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

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

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Күн бұрын

Official website: www.pbs.org/ame... | #AmericanMastersPBS
On September 19, 2007, Phyllis Diller reflected on how her comedy was a response to years of “take my wife” jokes. Interview conducted by director Michael Kantor for the six-hour PBS comedy series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America” (2009).
00:00 Comedy’s need for tragedy and how that translates to physical appearance
02:20 Looking to fashion to build the elements of Diller’s famous clown get-up
04:37 Self-deprecation as a means to provide a feminine perspective in comedy
08:47 Finding a mentor and ally in her idol Bob Hope
10:37 The sweet science of comedic timing
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Пікірлер: 110

@pppantz Ай бұрын

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 Ай бұрын

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

@Woozlewuzzleable Ай бұрын

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

@jeffreymartin6369 Ай бұрын

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.

@maureenj.odonnell4438 28 күн бұрын

Sweet

@jeffreymartin6369 27 күн бұрын

@@maureenj.odonnell4438 she was so cute and amazing

@alanolson6913 Ай бұрын

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

@franimal86 Ай бұрын

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 29 күн бұрын

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

@patriciafeehan7732 Ай бұрын

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.

@adamchurvis1 Ай бұрын

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.

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

You are so lucky and so was your father!

@jzer21 27 күн бұрын

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.

@r8chlletters Ай бұрын

What a dame. Took no prisoners! 😂

@Ahmedkhan8802 Ай бұрын

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

@UncleDavesKitchen Ай бұрын

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.

@missopowers Ай бұрын

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

@roberttelarket4934 Ай бұрын

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

@rlud304 28 күн бұрын

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

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

@@rlud304: Paul Lynde!!!

@StevenCampsOut 25 күн бұрын

@@roberttelarket4934 He was the STAR of Hollywood Squares!

@roberttelarket4934 24 күн бұрын

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

@roberttelarket4934 24 күн бұрын

@@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!

@DaddyBmusic 28 күн бұрын

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 Ай бұрын

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

@MaleOrderBride Ай бұрын

Such a trailblazer!!!❤

@flitebiscuit1592 Ай бұрын

The chicken breast joke gets me every time! 😆

@barbaradace7952 Ай бұрын

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 ;-)

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

I love it! She was brilliant!

@tigergreg8 Ай бұрын

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 29 күн бұрын

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

@kathysanchez5945 Ай бұрын

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

@BeauCephus-ns7gx Ай бұрын

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

@matthewrettenmund8358 29 күн бұрын

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.)

@PeterSaenz-hz9df Ай бұрын

God, I love her. She was brilliant.

@OuterGalaxyLounge 27 күн бұрын

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.

@lancedeschenes4046 Ай бұрын

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

@franosbornblaschke3694 Ай бұрын

Awe! She's amazing! : )

@MyrddinREmrys Ай бұрын

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.!

@pamelamays4186 Ай бұрын

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

@dannytallman3022 27 күн бұрын

How old was she at that time?

@GodsFavoriteBassPlyr 26 күн бұрын

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.

@samanthab1923 Ай бұрын

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 Ай бұрын

What a fabulous iconic laugh!!!!!

@Bertoboy41 Ай бұрын

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.

@Iconoclasher Ай бұрын

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

@JuanGrullon0512 Ай бұрын

She was brilliant

@scottjohnson6173 Ай бұрын

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

@brendakempf186 Ай бұрын

Loved Phyllis and her stories about Fang.

@jerrycallender7604 Ай бұрын

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.

@SirBarth 27 күн бұрын

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.

@NextToToddliness 16 күн бұрын

Diller is a legend that helped create legends.

@themaggattack 29 күн бұрын

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! ❤

@oppositeofh8 Ай бұрын

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

@donindusted Ай бұрын

There's that laugh! Thank you for this.

@jrojala Ай бұрын

I’ve always loved her laugh.

@pamelamays4186 Ай бұрын

The one and only Queen of stand up comedy.

@danacoleman4007 Ай бұрын

Carol Burnett

@cimbalok2972 29 күн бұрын

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 Ай бұрын

Rest in peace and thank you for all the laughs 😂

@roberttelarket4934 Ай бұрын

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

@user-pz2lt7ox1r Ай бұрын

Thank you for this video

@Basileus84 Ай бұрын

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.

@StevenCampsOut 25 күн бұрын

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

@stationarywanderer7910 Ай бұрын

she's brilliant.

@leogeee1 Ай бұрын

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.

@JESimsAssociates Ай бұрын

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

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

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.

@shailong3254 Ай бұрын

I first saw her on Scooby doo

@dannytallman3022 27 күн бұрын

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

@TwoWholeWorms 27 күн бұрын

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

@michelefritchie6198 Ай бұрын

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!

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

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

@deviritter5232 27 күн бұрын

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

@marccardiff Ай бұрын

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

@billmago7991 Ай бұрын

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

@JillKnapp 26 күн бұрын

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

@MelissaThompson432 Ай бұрын

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

@davidanthonystone5165 Ай бұрын

Brilliant.

@cynthiachronister4082 Ай бұрын

I loved the way she laughed at herself 😂❤

@hepcatliz 26 күн бұрын

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

@Variety1985 Ай бұрын

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

@ScarlitWidow 14 күн бұрын

What a great video ❤

@lornadryden5650 Ай бұрын

She’s an absolute genius

@adamyourke Ай бұрын

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

@MrDavfit 26 күн бұрын

A true icon

@ssaalleessuukkaa1 Ай бұрын

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 28 күн бұрын

She was a classical music pianist.

@roberttelarket4934 28 күн бұрын

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

@AaronaCreates 26 күн бұрын

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😇

@LS030 Ай бұрын

Miss her! The best she was.

@danacoleman4007 Ай бұрын

Yoda?

@davidanthonystone5165 Ай бұрын

Ms Diller. You are a Goddess

@cloverfield911 Ай бұрын

Nolan Miller inspired looking dress.

@AvenImages 24 күн бұрын

Whoa is she still alive?!?!

@susanb4816 Ай бұрын

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

@jenkolk8808 Ай бұрын

She died in 2012. She would be almost 107 if she were still alive.

@danacoleman4007 Ай бұрын

😂

@dannytallman3022 27 күн бұрын

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

@mmishajjones 25 күн бұрын

Colonel Sanders really made me do a double take

@bobsavage3317 25 күн бұрын

☮

@pamelamays4186 Ай бұрын

Before Roseanne there was Phyllis.

@zensea298 Ай бұрын

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. Ай бұрын

7:02 ALLY 🌈

@walkingmountain22 Ай бұрын

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

@danacoleman4007 Ай бұрын

do what?

@neilforbes416 29 күн бұрын

"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 Ай бұрын

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.