Phyllis Lindstrom was a fictional character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and it's spin-off Phyllis. She was played by actress Cloris Leachman. Statue of Mary Tyler Moore in downtown Minneapolis, located on the corner of 7th and Nicollet Photo ©2004 Keir Briscoe The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a long-running sitcom that appeared on CBS from 1970-77, one of the most critically acclaimed shows—and one of the most beloved... Phyllis is also the name of a U.S. TV series. ... Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman, DFA (h. ...

Mary's busybody friend

Phyllis was a busybody who was always sticking her nose into other people's business. She was an old friend of Mary Richards and despite her snobbishness and obliviousness, had only the best intentions in mind when she signed a year's lease for Mary to move into her apartment. As usual, Phyllis had ulterior motives. She signed the lease to keep Rhoda Morgenstern out of the apartment, which she coveted. Mary Richards was the main character in the long-running television sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ... Rhoda was an American situation comedy and a television spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ...

Rhoda and Phyllis clearly disliked one another. However, Rhoda was friends with Phyllis' young daughter, Bess.

Besides Bess, Phyllis was married to the never seen Lars Lindstrom, who was a dermatologist. She also had a brother, Ben Sutherland, who she tried to fix up with Mary, but he liked Rhoda, or so she thought. Ben, it turned out, was gay, and he had told Rhoda this because he trusted her.

When Bess was in high school, and after Lars had died, Phyllis decided to move back to her former home of San Francisco. She worked at a photography studio and then for a city supervisor. While there, she and Bess lived with Lars' mother and new husband. Phyllis' major nemesis at this time was Judge Jonathan Dexter's mother, Sally. She was the best of everyone at insulting Phyllis.

Another nemesis was Sue Ann Nivens. Sue Ann had been at one of Mary's disastrous parties, and she needed a ride home, and Lars offered her a ride, to the jealous Phyllis's dismay. The next day, she marched to the studio to confront the Happy Homewrecker (as Sue Ann was derisively called) and trashed a chocolate souffle in the resultant confrontation.