Phyllis Lindstrom is a fictional character portrayed by

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

on ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'' and its spin-off series '' Phyllis''.

''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''

Phyllis Lindstrom (born in 1931 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) is

Mary Richards Mary Richards, portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore, is the lead character of the television sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Character biography Mary Richards, born in 1940 in Roseburg, Minnesota, is the only child of Walter and Dottie Richard ...

' snobbish, self-absorbed and interfering friend and downstairs neighbor. She married

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

Dr. Lars Lindstrom in 1955; Phyllis frequently mentions and quotes Lars, but he is never seen on the show. The Lindstroms manage the large

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

rental property where they live with Mary and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern (

Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She played Rhoda Morgenstern on ''The Mar ...

). Mary develops a close relationship with the Lindstroms' daughter Bess ( Lisa Gerritsen). Rhoda and Phyllis maintain an adversarial but talkative relationship. In the series' first episode, Phyllis actively prevents Rhoda from claiming a newly vacated apartment so Mary can move in instead. In season four opener " The Lars Affair", Phyllis clashes with the man-hungry hostess of WJM's ''Happy Homemaker'' show, Sue Ann Nivens (

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

), following Sue Ann's affair with Lars. Phyllis and Sue Ann meet again in the episode "Phyllis Whips Inflation", Leachman's penultimate ''Mary Tyler Moore'' appearance. Colleagues attempt to prevent the pair from running into each other at the station; when they do, self-centered Phyllis plaintively asks Sue Ann if any jobs are available on her show. Phyllis appears in one sixty minute episode " Rhoda's Wedding" (two parts in syndication) of the ''Mary Tyler Moore Show'' spinoff ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American sitcom television series created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974 to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The ...

''. Phyllis (and Rhoda) later returned to ''

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

'' for " The Last Show", the program's March 19, 1977

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

. This is the character's only reappearance subsequent to the launch of the spinoff.

''Phyllis''

In 1975, Leachman left ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' to star in spin-off series ''Phyllis,'' in which Phyllis and Bess relocate to Phyllis' hometown,

, following the death of Lars. They move in with Lars' mother Audrey ( Jane Rose) and Audrey's new husband, Judge Jonathan Dexter ( Henry Jones). Phyllis' major nemesis is Jonathan's sharp-tongued mother, Sally ( Judith Lowry), an irritable, impatient woman known as "Mother Dexter". Mother Dexter gets along well with Bess.

appears as Mary Richards in two ''Phyllis'' episodes, once in the first season and then again in the second. In the first season, Phyllis is employed at Erskine Photography Studio. In the second and final season, the series was retooled and Phyllis works as an

administrative assistant A person responsible for providing various kinds of administrative assistance is called an administrative assistant (admin assistant) or sometimes an administrative support specialist. In most instances it is identical to the modern iteration of th ...

for a city supervisor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindstrom, Phyllis Television characters introduced in 1970 Fictional characters from Minnesota Fictional characters from San Francisco The Mary Tyler Moore Show characters American female characters in sitcoms