Obituary: Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller, the zany housewife-turned-stand-up comic with the electrified hairdo, outlandish wardrobe and a barrage of self-deprecating jokes punctuated by her trademark laugh, has died. She was 95.

Diller, whose career in comedy clubs spanned nearly 50 years, died in her sleep Monday at her long-time home in Brentwood, said her agent, Fred Wostbrock.

As a professional comedian, Diller was a late bloomer: The Ohio native was an Alameda, California, mother of five when she made her nightclub debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1955 — at age 37 — via redwolf.newsvine.com