Barbra Streisand, Carol Channing, Rip Taylor, and More Remember Phyllis Diller

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, comedian and Broadway veteran Phyllis Diller passed away this morning in her Los Angeles home. She was 95 years old. Some of Diller's friends & colleagues remember the funny lady with official statements below: 

"I adored her she was a wondrous spirit who was great to me." - Barbra Streisand

"One of the funniest women in the world, but she also had a great talent for being wonderful person. I loved her dearly and were good friends. I will miss her." - Rose Marie

"She was responsible for getting me one of my first jobs. I loved her and I will miss her tremendously, as will the whole world." - Rip Taylor

"She was one of a kind. A brillant talent and an extremely supportive friend, when you needed one. When I had the accident that broke my leg a couple of years ago, hers was the first voice that managed to reach me by phone at the hospital. She was also the first note I received, written on a piece of paper it said ... 'Money's scarce. Times are hard. Here's your F***ing get well card - Phyllis.' She knew how to lift your spirits. I loved her and we will all miss her."—Carol Channing

"One of lifes greatest pleasure was my regular card night with Phyllis. We played gin and drank gin martinis. We would play a game she invented called Dillers Gin, where dueses were wild. She always won, too. I remember when my mom passed away, she sent a note that offered the advise "Don't do gloom ..." I don't think Phyllis would want us to remember her with anything other than laughter. That would be the best tribute to her remarkable life and career."—George Chakiris

"I loved Phyllis Diller! She was one of my greatest role models, going back to my childhood! I'm so happy that I had the pleasure to meet her in real life - I met her years ago while doing a game show and I was even in a film with her, ("The Last Place on Earth"). But my greatest honor was filling in for her when she was inducted her "Gag file" into the Smithsonian. In the 1960's, we were presented with all these fabulous new images of women on television - they were beautiful, they were sexy, ... and then there was Phyllis Diller. She was an inspiration to girls like me, the funny, strange ones, who didn't quite fit in. She didn't fit into any of the molds that were created for women in that era - in fact she broke all the molds, threw them on the floor and stomped on them!. - Alison Argnrim 

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski 

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