KAYE BALLARD - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 270322

KAYE BALLARD
Kaye Ballard sends an autograph letter to Phyllis Diller of regret that she cannot come to the awards ceremony in honor of Phyllis Diller.
Autograph Letter signed: "Kaye/XX", 1p, personalized card folded to 4¾x3½. She has turned the letter "a" in her signature into a female face. No place, no date. To actress/comedienne Phyllis Diller. In full: "I'm sorry I can't be with you tonight, but I'm in Las Vegas trying to find Joe Peterson!!! They couldn't honor a more talented or gracious human being than you! I love you." Singer-comedian KAYE BALLARD (1925-2019) appeared from the late 1940s with the bands of Spike Jones, Vaughan Monroe and Stan Kenton. She took the Broadway stage for such hits as Oklahoma and Carousel, as well as two one-woman shows. Her starring TV roles included Mothers-In-Law (1967) and The Doris Day Show (1970-1971). She has appeared in the occasional film from The Girl Most Likely (1957) to Fate (1990). 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). Fine condition.