MARGARET CHASE SMITH - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 12/25/1980 - HFSID 270285

MARGARET CHASE SMITH
Christmas letter to comedienne Phyllis Diller, discussing her plans for a spring vacation: "Bill and I are planning a cruise on the Love Boat."
Typed letter signed: "Margaret", 1 page, 5½x8. Silver Spring, Maryland, 1980 December 25. On blue-bordered stationery imprinted with her name to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller, Los Angeles, California. Begins: "Dearest Phyllis". In full: "Appreciate the thoughtfulness of your Christmas prayer and sending it to both Skowhegan and here at Quaint Acres. I wish the very best for you - and especially that the coming year will be a most happy one for you - for, after all, you make so many people happy as you make them smile and laugh and lift their spirits. You will be interested to know that in the same mail delivery I received a form printed birthday greeting card from the retiring President and First Lady. As of now, Bill and I are planning a cruise on the Love Boat in early April. Will call you on the way through. Love to have you join us. Fondly". With original typed, stamped envelope. Smith had celebrated her 83rd birthday on December 14, 1980. The "retiring" President and First Lady at the time were Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. The one-term Democrat had lost the 1980 Presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Republican MARGARET CHASE SMITH (1897-1995) was Maine's U.S. Representative (1940-1949) and U.S. Senator (1949-1973) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination (1964, when she became the first woman nominated at a major party's convention). A visiting professor for the Woodrow Wilson National Scholarship Foundation (1973-1976), Smith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989. Bill was Major General WILLIAM C. LEWIS, JR., Smith's Executive Assistant in the Senate. He had joined her staff during her 1948 senatorial campaign and would remain her confidante and aide until his death in 1982. 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 fold, not at signature. Two light paperclip impressions and stains at upper margin. Fine condition.