Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Ada Driver, better known as Phyllis Diller, was an American actress and stand-up comedian, best known for her eccentric stage persona, her self-deprecating humor, her wild hair and clothes, and her exaggerated, cackling laugh. Diller was a groundbreaking stand-up comic—one of the first female comics to become a household name in the U.S. She paved the way for Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, and Ellen DeGeneres, among others, who credit her influence.