MARION ROSS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 11/01/1979 - HFSID 270275

MARION ROSS
ALS: "Marion", 1 page, 6¼x9. Van Nuys, California, 1979 November 1. On stationery embossed with her name to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "You are a treasure! A national - natural Resource! Thank you so much for this book - I love it especially just because you did it - Also - I'm getting great mileage of the Humpty-Dumpty story - in the right circles - and credited to you - Come see us at Happy Days Love". Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Staple holes at upper blank corners. Fine condition. With original mailing envelope, 6¼x4¾. 15-cent flag stamp affixed, postmarked Van Nuys, California, November 1, 1979. Addressed by Ross to: "Phyllis Diller, 163 So. Rockingham Ave., Los Angeles, Ca. 90049". Pencil notes (unknown hand) at upper right corner of front and lower flap on verso. Lightly creased and soiled. Staple holes at upper edge. Fine condition. Diller is the author of four best-selling books. In the year she wrote this letter, Ross, who was starring on Happy Days, also appeared in two made-for-TV movies, Which Mother is Mine? and Survival of Dana. MARION ROSS (born in 1928) is best known as Marion Cunningham in the popular TV sitcom, Happy Days (1974-1984), a role she reprised in the 30th anniversary show (2004). For this role, she won Emmy Awards (Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series) in 1979 and 1984. Ross had starred in a sitcom, Life with Father as early as 1953-1955. She is the voice of Grandma in the popular cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants (from 1999). 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). Two items.