[openrtm-users 02644] Doug McIntyre: First lady of funny takes her final bow

[marionmillery ＠ yahoo.com.sg]

The great Phyllis Diller died on Monday, in her sleep, in her beautiful
Brentwood home. Word of her passing brought near universal praise from her
peers and fans. She was 95. Not bad. I had the good fortune of appearing on
Dennis Miller's CNBC show on the same evening Phyllis was a guest. Dennis was
kind enough to introduce us before the show in her dressing room, resulting
in the following exchange: Phyllis: "McIntyre? That's an Irish name, isn't
it?" Me: "It is." Phyllis: "An Irishman walks out of a bar. It could happen."
An instant punch line, tossed off casually almost as an aside. Very Bob Hope,
which was only natural since Hope had been the inspiration for her rapid-fire
style of one-liners. But the rest of her style was all Phyllis Diller. On
stage Phyllis had hair you'd expect to find on the wrong end of an electric
chair. Her wardrobe consisted of feather boas, boots and rectangular metallic
cocktail dresses uk [1] that looked like they'd been dragged through a salad
bar. And then there was that laugh. My first car was a '64 Chevy Nova with a
bad starter. When I'd crank it up, neighbors would cover their ears in a
futile attempt to escape the grating, piercing "A-haaa! A-haaa! A-haaa!
A-haaa!" sound booming out for blocks. That was Phyllis Diller's laugh.
Hideous. And hilarious. A late bloomer, Phyllis Diller's story inspires like
all "against the odds" stories. Her first real gig came at age 37. That gives
us all hope. Hope that it's never too late to find our true calling. But
truthfully most of us just hope, whereas Diller actually risked the
humiliation of failure, suffered the flop sweat and deadly silences that
follow a joke that doesn't land. She didn't hope for a career, she made one.
But it was Hope - as in Bob Hope's 100th birthday - that led to the first of
several lengthy conversations with Phyllis. She was kind enough to appear on
my radio show in the middle of the night to express her appreciation and
gratitude for "Ol' Ski Nose," the comic who not only taught her timing but
gave her a special gift Phyllis never forgot. Diller accompanied Hope on
several USO tours to Vietnam. While the troops appreciated her jokes, it was
Phyllis who remained grateful to those "kids." After 40-plus years, the
memory of that experience could still bring tears to her eyes. She kept a
painting of Bob Hope on an easel in her home. Musician, painter, mother,
comedian. Phyllis Diller lived a long and fruitful life.

[1] http://www.persun.co.uk/cocktail-dresses-c122/