How Phyllis Diller broke down the doors for female comics | American Masters | PBS

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 27. 08. 2024

Komentáře • 112

  • @pppantz
    @pppantz Před měsícem +60

    When I was a little girl I loved her. I went to a ballet and she was sitting in front of me!! She let me try on her outrageous aquamarine ring. I was SO starstruck.

    • @mayormc
      @mayormc Před měsícem +11

      Great story! Love it. I also adored her on TV when I was a kid.

  • @Woozlewuzzleable
    @Woozlewuzzleable Před 2 měsíci +48

    I could listen to her talk all day and I love her laugh.

  • @alanolson6913
    @alanolson6913 Před 2 měsíci +43

    She was hilarious. Self deprecating and original. Her bits on variety programs were a refreshing touch.

  • @patriciafeehan7732
    @patriciafeehan7732 Před měsícem +29

    She was one of the first celebrity to be public about her plastic surgery.
    In 1978 she told me that she made all her own clothing and she had worked as a seamstress. A wonderful lady.

  • @jeffreymartin6369
    @jeffreymartin6369 Před měsícem +29

    I was a small gay bar in Dallas when I was 18 and friend of hers brought her to the club! She came to the dance floor and danced with us and flirted with us and remembered how ugly she’d been when I was a kid! I told her you’re beautiful!! ❤ she laughed and told us she’d had her face fixed and she was so nice. A really nice lady. Really nice.

  • @jzer21
    @jzer21 Před měsícem +9

    To be honest, I don’t know much about Phyllis, but I could listen to her talk for hours. It’s easy to spot a pro when you hear one.

  • @adamchurvis1
    @adamchurvis1 Před měsícem +41

    My father, Arthur Churvis, aka "Bud Chase" in his television days, was a comedy writer for Phyllis Diller before I was born. They became friends, and when she gave him a copy of her book "Phyllis Diller Tells All About Fang" she wrote in it an encouragement which he not only appreciated but achieved. I still have the book. She has a great signature.

  • @Ahmedkhan8802
    @Ahmedkhan8802 Před měsícem +22

    She never once during her appearances failed to bring a smile to my face. Even today I'm on the lookout for her films.

  • @franimal86
    @franimal86 Před měsícem +52

    Gay guys get it. We get it!! Right before you said you’re first supporters were gay, you said, “now it’s *my* mother-in-law, *his* mother, *his* sister hahahahaha” and I freakin cracked up with you. That laugh reveals so much about you. Your struggles; your vindications. What a great storyteller. A joy to watch ❤️

    • @themaggattack
      @themaggattack Před měsícem +4

      "I never ran into any (trouble) because I was a woman. Maybe they weren't sure." *KACKLES* Love her! ❤

  • @UncleDavesKitchen
    @UncleDavesKitchen Před měsícem +19

    I adored her. She was on TV so often in the 1960s. I'd love to see those reruns now. We need to laugh, we've so little else.

  • @r8chlletters
    @r8chlletters Před měsícem +26

    What a dame. Took no prisoners! 😂

  • @missopowers
    @missopowers Před měsícem +15

    I always liked Phyllis Diller. And she has the most infectious laugh.

  • @DaddyBmusic
    @DaddyBmusic Před měsícem +5

    I opened for her once (in Indianapolis), and it was a master class in timing. My musical director played for her, and she schooled him exactly how and when to play, how long each laugh would be…she knew it all in advance.
    She was incredibly kind and gracious to me-when we took a photo together backstage, I stooped down so our faces would be closer, and she snapped at me to stand up straight. Such a trip! 🙏🏻❤️

  • @mindylouwho1001
    @mindylouwho1001 Před měsícem +14

    She so was a treasure- LOVE Phyllis Diller since childhood!!

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +28

    One of the greatest female comediennes of all the times!!!

    • @rlud304
      @rlud304 Před měsícem

      It’s just “one of the greatest comedians”
      Who is one of the greatest male comedians, then?

    • @roberttelarket4934
      @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +2

      @@rlud304: Paul Lynde!!!

    • @StevenCampsOut
      @StevenCampsOut Před měsícem

      @@roberttelarket4934 He was the STAR of Hollywood Squares!

    • @roberttelarket4934
      @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

      @@StevenCampsOut: SUPERSTAR!!!!! Beyond SUPERSTAR!!!!!

    • @roberttelarket4934
      @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

      @@StevenCampsOut: I went to his funeral in 1982 in West LA Ca. Peter Marshall came with an ugly green older Rolls Royce. Joan Rivers, George Gobel, The Lennon Sisters were there. The Sisters sat behind me and at point got up and moved front to sing. Very old Miss Miller super fan of Merv Griffin was there with her caregiver.
      His body was not shown and was sent to Ohio his birthplace for burial.
      RIP Paul! You will be missed!

