Phyllis Diller: Standup Comedian Was The Original Desperate Housewife

By | December 20, 2017

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THE PRUITTS OF SOUTHAMPTON - Gallery - Shoot Date: April 5, 1966. (Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)

Phyllis Diller was one of the first female comedians of her time, a woman who took to the standup stage when it was a men-only profession. With her outrageous routines, she presented a funhouse-mirror version of femininity: big hair, big outfits, over-the-top garrulousness, all delivered with a wink and a cackle. Audiences didn't know what to make of her, but they laughed anyway. Her success opened up the industry for female comedy voices including Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner and Roseanne Barr.

Diller was originally a working-class wife and mother of five. She didn’t break in to show business until she reached the ancient age of 37 years old. Besides being a homemaker, prior to her comedic success, she also worked in public relations at a radio station and was a newspaper advice columnist. 

Diller Had To Break Into A Boys' Club

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Early on, Phyllis Diller was encouraged to pursue a career in comedy because she was such a “natural.” At the time, women were to be seen and not heard. Phyllis, however, began her comedic career being both seen and heard.

Prior to Diller’s heyday, male comedians were prominent and consistently ragging on their women and all women in general. At that time and even now, it was socially acceptable for the poor, put-upon man, to make light of his awful home life.

It was the era of, to quote Henny Youngman's most famous one-liner, "Take my wife... please!"

With the arrival of Phyllis Diller, all was fair in love, war and comedy. Diller brought public attention to the fact that marriage is a two-way street. Until then, any marital discord was assumed to be the fault of the wife. She didn’t come right out and say it but, she wasn’t having any of it.