Kathy Griffin

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Kathy Griffin

Born:	November 4, 1960 (age 46) Oak Park, Illinois
Occupation:	Stand-up comedian
Website:	www.kathygriffin.net

Kathleen "Kathy" Griffin (born November 4, 1960, Oak Park, Illinois) is an Emmy-nominated American stand-up comedian and actress. She has also been a voice actor and a red carpet commentator. Griffin has proclaimed herself a "D-list celebrity".

Contents 1 Early life 2 Personal 3 John Patrick Griffin 4 Career 4.1 Early credits 4.2 Television 4.3 Solo reality show 5 Style of humor 6 Other credits 7 Selected filmography 7.1 TV 7.2 Film 8 References 8.1 Footnotes 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Griffin was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and raised there and in nearby Forest Park.^[1]

Her father, John Patrick Griffin, worked in an electronics store and her mother, Maggie, assisted in a hospital's administrative office. Kathy is the youngest of three boys and two girls.

Her parents retired to California after Griffin graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1978. At the time of her father's death in 2007 her parents had been married for 65 years.

[edit] Personal

Griffin met Washington, D.C., native Matt Moline (born December 18, 1970) on a blind date in July 1999. They were engaged in Punta Mita, Mexico on September 23, 2000. They married in Los Angeles atop the Hollywood 360 Degrees Restaurant in February 2001. Brooke Shields served as Griffin's maid of honor.

On September 27, 2005, Griffin filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. She and Moline reconciled in February 2006, but the reconciliation did not last; their divorce was finalized on May 15, 2006. Griffin later claimed that Moline had stolen $72,000 from her during the course of their marriage([1]). Moline did not comment about her allegations, saying that he would not comment publicly about private matters.

Griffin describes herself as a "militant atheist, however she stated on Larry King Live in 2006 that she wanted to become a Unitarian."^[2]

She is an outspoken opponent of LASIK eye surgery, having endured a traumatic series of operations for her own eyesight, which has left her partially blind in one eye with a visible eyeball deformity. She discusses this on her website and on the Tyra Banks talk show.^[3]

On November 29, 2006, Griffin rented a commuter plane that took off at 4:45 p.m. from Burbank, scheduled to take her to Stockton, California to perform a comedy show. Twenty minutes into the flight, the plane hit extreme turbulence: "Things were flying all over in the plane. Kathy smelled smoke. She noticed the pilot had to put on his oxygen mask and then the other masks dropped for the passengers. The plane had to return to Burbank ... [t]here were fire trucks waiting on the runway [where] they landed and were pulled out of the plane quickly and safely" ([2]). The show had to be rescheduled. Griffin later spoke of the experience on Larry King Live.

She is a teetotaler.^[4]

[edit] John Patrick Griffin

Griffin's father, John Patrick Griffin (b. October 29, 1915 - d. February 17, 2007) died in Los Angeles from congestive heart failure and multiple myeloma.

He had appeared on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List many times, as well as four episodes of Suddenly Susan and a number of commercials (see [3], [4], RealityBlurred.com).

In addition to Kathy Griffin, he was survived by his widow, three children and two grandchildren.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early credits

Griffin began performing in the early 1980s with the Los Angeles improv comedy troupe, The Groundlings. She went on to perform stand-up comedy and teamed with fellow Groundlings alum Janeane Garofalo on the comedy act "Hot Cup of Talk"^[1], later the title of Griffin's 1998 solo HBO special. She did some acting, breaking into film with the supporting role of Connie in the horror movie The Unborn (1991), starring Brooke Adams.

Griffin gradually amassed such early TV and film credits as a role in comedian Julie Brown's Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (1992), an HBO parody of the backstage film Truth or Dare (1991); two appearances as the character Susan Klein on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, her TV sitcom debut; fellow comic Bob Goldthwait's movie Shakes the Clown (1992); and an episode of ABC's divorce-attorney series Civil Wars, Griffin's dramatic-series debut.

[edit] Television

After starring in an HBO Half Hour Comedy Special, Griffin's first consistent public exposure came in 1996, when she was cast as the acerbic colleague of Brooke Shields' title character on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan. In 1998, Griffin starred in her first one-hour special, HBO's Kathy Griffin: A Hot Cup of Talk. She honed a comedy and television career that poked fun at her relatively modest place in the Hollywood hierarchy in a self-deprecating manner. She frequently appears in such self-consciously tacky projects as the reality show competition Celebrity Mole Hawaii — in which she won the 2003 edition after undergoing such experiences as walking over hot lava with her bare feet. She identifies her victory as the moment she became a "D-list" celebrity.

Griffin also has a secondary career in voiceover work, and has been featured on a variety of projects such as the Dilbert animated series and one of the Spider-Man animated series.

[edit] Solo reality show

In 2005, Griffin starred in her solo reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, on the cable network Bravo. The show also featured then-husband Matt Moline, her best friends, Dennis Hensley and Tony Tripoli, her parents, her dogs and her personal assistant Jessica. The second-season premiered on June 6, 2006. The first season of the program was nominated for a 2006 Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Reality Program, non-competition. It has been renewed for a third season which is set to air June 6th, 2007.

