Friday, December 12, 2008

Who would rather be, Phyllis Diller or Esther Williams?



Oh, the debates rage on between my boyfriend, Shawnee and I!


( Shawnee and I)
You must choose one, and you must choose wisely. In either case, you will be elderly today, ( Esther is 87, Phyllis is 91). You don't get to choose a segment of their lives, you have to take the whole thing. They both are fabulous, we love them both, but clearly you must decide!

Shawnee chooses Esther Williams, for reasons that she indulged in more "drugs, sex and swimming". He also claims she is "an inspiration to the kids".



I hold fast to my choice of Phyllis Diller, because besides being a comedienne, she is also an artist and a concert pianist.



I suggest the documentary film, "Goodnight, We love you" for your Phyllis research, and autobiography, "The Million Dollar Mermaid" for your Esther research.

Think hard. This may be the toughest decision you ever make.
Good luck!

11 comments:

bisbohemian said...

Hmmm... weighing in on this topic may be difficult... Esther Williams was hot... and, if I was going to spend time as a woman... a certain "hot-ness" would be required (okay, so we are going over a few items that I have only spoken of on the psychiatrist's couch)... However, from all reports, she was a self-absobed bitch - which if I was as hot as she was... I probably would be too!

Phyllis Diller, on the other hand, has the hair... the general demeanor, the talent... and oh, she was on Sigmund The Sea Monster... so she gets points...

Beauty over brains and talent... hmmm, this is the life long quandry isn't it?

I am going with Phyllis myself! (mainly for the Sid and Marty Kroft points)

Anonymous said...

Can't I be you Gretch? There is the whole package. Beauty, brains, talent, and fab knockers to boot! No I can't? Hm, need more time then.

Louise Monkai said...

Paws down, Phyllis! She rocks!

Paintress Gretchen said...

Yes, it truly is a quandary! I was just getting into the finer points of this brain-numbing topic over lunch with my friend Mo.
She knew way too much about both of them too, and she went for Ester.
Thanks for the compliments, Jess. Did you want me to scoop sorbet tonight or something?

Anonymous said...

This is difficult. Ester was beautiful and accomplished. Life is more fun when you are pretty. But she gave over her power to Fernando Lamas and screwed over her children at his demand. Phyllis has beauty issues and got a lot of plastic surgery. Yet she is an independent thinker, talented and an atheist. I will go with Phyllis because at the end of the day you have to keep yourself company and that company might as well be interesting.

love23 said...

I went swiftly to the comment area, not reading anyone else's comment, as to not in any way be influenced. I am 100% for Esther Williams, I am a swim addict, that goes without saying. Synchronized swimming and all, you just could not pick anyone EVER over ESTHER! Come on people, smile on your brother everyone get together and love one another now! Or something like that. xoKATE

love23 said...

Can you believe I misspelled ESTER? I truly can't.

Anonymous said...

E-S-T-H-E-R

http://www.esther-williams.com/

Paintress Gretchen said...

Thanks for the link! Yes, Kate Esther is awesome, have you read her autobiography? It's juicy!

Paintress Gretchen said...

But Kate, you must consider the whole picture. Esther felt used by MGM, and was forced to do her own dangerous stunts, where she almost died a couple of times.
But she certainly was a glorious swimmer. She very much lived in her body, and was a very sensual/sexual person.
She was also basically held captive for many, many, years by husband Fernando Lamas. He controlled her though-out their marriage, ( 1969-1982), did not allow her much of a life, and it was a relief for her when he died.
Phyllis's personal life was no picnic, it seems. Two of her 5 children died,and her daughter is schizophrenic. I don't think she was around much as a mom.
But she was a pioneer for women in the field of comedy, and very independent. And I know that you know, she head-lined with the Philharmonic Orchestra around 40 times or something.
The battle rages on!

bisbohemian said...

Did I mention Sigmund the Sea Monster?