Phyllis Diller Dies at Age 95 In Los Angeles Home

Phyllis Diller Speaks During Tribute to Bob Hope (Photo : Reuters)

Comedy legend Phyllis Diller, who inspired generations of female comics with her poignant one-liners, died in her sleep Monday at age 95.

In an act, she once said, "You know you're getting old when your back starts going out more than you do."

Diller's strength was to embrace her weaknesses and use them to make us laugh.

Like Us on Facebook

Phyllis was born in Lima, Ohio, on July 17, 1917.

According to the Associated Press, Diller's manager Milton Suchin stated that the comic "died peacefully in her sleep with a smile on her face."

Diller, whose self-deprecating comedy put smiles on the faces of millions, passed in her Los Angeles home from as yet unnamed causes.

The comedian's career began at a nightclub called the Purple Onion in San Francisco in 1955. Then 37, a wife, and a mother of five children, her routine focused largely on her life at home. During Diller's fifty year career, she has held parts in over seventy projects, between films and TV Series.

A staple of her routine was a fictional husband named Fang.

She once joked, "Fang can't stand to see trash and garbage lying around the house. He can't stand the competition."

Diller's marriages to both Sherwood Diller and Warde Donovan ended in divorce. She had one son, two daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter during her life.

In 1998, she suffered a near-fatal heart attack, but recovered soon after.

Diller was one of the first prominent female stand-up comedians and leaves behind a storied history.