RALPH EDWARDS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 11/14/1994 - HFSID 270562

RALPH EDWARDS
Sorry he can't attend a second tribute to her on This is Your Life, Edwards writes to comedienne Phyllis Diller informing her of a prior engagement he has announcing a Cal State and Stanford football game
Typed letter signed: "Love, Ralph", 1 page, 7¼x10½. Hollywood, California, 1994 November 14. On his imprinted letterhead to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "Very few prior commitments could have kept me from being on hand to salute you today - for a second time. Remember the first when we did your 'THIS IS YOUR LIFE' in '71...and what a life!!! But I really have to be in Berkeley to tell our Cal players how to attack the Stanford Indians. As an old Cal man, I have never missed a 'Big Game,' but you ALMOST CREATED A 'first.' I know I am missing a great tribute, but believe me I am with you in spirit. You are in good hands with my buddy, Art Gilmore - who knows how to work the clock." Although he acted in several movies in the 1940s, RALPH EDWARDS (1913-2005) was best known as the creator and longtime host of TV's This Is Your Life (1952-1962), which won two Emmy awards for Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program in 1954 and 1955. On the program, famous (or often not so famous) people were be surprised with a celebration of their life and reunions with important people in it. Edwards created another favorite show, Truth or Consequences, which aired for 38 years on radio and television, in 1940. He produced dozens of game shows, including About Faces, Knockout, It Could Be You, Name That Tune (1970s version) and The Cross-Wits. He was a close acquaintance to Bob Barker, whom Edwards reportedly told to be no one else but himself. 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 folds, lower horizontal fold underlines "Love". Fine condition.