TONY THOMAS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/21/1992 - HFSID 270404

TONY THOMAS. ALS: "Tony", 1p, 7¼x10½. No place, 1992 March 21. On sheet imprinted with his name to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "My sincerest thanks for your efforts in raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. My family and I are very touched. We thank you for helping to continue our father's work. The Hospital is doing wonderful work and many childrens (sic) lives are being saved. With love". Tony's father, legendary television star and nightclub performer Danny Thomas, had founded St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962, thirty years before this letter was written. In addition to Tony, his sister, actress Marlo Thomas, was also actively involved in raising funds for the hospital. TONY THOMAS (born Charles Anthony Thomas in 1947), one of three children born to Danny Thomas and Rose Marie Mantell Thomas (1936-1991), made his TV debut in 1954 on an episode of This Is Your Life that honored his father. Two years later, he appeared on his father's sitcom, Make Room For Daddy, later titled The Danny Thomas Show. Tony would later guest star on his sister Marlo's show, That Girl (1969), but he is best known as a producer of TV series, made-for-TV movies and an occasional feature film, beginning as associate producer of the 1971 TV movie, Brian's Song. Tony has been a producer or executive producer of such series as The Practice, Soap, Benson, It's a Living, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Blossom, Herman's Head, The John Larroquette Show and Everything's Relative. His film credits include Dead Poet's Society (1989), Final Analysis (1992, the year of this letter), Mixed Nuts (1994) and Insomnia (2002, executive producer). 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, not at signature. Fine condition.