DILLER, PHYLLIS
Typed letter signed to Celeste Holm. [Np place:] September 1955. One page typed letter signed "Phyllis", with manuscript note by Ms. Holm to the lower margin, 11 x 8 1/4 inches. Fine.

A witty letter from the new comedienne Diller to the established star Celeste Holm thanking her for public comments that likely help changed the course of her career. This sharp letter begins "Dear darling sweet adorable old Celeste-baby: You are undoubtedly the darlingest, most unselfish girl alive. Very seldom does an entertainer plug another entertainer 'publicly' as you did me on old Don Sherwood's show. I want to thank you from the bottom of my little black heart. I love you madly for being such a darling out-going person." At the bottom of the note, Celeste Holm has penned "Please file/This was a new performer I saw at 'The Purple Onion' + later said how wonderful she was on Sherwood's TV show." Phyllis Diller began performing at The Purple Onion, a San Francisco comedy club with the encouragement of her husband in March 1955 and certainly Ms. Holm's comments on famous disc jockey Don Sherwood would have helped launch her unlikely career. By 1958, Phyllis Diller was a regular on Jack Paar's Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, Celeste Holm having greatly contributed to her success. Exact contemporaries, both Ms. Holm and Ms. Diller were born in 1917 and died in 2012 at 95 years old.