Diller, born in Lima, Ohio, was once an advertising copywriter. She was also lifelong Republican who occasionally supported Democrats. She admitted to 15 different plastic surgery procedures in her 2005 autobiography. Contrary to urban legend, she is NOT the mother of either Susan Lucci or TV personality Dorothy Lucey. Diller never smoked; her cigarette holder was a prop, and her fictional husband "Fang" was not based on either of her husbands. From Wikipedia:
Diller began her career working at KROW radio in Oakland in 1952. In November of that year, she began filming a television show titled "Phyllis Dillis, the Homely Friendmaker." The 15-minute series was a BART (Bay Area Radio-Television) production, directed for television by ABC's Jim Baker. The cameraman later admitted that there was no film: The camera was open during the filming. In the mid 1950s, while residing in the East Bay city of Alameda, California, Diller was employed at KSFO radio in San Francisco. Bill Anderson wrote and produced a television show at KGO-TV called "The Belfast Pop Club," which was hosted by Don Sherwood. "Pop Club" was a half-hour show that combined playing records with "experts" rating them, and dancing girls encouraging audience participation. The show was an early advertisement for Belfast Root Beer, known today as Mug Root Beer. Anderson invited her onto his show on April 23, 1955 as a vocalist.
Diller first appeared as a stand-up at The Purple Onion on March 7, 1955 and remained there for 87 straight weeks. Diller appeared on "Del Courtney's Showcase" on KPIX television on November 3, 1956. Diller's fame was expanded when she co-starred with Bob Hope in 23 television specials and three films in the 1960s: Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!, Eight on the Lam, and The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell. Although only Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! performed well at the box office...
Diller has been married and divorced twice. She also dated Earl "Madman" Muntz, a pioneer in oddball TV and radio ads. She had six children from her marriage to her first husband, Sherwood Anderson Diller. Her first child was Peter (b. 1940; d. 1998 of cancer). Her second child Sally, born in 1944,[18] has suffered from schizophrenia most of her life. Her third child, a son, lived for only two weeks in an incubator. A daughter, Suzanne, was born in 1946, followed by another daughter Stephanie (b. 1948 d. 2002 of a stroke) and a son Perry (b. 1950). Diller's second husband was actor Warde Donovan (born Warde Tatum), whom she married on 7 October 1965 and divorced the following year; they apparently remarried and divorced for a second time in 1974. Her youngest son Perry, now 62, oversees her affairs today
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