JOANNE (MRS. JOHNNY) CARSON - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED - HFSID 270163

JOANNE CARSON
Second wife of TV late-night legend Johnny Carson pens a note to comedienne / actress Phyllis Diller
Autograph Note Signed: "[heart]/Joanne", 6¼x4 card. Boston, no date. On card imprinted "The Ritz-Carlton" to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Phyllis dear -". In full: "Everyone in Boston sends you their love - and so do I." Former Pan American stewardess and actress JOANNE COPELAND CARSON (1932-2015) was the second wife (1963-1972) of TV late-night legend Johnny Carson. Introduced to Carson by her father, Joanne received nearly half a million dollars in cash and art - as well as $100,000 annual alimony for life - after the couple's protracted divorce. Joanne, who was a founding member of Actors and Others for Animals, had appeared on the TV game show, Video Village, before her marriage to Carson. After their divorce, she earned a PH.D. in nutrition. On August 25, 1984, writer Truman Capote died in her home, reportedly in her arms, from a drug overdose. 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 (Motocross 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). Light paper clip impression at upper right blank margin, rust stain on verso does not show through. Fine condition.