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The most recent film I saw Phyllis Diller in just happened to be her very first movie appearance. In the splendid SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, (1961; Elia Kazan; Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood) she portrays a character named Texas Guinan, an acerbic nightclub hostess. She’s basically playing herself though–a loud, brash and brassy comic within whom could also be seen a warm, laughing heart, a need for acceptance, and a vulnerability. Rest in peace.