in the works. Further, a screenplay about Diller's early years in showbiz is in preproduction and actress Patricia Clarkson is slated to play Diller, for a film due in 2006.
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