Phyllis Diller Net Worth

Phyllis Diller's Quotes

• A stand-up comic is judged by every line. Singers get applause at the end of their song no matter how bad they are.
• It's a good thing that beauty is only skin deep, or I'd be rotten to the core.
• Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.
• Aim high, and you won't shoot your foot off. I bury a lot of my ironing in the backyard.
• My house used to be haunted, but the ghosts haven't been back since the night I tried on all my wigs.

Interesting Facts about Phyllis Diller

1. She suffered a serious heart attack and had pacemaker implanted. Although not expected to live, she recovered well enough to return to the stage for a couple of years (1999).
2. Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award (1990).
3. Had numerous facelifts, a popular topic in her comedy routines.
4. Briefly served as honorary mayor in the affluent town of Brentwood, California.
5. Studied at Chicago's Sherwood Music Conservatory for three years before eloping with Sherwood Anderson Diller (1939).
6. Had appeared as a piano soloist with 100 symphony orchestras across the US, including performances in Dallas, Denver, Annapolis, Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cincinnati.
7. Nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame for her recorded version of The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction".
8. Described her comedy as "tragedy revisited".
9. She was a housewife in a San Francisco suburb with five children and an underemployed husband who eventually convinced her to make money with the talent she regularly displayed in PTA skits.
10. Had a ten-year affair with lawyer Robert Hastings (whom she described as "the love of my life") until his death on May 23, 1996.
11. Breakthrough came in March 1955, at age 37, with he debut at San Francisco's Purple Onion club, and her career was launched with a subsequent appearance on Jack Paar's show. Later she got a major boost from Bob Hope, who saw Diller in a Washington, D.C. club. She went on to appear in three of Hope's movies and 23 of his television specials.
12. She attended a Las Vegas function on invitation of Wayne Newton, to help celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Stardust Hotel and Casino. [July 2003]
13. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 137-139. New York: Facts on File (1992). ISBN 0816023387.
14. She worked as a copywriter before becoming a comedienne.
15. Retired from acting and stand-up routine in 2002 at age 84, due to ill health. Continued to lend her voice to animated characters in movies.
16. In her later years after several cosmetic procedures, she posed semi-nude for spicy pictures proposed to be in Playboy magazine, similar to those published of Joan Collins, to prove that women can still be sexy in their 50s and 60s. The photos were not published in the magazine, but one is included in her autobiography "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse".
17. Had a large collection of Waterford Crystal which she has collected over a period of 50 years.
18. She had six children with Sherwood Anderson Diller: Peter Diller (1940-1998), Sally Diller (born 1944), Perry Diller (born 1945, but only lived for two weeks in a neonatal incubator), Sue Diller (born 1946), Stephanie Diller (1948-2002), and a second Perry Diller (born 1950).
19. In the mid-1960s, the trademark quirky dresses that she wore during performances were designed by Gloria Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska. Phyllis jokingly referred to Johnson as "Omar of Omaha", as tent dresses were in vogue at the time.
20. Before Joan Rivers succeeded as a stand-up comedienne, she wrote jokes for Diller.