Phyllis Diller (born Phyllis Ada Driver on July 17, 1917) is a Golden Globe-nominated American comedian who is considered one of the pioneers of female stand-up comedy. The stage character she created was a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who made jokes about a husband named "Fang" while smoking from a long cigarette holder. She is ... known for her distinctive, cackling laugh, one of the best-recognized in comedy. Diller is generally thought to have opened the stand-up field to women such as Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Joy Behar, Rosie O'Donnell and Roseanne Barr.