ELEANOR VALLEE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/02/2002 - HFSID 270408

ELEANOR VALLEÉ (MRS. RUDY VALLEÉ)
TLS: "Eleanor Valleé", 1 page, 8½x11. Los Angeles, California, 2002 May 2. On her imprinted letterhead to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller, Los Angeles, California. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "I am thrilled that you are going to be playing in Las Vegas but I am not thrilled that I won't be there because if I could I'd be in the front row center and Byron would be right next to me. But the good news is that my mother is going to be celebrating her 100th birthday and we are having 50 people taking over a restaurant at Noon time on Saturday. We are going up Thursday and I'm going to be there Thursday, Friday and Sunday. So, it knocks me out of the ball game to be with you. But I just wanted to tell you that I am thrilled that you are doing it and thrilled for the audience that they are going to be able to see you, because you are the greatest. Love, love to you Phyllis. Your friend always". ELEANOR NORRIS, a model and actress, was the fourth wife of singer/actor Rudy Valleé. The couple was married from 1946 until his death on July 3, 1986. She was a popular hostess and was involved in numerous charities and social organizations. Eleanor detailed their celebrity-filled life together in her book, My Vagabond Lover. Byron was BYRON CLARKE, Eleanor's co-star in Love Letters, a show in which they read from the nostalgic letters of two people who correspond over their lives. Eleanor played Milissa; Clark was Andrew. Comedienne PHYLLIS DILLER (born Phyllis Ada Driver in 1917), 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). Ink note (unknown hand) at lower margin: "Rudy Valleé widow". Lightly creased with folds, lower horizontal fold near but not touching upper loops of signature. Fine condition.