  • @MaleOrderBride
    @MaleOrderBride Před měsícem +11

    Such a trailblazer!!!❤

  • @kathysanchez5945
    @kathysanchez5945 Před 2 měsíci +17

    She was sooo Brilliant & a great role model to laugh, have joy, & do Self-care...Blessings to her!!!

  • @tigergreg8
    @tigergreg8 Před měsícem +6

    I can't imagine having that much faith in yourself, you just keep going. Most people would just give up, but people like her are like tanks, they just keep pushing through. Love her.

  • @RobMiami787
    @RobMiami787 Před měsícem +5

    My dad was a jazz drummer in his own bands, late 50's Indianapolis
    He would open for her

  • @barbaradace7952
    @barbaradace7952 Před měsícem +12

    I babysat Phyllis's grandson back in the 70s, and once his parents brought her home from a party, too tipsy to drive...while we were waiting in the living room for the dad to get my payment together, she caught sight of my history textbook: "Homework?" "Yes." She leaned over and said in a conspiratorial tone, "Don't believe a WORD of it. It's all LIES!" (Which was probably fairly accurate ;-)

  • @flitebiscuit1592
    @flitebiscuit1592 Před měsícem +14

    The chicken breast joke gets me every time! 😆

  • @PeterSaenz-hz9df
    @PeterSaenz-hz9df Před měsícem +8

    God, I love her. She was brilliant.

  • @matthewrettenmund8358
    @matthewrettenmund8358 Před měsícem +4

    I was so fortunate to meet her, in her home, 6 mos. before she died. She was still extremely intelligent and making incisive comments. Her first laugh from me was me saying, "Hi, I'm Matt!" and her replying, "Hi, I'm blind!" (She was, mostly, by then.)

  • @OuterGalaxyLounge
    @OuterGalaxyLounge Před měsícem +4

    She doesn't get talked about enough anymore. She was a major deal in the '60s and '70s. I went to the library in the '70s and found a book about comedians and she was practically the only woman stand-up in it. She went from housewife to star and paved the way for the rest.

  • @BeauCephus-ns7gx
    @BeauCephus-ns7gx Před měsícem +8

    I remember watching Phyllis Diller when she wore mini dresses and swung around a cigarette holder. She was ahead of her time.

  • @GodsFavoriteBassPlyr
    @GodsFavoriteBassPlyr Před měsícem +2

    She was so smart.. and so Aware. She knew timing... comedy .. lighting.. stage management.. a brilliant artist... a fantastic cook.. a concert pianist. An achiever's achiever... and an entertainer's entertainer. We won't see another one like Phyllis come along anytime soon.

  • @franosbornblaschke3694
    @franosbornblaschke3694 Před měsícem +8

    Awe! She's amazing! : )

  • @MyrddinREmrys
    @MyrddinREmrys Před měsícem +6

    Phyllis was Always a joy to see working.! It's all too easy to forget in these days of over-exposure just how damn good they had to be back in the day in order to make it work. Amazing.!

  • @samanthab1923
    @samanthab1923 Před 2 měsíci +7

    Her movies with Bob Hope were hilarious. I read a book years ago about a jewel thief that robbed her twice! Her collection was so fine

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +6

    What a fabulous iconic laugh!!!!!

  • @lancedeschenes4046
    @lancedeschenes4046 Před měsícem +6

    “I was so funny that it didn’t matter any more, they had to like me.” Not a dram of arrogance - just plain truth.

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 Před měsícem +11

    She was brilliant as the Queen Ant in A Bug's Life.

  • @Iconoclasher
    @Iconoclasher Před měsícem +6

    Looks aside, she was the most beautiful human being in the industry. We miss you! 🙏

  • @scottjohnson6173
    @scottjohnson6173 Před měsícem +2

    She was one of the greatest women comedians her laugh was infectious.

  • @NextToToddliness
    @NextToToddliness Před 26 dny +1

    Diller is a legend that helped create legends.

  • @JuanGrullon0512
    @JuanGrullon0512 Před měsícem +8

    She was brilliant

  • @brendakempf186
    @brendakempf186 Před měsícem +1

    Loved Phyllis and her stories about Fang.

  • @Bertoboy41
    @Bertoboy41 Před měsícem +5

    I'll never forget, she once came into a bar at a 5 star hotel I used to work at, and she ordered "a glass of champagne with two shots of vodka in it." And she had like 3 of them! And was fine by the time she left with her friends!
    This was in the late 80s-early 90s.

  • @SirBarth
    @SirBarth Před měsícem +1

    I adore her laugh. I could have a blindfold on and the minute I hear that laugh - I'd know it is the iconic Phyllis Diller. Her voice, too....but if it was just her laughing, yeah, I'd know it anywhere.
    Love watching the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts with her on the dais.

