Diller Gives an Earful, Brings Down the House

“Without my wig and makeup, I look like Dr. Howard House!”

The audience roared when Phyllis Diller tossed that line on Monday at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa.

And the more than 100 participants in the Bob Hope and Dr. Howard House Golf Tournament kept on roaring as the pearl-draped Diller delivered zinger after zinger:

* “I was a patient of Dr. House, and I never figured out why you have to take your clothes off to have your ears examined.” (House turned the color of a ripe tomato and waved Diller away on this one.)

* “The last time I opened a door with a broom in my hand, somebody tried to sell me flight insurance.”

* “Be kind to your children. They will be choosing your rest home.”

The merriment followed a post-tourney feast and live auction that saw Patricia and Jack Groth bid $4,600 for the chance to enjoy three-day stays at Le Meridien hotels in Paris and London. (Patriotic note: Dinner wasn’t served until after a Marine guard presented the colors and guests made the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem--all arranged courtesy of former Leatherneck Supervisor Thomas F. Riley).

Like last year, Hope was unable to attend (his agent said he was on his way to London to entertain troops), so House--hearing doctor to the rich and famous--played solo host to the exuberant crowd.

No problem. With fun-loving sidekick Nanette Fabray (a patient and a girlfriend), the doctor, who has helped thousands hear, charmed society fixtures such as Athalie Clarke, Dr. Walter Henry, Paul and Virginia Knott Bender and Peggy Goldwater.

Proceeds from the tourney will go into a trust fund to benefit the proposed Children’s Center of the House Ear Institute to be built at UC Irvine.

Also among the guests were Gloria Osbrink, president of the Associates (tourney organizers), a support group of the House Ear Institute of Orange County; tournament chairwoman JoAnne Stewart; assistant chairman Woody Smith; Tina and Matt Schafnitz; Sandra and Dr. Gerald Brodie; Ken and Toni Oliphant; Scott and Mary Lou Hornsby, and Tony and Marion Knott Montapert.

The Buzz: Keri Ueberroth, daughter of Ginny and Peter Ueberroth, will marry college sweetheart Jeffrey Thomas of Boston on Sept. 14 in a Laguna Beach ceremony. The couple, who attended Dartmouth, will reside in Paris. . . . Local philanthropist Mary Moore Young is the underwriter for Sunday’s “Reach for a Rainbow” concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre to benefit the Pacific Symphony and the Rehabilitation Institute of Southern California. “My heart lies with children,” says Young, who will attend the children’s concert with 16 members of her family. Carl St. Clair will direct. Bob Schneider and the Rainbow Kids will make a special appearance. Concert-goers can picnic on the amphitheater grounds before show time. . . .