Comedienne Phyllis Diller was a legend, a fixture in the childhoods of so many of us with her skinny legs, miniskirts, cigarette holder, crazy hairdo and raucous laughter -- a true original. She was a funny woman on TV at the time when you didn't really see them much other than in sitcoms, and of course they reigned there. For stand-up comedy, there was Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, Totie Fields and a few others that you could see on The Ed Sullivan Show, but there was nobody quite like Phyllis!
Here's a selection of clips, not necessary in chronological order, of the super Miss Diller --
On You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, very early appearance:
From The Merv Griffin Show in 1965:
From The Flip Wilson Show:
The Pruitts of Southhampton 1966 - 1967 ABC -- Phyllis' short-lived sitcom but with an incredibly catchy theme by Vic Mizzy that I remembered all my life and way before we could see the credits again on YouTube!
On The Red Skelton Show:
On The Hollywood Palace:
Commercial for Snowy Bleach 1967:
On a Bob Hope Christmas Special with Loni Anderson:
On Super Password game show:
On The Hollywood Palace with Phil Harris, Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello from 1967:
On The Sonny and Cher Show:
Phyllis Diller on her legacy, from her interview at the Archive of American Television; her full interview is available by clicking here:
Phyllis on The View about five years ago:
The reporting of the death of Phyllis Diller:
Phyllis Diller passed away two years ago on August 20, 2012 at the age of 95. To read the excellent obituary from The New York Times, click here.
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