Selma Diamond (August 5, 1920 – May 13, 1985) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actress, and radio and television writer, known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series '' Night Court''. Diamond was also the main inspiration for the character of Sally Rogers on the series '' The Dick Van Dyke Show''.

Early life

Diamond was born on August 5, 1920, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, to a tailor and his wife. Diamond's grandmother was a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. * * Cue (September 5, 1953). * Newark Evening News, August 28, 1963. * Sunday News, January 19, 1964. When Diamond was a young girl, they moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Diamond attended high school in Brooklyn and graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Diamond published cartoons and humor essays in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. Later, she moved to the West Coast and hired an agent. She worked in radio and, eventually, television. Her first radio writing credit was in 1943 on '' Blue Ribbon Town'' with

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

. That initial credit turned into a 65-week tenure with Marx's show and a longer friendship with him. She also wrote for the ''

Camel Caravan A camel train, caravan, or camel string is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withst ...

'' with

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

and Garry Moore, ''The Drene Show'' with Rudy Vallee, '' Duffy's Tavern'', and ''The Kenny Baker Show''. Diamond wrote for the radio version of ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was b ...

'' for 20 weeks. She left that show in 1950 and became one of the staff hired by comedy writer Goodman Ace (who had previously hired her for some work on Danny Kaye's 1940s radio show) for '' The Big Show'' (1950–1952), the 90-minute weekly program hosted by actress

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

. In 1951-1952, Diamond collaborated with cartoonist Gill Fox, writing for his "Jeanie" comic strip that ran daily in the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Diamond moved to television as one of the writers for Sid Caesar and

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and pursu ...

's '' Your Show of Shows''. While writing for another Caesar vehicle, '' Caesar's Hour'', Diamond earned an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

nomination. She also worked for Ace once again, writing for

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

's ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical- ...

'' television series. In 1961, Diamond said about being the only female in a group of five writers for the Como show: "They feel handicapped, not me." At another time, she said, "It's like being Red China. I'm there. They just don't recognize me."

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...

said that he had Diamond in mind when he created Sally Rogers as a character in '' The Dick Van Dyke Show''. In 1953, she wrote for Milton Berle's TV show. In 1960, she released a comedy album based on her humorous conversational style, ''Selma Diamond Talks...and Talks and Talks and Talks...'' (Carleton LPX 5001). In 1970, she wrote the book '' Nose Jobs for Peace'', published by Prentice-Hall (). By the 1960s and 1970s, Diamond was familiar as a frequent guest on ''The

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...

Show'' and ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', and she made numerous film appearances, including Stanley Kramer's comedy '' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (as the unseen telephone voice of

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...

's wife, Ginger Culpepper), '' Bang the Drum Slowly'' (as hotel switchboard operator Tootsie), and '' All of Me'' (as Margo). In 1982, she appeared in '' My Favorite Year'' with a memorable small role as wardrobe mistress for ''King Kaiser's Comedy Calvalcade'', a fictional show which clearly echoed the time and venue of her work for Sid Caesar. She was also a semi-regular for four seasons of the

Ted Knight Ted Knight (born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka; December 7, 1923August 26, 1986) was an American actor known for playing the comedic roles of Ted Baxter in ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', Henry Rush in '' Too Close for Comfort'' and Judge Elihu Sm ...

comedy series '' Too Close For Comfort''. In addition to her writing, Diamond performed as an actress, making her debut in a summer touring version of ''Bye, Bye Birdie''. Her other work in summer stock productions included ''Come Blow Your Horn'' and ''Barefoot in the Park''. On television, she portrayed Selma Hacker on '' Night Court'' in 1984 and 1985 for which she received her second Emmy nomination.

Death

Diamond died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on May 13, 1985, at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, aged 64, with no known family members. She was buried in Hillside Memorial Park in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

, Los Angeles County, California.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Selma 1920 births 1985 deaths Actresses from Brooklyn American editorial cartoonists American women editorial cartoonists American comedy writers American film actresses American radio writers American television actresses American television writers American voice actresses American women comedians American women television writers American comics writers Canadian comics writers Canadian female comics writers American female comics writers Artists from New York City Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Canadian editorial cartoonists Canadian women editorial cartoonists Canadian comedy writers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian television actresses Comedians from Brooklyn Comedians from Ontario Deaths from lung cancer in California Jewish American actresses New York University alumni Actresses from London, Ontario The New Yorker cartoonists Women radio writers Writers from New York City 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American Jews Canadian humorists American humorists Jewish American editorial cartoonists