Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller appears in the diary through two dinners in January 1979: first as a cheerful divorcée who suddenly connected Andy Warhol with a long-forgotten encounter, then as a star whose autograph seekers left him in the background. Her recollections and easy participation in the dinners make her both a familiar presence in celebrity society and a measure of its shifting attention.

Recognition Across the Years

At dinner at Elaine’s on January 7, Diller realized that Warhol was the person who had asked to draw her foot around 1958, when she was just starting out. She recalled that the meeting may have been at the Bon Soir, though she was unsure. The long gap between the encounter and her recognition gave the moment its comic turn: she exclaimed, “Oh, you’re the foot fetishist!” Warhol’s diary had opened with the more recent detail that John Curry called to thank him for a Shadow painting; Diller’s recognition then pulled the evening back decades, linking an early performance-era meeting to their present celebrity circle.

A Sociable Dinner Companion

Warhol described Diller as “cute” and a “happy divorcée.” She did not eat much at the Elaine’s dinner, but she remained at the center of the table’s playful exchanges. When Barry Landau arranged a champagne bottle to be sent to Adolph Green in Diller’s name, she became part of a small social deception that Landau quietly explained to her. The diary records the episode as quick comic business rather than as a serious misunderstanding, capturing the ease with which the dinner’s company moved between performance and private joke.

Diller also joined in a joking exchange after Tommy Smothers kissed her. Warhol said, “If you can tongue-kiss her, you can tongue-kiss me.” Smothers gave him a quarter of a tongue-kiss and said he would give him the rest when he knew him better. Diller’s presence anchors the moment: the teasing passes through her, turning a celebrity dinner into a scene of staged familiarity and playful negotiation.

Autographs and the Distribution of Attention

At a later dinner at La Grenouille with Barry Landau, people repeatedly asked Diller for her autograph, not Warhol’s. She apologized to him afterward, saying, “Oh I’m sorry, dear, I felt so bad for you.” The exchange makes celebrity attention visible as a social fact: in that room, Diller was the one approached, while Warhol watched the imbalance and recorded it. Her apology acknowledged the contrast without making it solemn, preserving the diary’s blend of affection and amusement at the unstable pecking order of fame.