  • @jerrycallender7604
    @jerrycallender7604 Před měsícem +1

    Phyllis Diller is EPIC!
    Among the cars in her garage was a right-hand drive
    Rolls-Royce she seldom drove 'cause she couldn't turn left.
    Her favorite car was a Checker.

  • @jrojala
    @jrojala Před měsícem +1

    I’ve always loved her laugh.

  • @oppositeofh8
    @oppositeofh8 Před měsícem +1

    the woman was a national treasure. genius comic. loved her since i was a kid, i'll be sixty next month.
    😻😻😻😻😻 5/5

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 Před měsícem +10

    The one and only Queen of stand up comedy.

  • @donindusted
    @donindusted Před měsícem +2

    There's that laugh! Thank you for this.

  • @cimbalok2972
    @cimbalok2972 Před měsícem

    I saw her on a TV show years ago when I was a kid and I thought she was obnoxious and cringey. I never saw her just being herself and I loved her! She was so warm hearted and human. But when you're 9 years old you don't see that, you just think, "Dame needs a hairdo." Thanks for a wonderful interview.

  • @donshackleford
    @donshackleford Před měsícem +1

    Rest in peace and thank you for all the laughs 😂

  • @themaggattack
    @themaggattack Před měsícem +1

    Phyllis Dillar really took sexist stereotypes and made chop suey of them through sheer, endearing buffoonery. Her "setting the bar low" for women really freed women up to feel better about themselves. Like: "well at least I didn't screw up as much as Phyllis Dillar, and people still love her, so maybe it's not as serious as it feels for me."
    I don't remember the movie, but the first scene I ever saw Phyllis in was a crazy car driving scene. She was driving through fountains and chicken coops and causing general destruction and mayhem. When she got out of the car, her hair was WILD! 😂 She really took the stereotype of "women drivers" and drove it into the ground! 😆
    My grandma loved Phyllis Dillar so much. My grandma was from a poor, rural part of Europe that had no cars, and then she immigrated to NYC, where nobody drives, they all just use the transit system. So when she moved out West in her 40's, she had never driven in her life. I remember her practicing to get her liscence in her 50's. She was so nervous. She really cracked up watching Phyllis Dillar drive like a mad woman! Phyllis was the best! ❤

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem +5

    One of the greatest women of the last century!!!

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

    What a great soliloquy!
    So observant!
    Such a highly intelligent woman!

  • @stationarywanderer7910
    @stationarywanderer7910 Před měsícem +2

    she's brilliant.

  • @JESimsAssociates
    @JESimsAssociates Před měsícem +1

    I like her voice and puppet version of her in MAD MONSTER PARTY

  • @ShaiLysk
    @ShaiLysk Před měsícem +3

    I first saw her on Scooby doo

    • @dannytallman3022
      @dannytallman3022 Před měsícem

      Well, I first heard her in A Bug's Life. Remember who she was?

  • @user-pz2lt7ox1r
    @user-pz2lt7ox1r Před měsícem +2

    Thank you for this video

  • @leogeee1
    @leogeee1 Před měsícem

    When I was 14 I was Phyllis Diller for Halloween (I'm a 71 year old guy now). It was very freeing although the neighbors confirmed at that point I was weird. I was weird l but self-deprecating humor helped me through being weird.

  • @Basileus84
    @Basileus84 Před měsícem +2

    I met her when she did an interview where I worked at the time. She was really tiny and thin. She was easy going, but wasn't "on" until the camera turned on.

  • @bonnierichard4870
    @bonnierichard4870 Před 9 dny

    Phyllis Diller was so funny . I miss her on TV.

  • @JillKnapp
    @JillKnapp Před měsícem

    What a legend. What I would give to have a long, rambling lunch with her.

  • @StevenCampsOut
    @StevenCampsOut Před měsícem

    Everyone credits "Roseanne" for the woman's comedy, but Phillis created it! Phyllis lived it! And Phyllis did it with style and grace!

  • @michelefritchie6198
    @michelefritchie6198 Před měsícem

    I always loved her laugh. She wrote a book, illustrated by Suzanne Perl, titled "I Hate Housekeeping" back in the day. OMG, it was hilarious! The copy my dad gave to my mom she tossed after their divorce became final, I bought a copy because I loved it, but I think mom made me toss that too. If I ever get the chance to buy a third copy, I'm going to hang on to it so they'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands!

  • @davidanthonystone5165
    @davidanthonystone5165 Před měsícem +1

    Brilliant.

  • @cynthiachronister4082
    @cynthiachronister4082 Před měsícem

    I loved the way she laughed at herself 😂❤

  • @marccardiff
    @marccardiff Před měsícem +1

    I wish they had included clips of her standup in her prime.

