Popular Stand-up comedian Diane Ford dead at 68

Diane Ford, comedian who previously wrote an episode of Home Improvement, passed away at 68.

The stand-up comic, who also headlined HBO specials and A&E’s An Evening at the Improv, died April 30 of cancer in Sarasota, Florida, her nephew Wes Roberts announced, via The Hollywood Reporter.

Ford was a popular stand-up comic as he appeared 13 times on Fox’s Comic Strip Live and eight times on Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day telethon, which raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Meanwhile, on HBO, she did specials Women of the Night II in 1988, Command Performance in 1990 and episodes of One Night Stand in ’90 and ’92.

She also made 13 appearances on Evening at the Improv and had three shows recorded for the BBC.

Her Home Improvement gig came in 1994. Before the episode happened, Tim Allen was asked by Bon Appetit magazine to name three comedians he would invite to dinner.

To that Allen responded, “One would have to be a woman who wouldn’t be afraid to tell us if we were being full of it, and it would be one of my contemporaries. I’d choose Diane Ford, who is a very funny comedienne.”