[edit] Style of humor

At a time when stand-up comedy was turning, to an extent, from punch-line orientation to humorous social commentary and satire, Griffin established her career with candid observations about her dating life. After several outrageous experiences with other celebrities, she began to include them in her act as well. Her act invariably consists of recounting events involving celebrities. Her favorite celebrity topics are plastic surgery, Scientology, drunkenness, substance abuse, snooty attitudes, eating disorders, and stars whose sexual orientation is disputed. Among Griffin's staples are Clay Aiken, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Star Jones, and Anna Nicole Smith. Sometimes, she is the butt of her own humor, particularly with regard to her D-List status. Her style has led to a number of controversies. Griffin claims to be banned from appearing on The Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Show with David Letterman, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She says Ellen's producers told her they can't have her on "trashing celebrities".^[5] One of her most notable controversies occurred when she made a joke during a 2005 E! televised event that the now 12-year-old actress Dakota Fanning entered rehab.^[6] However, Jerry Seinfeld was so amused by Griffin's caustic comments about him in her standup act that he cast her on Seinfeld as a standup comic who makes fun of him.^[7] A letter from Seinfeld is also seen framed in Griffin's house on the season finale of The Adam Carolla Project.

A 2006 Maxim article named Kathy as the "9th Worst Comedian of All Time ^[8]

Griffin frequently mentions her admiration for gay men, and in her live performances cultivates and acknowledges her large gay following, referring to them as "my gays".^[9]

[edit] Other credits

Griffin has made frequent appearances on reality programs and game shows.

• Griffin is a favorite of the late night radio call-in show Loveline, once hosted by Adam Carolla.
• She has played on Celebrity Poker Showdown for the Face to Face: National Domestic Violence Project charity.
• She appeared on a Comedy Edition episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and won $32,000 for charity.
• Griffin was also on a Celebrity Edition of Weakest Link, but lost to Aisha Tyler in the final round.
• She appeared as a panelist on the June 22, 2006 episode of CBS' "Gameshow Marathon," which recreated the Match Game.
• Griffin appeared in the music video for Eminem's 2000 single, The Real Slim Shady, as an attending nurse in a psychiatric ward. Griffin said during a July 21, 2005, interview on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno that Eminem selected her for the video because fellow rapper Snoop Dogg told him she was "really funny."[5] The single was noted for its caustic criticism of certain celebrities and the entertainment industry.[6]
• Griffin, Jim Gaffigan, Debra Wilson, and Michael Ian Black have starred together in several commercials for Sierra Mist soda.

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] TV

• Fresh Prince of Bel Air (NBC, 1991)
• Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (HBO, 1992)
• Big News (1995)
• The Barefoot Executive (1995)
• Suddenly Susan (NBC, 1996-2000)
• Seinfeld: "The Doll" (NBC, 1996) and "The Cartoon" (NBC, 1998)
• Saturday Night Special (Fox late-night series 1996)
• Premium Blend (Comedy Central; host in 1997)
• Kathy Griffin: Hot Cup of Talk (1998)
• Instant Comedy with the Groundlings (series, 1998)
• Dilbert (UPN animated series, 1999-2000; voice)
• Jackie's Back! (1999; cameo)
• A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000)
• "X-Files - "Fight Club" As identical twins Betty Templeton and Lulu Pfeiffer (2000)
• Kathy's So-Called Reality (series, 2001)
• The Drew Carey Show (one episode, 2002)
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?
• Celebrity Mole: Hawaii (series, 2003-2004)
• Average Joe (host, 2003)
• "Spider-Man" (MTV series, voice of psychic twin 2003)
• Kathy Griffin: Allegedly (2004)
• Kathy Griffin: The D-List (2004)
• Kathy Griffin Is... Not Nicole Kidman (2005)
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2005-present, in second season according to Bravo Network)
• Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (2006)
• CNN's Larry King Live (July 11, 2006)
• The View (July 27, 2006)
• Gameshow Marathon:Match Game(2006)
• Last Comic Standing- Guest Judge (2006)
• Ugly Betty (Fashion TV reporter in In or Out) (2007)

[edit] Film

• The Unborn (1991)
• Shakes the Clown (1992)
• It's Pat (1994)
• Pulp Fiction (1994, cameo)
• Four Rooms (1995)
• The Cable Guy (1996)
• Who's the Caboose? (1997)
• Trojan War (1997)
• Courting Courtney (1997)
• Can't Stop Dancing (1999)
• Dill Scallion (1999)
• Muppets from Space (1999, cameo)
• Lion of Oz (2000; (voice)
• The Intern (2000)
• Enemies of Laughter (2000)
• On Edge (2001)
• Run Ronnie Run (2000, cameo)
• Lovewrecked (2005)
• Dirty Love (2005)
• Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone (2005; voice)
• Her Minor Thing (2005)
• Vegas Baby (2005)
• The Last Guy on Earth (2006)

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Kathy Griffin at the Internet Movie Database
• Kathy Griffin at TV.com
• Kathy Griffin at the Notable Names Database
• Bravo official site: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List'