Comedy legend Phyllis Diller is dead at age 95.
It’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to Phyllis Diller. She’s the Lenny Bruce of female comedians. She changed what it meant to do comedy and what it meant to do comedy as a woman. She paved the way for every female comic who came after her. Diller was and remains comedy royalty, deserving to be talked about in hushed tones, the way we talk about the likes of Carlin and Pryor.
She rose to fame through her work with Bob Hope which included 23 television specials and three movies. She was a staple at roasts such as those thrown by Dean Martin.
She had a variety of trademarks to her act: From her wild hair to her long cigarette holder to her laugh. That laugh is probably more well known today that she is. That laugh was one of the most distinctive of all time.
She could play family friendly and raunchy as hell as proved by two of her later career entries Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life and the incredibly dirty documentary The Aristocrats. But whichever way she went, she was always funny.
And her legacy will live on in every comedian:
I’m beyond saddened by the death of Phyllis Diller. We were friends – Melissa and I had a wonderful time with her at lunch just a month ago.
— Joan Rivers (@Joan_Rivers) August 20, 2012
The only tragedy is that Phyllis Diller was the last from an era that insisted a woman had to look funny in order to be funny.
— Joan Rivers (@Joan_Rivers) August 20, 2012
PHYLLIS DILLER : a painter on canvas and in humor of the human conditionMAY REST IN PEACE making GOD laugh
— Henry Winkler (@hwinkler4real) August 20, 2012
I was so upset that I didn’t even write her name.My hero and friend who is now dead is Phyllis Diller.Man, I loved her.
— Penn Jillette (@pennjillette) August 20, 2012
Thank you Phyllis Diller.
— Jen Kirkman (@JenKirkman) August 20, 2012
Thank you Phyllis Diller
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 20, 2012
RIP Phyllis Diller.Comedy legend.Always made me laugh.
— Jim Gaffigan (@JimGaffigan) August 20, 2012
We lost a comedy legend today. Phyllis Diller was the queen of theone-liners. She was a pioneer.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) August 20, 2012
A true original has died. Phyllis DillerThere was NOOne like her, no 1looked like her sounded like her. A FUNNY FUNNY. Classy& Smart RIP
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) August 20, 2012
The world could use more like her, but I’m not sure there are any more like her.