Phyllis Diller
Friday, September 14, 2012 at 6:28PM Like many fans that grew up watching Phyllis Diller perform her funny schtick on national television over the years, I was saddened to learn of her death last month. She was a remarkable comedienne with a rock-solid memory that I found astonishing.
You see, I had the pleasure of being in her company twice.
The first time I met Phyllis was in 1969, after her show in Las Vegas. I was taken to her dressing room by a mutual friend, Marty Heim, who was a well-known musical director.
The dressing room was large and laid out like the living room of a house. There were about a dozen people there, including Phyllis McGuire of the famed McGuire Sisters. She had a very handsome male “companion” on her arm and was wearing a skirt that had about two inches of fur running around the bottom edge.
Phyllis McGuire’s skirt looked a bit odd with all that fur. It reminded me of the old movies I had seen of Sonja Henie, a Norwegian figure skater and film star who had monopolized that look on ice.
Fast Forward to the early 1990’s when Phyllis Diller came to West Palm Beach to play The Kravis Center. I happened to be Anchoring the Noon News for WPEC on the day that Phyllis showed up to plug her Kravis appearance. We chatted for about 5 minutes on camera at the end of the newscast.
As I walked Phyllis to the door, I told her that we had met before… more than 20 YEARS BEFORE… in her Las Vegas dressing room. I also mentioned that Phyllis McGuire was there that night. Her eyes lit up as she recounted the experience by saying, “That was the night she had that studly gigolo at her side… and she was dressed like Sonja Henie.”
Phyllis Diller was a star for many years and I am sure she had thousands of people visit her in her dressing room. So to this day, I cannot fathom how she could have remembered that ONE night that was etched in my 25-year-old mind.
Phyllis Diller – R.I.P.