Phyllis Diller Biography

Fast Facts

• Performed with friend and fellow comedian Bob Hope not only in television specials and movies but also on several USO tours
• Won a Lucy Award at the 2000 Women in Film Lucy Awards
• In 1975, she was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in Television
• In the early 1950s, she worked as a copywriter for the Northern California newspaper "The San Leandro News-Leader․"
• Gave her first stand-up comedy performance in 1955 at the Purple Onion Club in San Francisco
• Quote: "Burt Reynolds once asked me out․ I was in his room․"
• Paved the way for future female stand-up comics such as Joan Rivers, Chelsea Handler, Roseanne Barr and Ellen DeGeneres
• Known for her self-deprecating sense of humor and the blonde fright wig and prop cigarette she held when she performed
• Enjoyed painting in her free time, creating pictures full of color, humor and life
• Though she was a classically trained pianist, she never pursued music professionally