DOM DELUISE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 1997 - HFSID 270177

DOM DeLUISE
Dom DeLuise sends an autograph letter to Phyllis Diller wishing her late birthday wishes in 1997.
Autograph Letter Signed: "Dom [drawn heart] 97/also xx/Carol", 2 pages, 8½x11, front and verso. No place, but Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1997. On sheet imprinted "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza" to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "I am here in Canada doing a couple of shows with Shari Lewis and Lamb chop Chuck Roast and stuffed Cabbage! I am enjoying myself! I just wanted to wish you (late) a Very happy Birthday I know that you are one of my favorite people and that I am aware that you are a classy broad and I do find great joy in your presence and even when you appear in my mind which is everyone and I love when you come to my brain - because with you comes a great joy! I hope that your Birthday went over well and that the candles didn't cause a fire - in the area - JOKE!! Joke!! All my love". To the left of his signature, DeLuise has drawn a lion surrounded by four hearts. Shari Lewis' show, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, an educational series that introduced music to children between the ages of three and eight, ran on PBS from 1997-1998. The series, which was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, starred Lewis and her host of lovable puppets and DeLuise as Cookie, a fun-loving chef. Shari Lewis Enterprises in Beverly Hills and KCET-TV provided funding for the show in 1996; KCET-TV is listed as the show's only sponsor in 1997 (Lewis died in 1998, the year after this letter was written). Comic actor DOM DeLUISE (1933-2009) has appeared on Broadway and on the big and small screens. His feature films include The Glass-Bottom Boat (1966), The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Silent Movie (1976), The End (1978), The Muppet Movie (1979), History of the World - Part 1 (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and De Luise also hosted a weekly summer variety program on TV. A lifelong opera buff, DeLuise has been given the opportunity from time to time to perform with various opera companies. In 1995, he brought down the house at New York's Metropolitan in the role of Frosh the Jailer in Die Fledermaus. DeLuise, who has been married to actress Carol Arthur since 1965, has three sons, Peter, Michael and David, who are also actors. Comedienne PHYLLIS DILLER (1917-2012), known for her outrageous appearance, zany outfits, distinctive laugh and a stand-up act that featured frequent references to her fictional husband, "Fang", and zingers about her sex appeal and numerous plastic surgeries, got her big break in March 1955 (at age 37), when she debuted at San Francisco's Purple Onion club. A subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar launched her national career, which got a big boost after Bob Hope saw Diller in a Washington, D.C. club. A favorite of the comedian, Diller would appear in three of Hope's films and 23 of his TV specials. Diller, who recorded her first comedy record album in 1959, took her groundbreaking "funny hausfrau" act to nightclubs and television variety shows and specials and she also appeared on the big screen. Her feature film credits include Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Fat Spy (1966), Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and The Silence of the Hams (1994), and she provided the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life (1998). By 2000, the comedienne, who had trained as a concert pianist before her marriage (1939-1965) to Sherwood Anderson Diller, had appeared as a piano soloist with 100 symphony orchestras across the U.S. Despite retiring from nightclub/stage tours in May 2002 at the age of 84, Diller continued to make films (Motorcross Kids, 2004; Forget About It, 2005) and occasionally appear on TV programs, including two episodes of 7th Heaven (2002, 2003) and a guest shot on The Wayne Brady Show (2004). Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Light show-through of writing. Overall, fine condition.