Pioneer of female comedy

Pioneering comedian Phyllis Diller has died today at the age of 95.

She was one of the first women to become influential as a stand-up comic, delivering rapid-fire one-liners, often at the expense of her own looks or her aversion to the traditional role of a home-maker.

Agent Fred Wostbrock said: ‘"She was a true pioneer,. She was the first lady of stand-up comedy. She paved the way for everybody. She paved the way for Joan Rivers, Chelsea Handler, Roseanne Barr, Ellen Degeneres, and all the women stand-up comics. She was the first and the best.’

Diller took up comedy relatively late in life, at the age of 37, inspired by Bob Hope, and made her professional debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1955, mixing singing with jokes. Her first TV appearance came on a talk show three years later.

Diller had a couple of her own series, but they were short-lived, and her movie career was similar brief. But she remained an in-deman a stand-up; and although she used writers, she wrote most of her material herself, aiming for a broad a demographic as possible.

Despite the jokes about her looks, she became one of the first celebrities to openly have plastic surgery, and had more than a dozen operations.

She suffered a heart attack in 1999, and quit performing with a Las Vegas show in 2002, which was caputed in the documentary Goodnight, We Love You.

Her Her son, Perry, ‘found her with a smile on her face,’ at her Los Angeles home, according to her manager. She is also survived by a daughter four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

Ellen DeGeneres was among those who pad tribute, tweeting: ‘We lost a comedy legend today. Phyllis Diller was the queen of the one-liners. She was a pioneer.’

And Roseanne Barr said: ‘ A revolutionary woman who inspired me has died today, but I know she was ready and wanted to go… I will miss my friend. She lived as an artist- her painting, comedy,music - and that laugh will be missed.’

Here she is in 1977:

Published: 20 Aug 2012