  • @hepcatliz
    @hepcatliz Před měsícem

    she wore gloves because all cowns wear gloves 😮 Oh my, Ms Diller was a gem ❤❤

  • @TwoWholeWorms
    @TwoWholeWorms Před měsícem

    There's a clip somewhere of her roasting Joan Rivers at someone else's roast and it's one of the funniest and most savage things I've ever seen. xD

  • @billmago7991
    @billmago7991 Před měsícem +4

    very funny lady, oh that laugh 😁....kept her feet on the ground too.

  • @lornadryden5650
    @lornadryden5650 Před měsícem

    She’s an absolute genius

  • @Variety1985
    @Variety1985 Před měsícem

    SAMMY'S SHOWROOM inside HARRAH'S RENO ... had the opportunity to see her show 😊

  • @MrDavfit
    @MrDavfit Před měsícem

    A true icon

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

    Phyllis to audience: I wore. peek-a-boo blouse. They peeked and booed! Hysterical!
    Phyllis: On Thanksgiving I couldn't do the turkey dressing. I couldn’t dress myself-I think that’s how the joke went.

  • @MelissaThompson432
    @MelissaThompson432 Před měsícem +3

    She hit it perfectly with the boots. They were hideous. 🎯🎯🎯

  • @deviritter5232
    @deviritter5232 Před měsícem

    Growing up, for years, I believed that Phylis Diller was really just Rich Little doing a comedic impression.

  • @adamyourke
    @adamyourke Před měsícem

    Her last statement in this piece has completely changed how I teach at work.

  • @ScarlitWidow
    @ScarlitWidow Před 24 dny

    What a great video ❤

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

    She was a classical music pianist.

  • @LS030
    @LS030 Před měsícem

    Miss her! The best she was.

  • @AaronaCreates
    @AaronaCreates Před měsícem

    I used to wear gloves 🧤 onstage too😂 I did it cause Eddie Murphy used to do it and I thought it was cool to wear and match with my leggings. Then I started wearing the black leather pants😇

  • @ssaalleessuukkaa1
    @ssaalleessuukkaa1 Před měsícem +1

    For the longest time I assumed Phyllis Diller was a smoker mainly because of her raspy deeper tone voice...I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this.

  • @roberttelarket4934
    @roberttelarket4934 Před měsícem

    She lived in Alameda California before fame. She wouldn’t believe how completely ethnically it has changed

  • @cloverfield911
    @cloverfield911 Před měsícem

    Nolan Miller inspired looking dress.

  • @davidanthonystone5165
    @davidanthonystone5165 Před měsícem

    Ms Diller. You are a Goddess

  • @susanb4816
    @susanb4816 Před měsícem +1

    I am 64. I watched her with my grandparents when i was too young to speak. I am shocked she is alive. Too bad she didn’t keep performing

  • @AvenImages
    @AvenImages Před měsícem

    Whoa is she still alive?!?!

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 Před měsícem +4

    Before Roseanne there was Phyllis.

  • @mmishajjones
    @mmishajjones Před měsícem

    Colonel Sanders really made me do a double take

  • @dannytallman3022
    @dannytallman3022 Před měsícem

    The only thing I hear is the queen in A Bug's Life.

  • @TyByrd10301
    @TyByrd10301 Před 5 dny

    Phyllis Dillard is not the first, moms mabley is the first comedian and actress, She opened the door for Phyllis Dillard and many more

  • @bobsavage3317
    @bobsavage3317 Před měsícem

  • @zensea298
    @zensea298 Před měsícem +4

    I'm grateful she broke down barriers for female comics, truly. But listening to her talk about her appearance and her too long nose that her plastic surgeon had to point out to her and how if a girl is pretty what could she possibly have to complain about that has any depth....it makes me cringe. I'm old enough to remember seeing her on TV and and I hated her jokes then too. Because, while I realize she had to work within the circumstances given to her (every male dominated & incredibly sexist), it makes me sad when a woman has to resort to making herself the butt of the joke in order to get a laugh.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Před měsícem

    7:02 ALLY 🌈

  • @walkingmountain22
    @walkingmountain22 Před měsícem +1

    She was only allowed to do it because she was wierd. Lucille Ball helped some.

  • @neilforbes416
    @neilforbes416 Před měsícem

    "Gay" is *NOT* the opposite of "Straight". "Gay" is the opposite of "Morose". "Straight" has two opposites, in the geometric sense, "bent", "curved", angled" and in the ethical sense, "crooked", "shifty", "untrustworthy".

  • @ChrisPeck-niganma
    @ChrisPeck-niganma Před měsícem +6

    When I was 12 I was in a serious play with her on Long Island. She wasn't in the 2nd act so she didn't stay for the curtain calls. She was a riot backstage though.