RIP comedian Phyllis Diller

She was 95. "You can say the nastiest things about yourself without offending anyone."

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Dave Horton

Showing my age, but dang, I so remember the image she made for herself during my formative years. The cigarette holder, the hand on the hip, her dear husband Fang…
Preston Sturges

She was on Robot Chicken quite a bit

http://robotchicken.wikia.com/wiki/Phyllis_Diller

including “A Very Special Dragon Ball Christmas” as Mrs. Santa Claus.

http://youtu.be/d_jTRplLQqM
http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075

Awww…
I remember seeing a pilot of an international TV production called “The Monte Carlo Show”. There were jugglers and animal acts and then there was Phyllis Diller. She came out, sat down at the piano and after a few gags (I recall an impossibly long glove she labored to remove) she played a Mozart piano concerto with the onstage orchestra. And played it well!
- kiptw
  
  I’ve been hearing from friends in a classical Usenet group that she performed with over 100 orchestras, and one or two of them heard her playing a Beethoven concerto. Just one more thing I only find out about a person when they’re gone.
  
  Another thing: laughing at your own joke is usually audio flop sweat. She made it funny.
Jake0748

I remember really enjoying her when I was a kid. There was something almost comforting about her humor. She was like your mom on a REALLY bad hair day, but still full of jokes.
http://twitter.com/manooshi Manel

Yeah, her jokes were a huge part of my childhood as well. Remember how often she appeared on the cartoon, Scooby Doo? RIP Phyllis Diller.
http://echofox3.blogspot.com efergus3

She just turned 95 on 17JUL – a day we share.
BarBarSeven

RIP comedian Phyllis Diller

Glad she’s been identified as “comedian” Phyllis Diller. Don’t want to get too confused.

Seriously, this saddens me a lot. I remember watching her on TV with my mom & dad back in the 1970s & she will be missed.
gedsudski

I was infatuated with Mrs. Diller as a kid. I loved her raw humor… no care for what ANYONE thought. I will miss that laugh, those wigs, and outrageous costumes!
chgoliz

Conversely, I *didn’t* get the joke as a kid. It was only as I matured that I was able to appreciate how fearless she was.

My sympathies to her family. She was awesome.
headcode

I am dealing pretty well with my own aging, but it really I really hate seeing all the icons of my youth growing older and dying. Goodbye, Phyllis, and thanks for all the laughs.
BunnyShank

You’re a 37 year old housewife in Alameda in the 1950′s, you are the mother of seven children, you’re not that great at playing piano or cooking, so what do you do? You walk on stage at the Purple Onion to do stand-up and run for 87 weeks straight. God damn Phyllis, thank you.