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Kathy Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, television personality, and actress. A self-proclaimed "D-list celebrity," Griffin gained recognition first for her supporting role on NBC's Suddenly Susan and is now the star of the Bravo reality show, . A gay icon, though not gay herself, Griffin has been a voice actress and a red carpet commentator in addition to her other career pursuits.
Early lifeGriffin was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and raised there and in nearby Forest Park. Her mother, Maggie, was a hospital administrator, and her father, John, was an electronics store manager. She was raised Catholic, but now considers herself a "fallen Catholic." She attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, where she graduated in 1978.
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Quotations
So I met Whitney Houston, or as I like to call her, Crackie.
So you know the rumor about Whitney Houston is that she's gay. And I mean, it's just a rumor, but that's good enough for me.
You know when Britney was getting married, Christina Aguilera was sitting at home watching it on T.V., eating some Cheetos, and she was like, Whatever. I'm a whore. I said was a whore from the beginning. Nobody thinks I'm crazy anymore. I'm consistent.
Encyclopedia
Kathy Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, television personality, and actress. A self-proclaimed "D-list celebrity," Griffin gained recognition first for her supporting role on NBC's Suddenly Susan and is now the star of the Bravo reality show, . A gay icon, though not gay herself, Griffin has been a voice actress and a red carpet commentator in addition to her other career pursuits.
Early lifeGriffin was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and raised there and in nearby Forest Park. Her mother, Maggie, was a hospital administrator, and her father, John, was an electronics store manager. She was raised Catholic, but now considers herself a "fallen Catholic." She attended Oak Park and River Forest High School, where she graduated in 1978. Griffin is the youngest of five children - she has two older brothers, John and Gary, and an older sister, Joyce. Her other brother is deceased.
Career
Stand-up comedyGriffin began performing in the early 1980s Los Angeles improv comedy troupe, The Groundlings. In an E! True Hollywood Story segment, she stated that she often went to see shows at the Groundlings before she joined. She said one time she was there she went backstage and talked with a Groundling member and asked him what The Groundlings were all about. This led to her taking classes there and eventually being asked into the Main Company.
She went on to perform stand-up comedy and became part of the burgeoning alternative comedy scene in Los Angeles, appearing at Un-Cabaret and her own show "Hot Cup of Talk," 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 TV and film credits as a role in comedian Julie Brown's Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (1992), a Showtime parody of the backstage film (1991); two appearances as the character Susan Klein, a reporter, 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. In addition, she most recently appeared on the show "Ugly Betty" as a fashion channel reporter.
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.
Griffin's TV production company is called Inappropriate Laughter, a reference to her sometimes shocking form of humor.
On June 12, 2008 Griffin hosted the first ever Bravo A-List Awards. Included in the show was a scene where Griffin and Lance Bass mimicked a "wordrobe malfunction" referring to the now famous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction in 2004.
The ViewGriffin was considered to join the panel of The View in fall 2007 as a replacement for departing panelist Rosie O'Donnell. Despite running jokes in her act about Executive Producer Barbara Walters not liking her, Griffin co-hosted the show many times after O'Donnell left in May 2007. Whoopi Goldberg was ultimately selected as a permanent replacement. On September 10, 2007 Sherri Shepherd took over the remaining co-host spot, vacant since Star Jones' departure. Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that a source tells him that The View is having second thoughts about hiring Sherri Shepherd over Griffin, although both The View and Walters' spokespersons deny this. Walters has stated that she was worried about hiring another loose cannon after the troubles with Rosie O'Donnell.
Griffin recently divulged in her stand-up that she is now banned from The View after talking about the gig on her most recent televised comedy special, Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell. While declining to discuss the ban on Access Hollywood, during the filming of an episode for My Life on the D-List with former View co-host/moderator Rosie O'Donnell, Griffin dished about being banned from The View, specifically targeting View executive producer Bill Geddie in a video posted on R blog.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
First season2005 saw the debut of Griffin's solo reality show , on the cable network Bravo. The show was originally developed as a scripted sitcom for NBC after her popular appearances on Seinfeld, where she played a version of herself, landed her a development deal with the network. Although that sitcom never materialized, NBC chose to develop a similar version as a reality show on its sister channel, Bravo. The show also featured then-husband Matt Moline, her parents, her dogs, and her personal assistant Jessica Zajicek. The first season of the program was nominated for a 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program, non-competition.
Second season and Emmy Awards controversyThe second season, which premiered on June 6, 2006, brought Griffin the 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program, non-competition, on September 8, 2007. She received it during the Creative Arts Emmy, which was hosted by Carlos Mencia and aired on E! on September 15. Griffin stirred up controversy with her acceptance speech, saying, "Now, a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn't help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Milan would be up here with that damn dog. So all I can say is suck it, Jesus, this award is my god now!" Kathy Griffin meant this remark not as a slight on Jesus but rather as a satire of celebrities who thank Jesus profusely and nonsensically for their awards, especially artists who themselves are controversial.
Her remarks were quickly condemned by the Catholic League which urged the academy to "denounce Griffin's obscene and blasphemous comment." The Academy said that her "offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night". Griffin later responded, "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?"
The editing was condemned in two consecutive episodes
of Freethought Radio, the latter containing the deleted material. Annie Laurie Gaylor in particular objected to the comment being described as "hate speech." Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly called Griffin a "pinhead" (a label he frequently uses) for her remark, which Griffin considered a "badge of honor."
Third seasonThe third season premiered on June 5, 2007, to an all-time ratings high for the Bravo Network, with over 1 million viewers, a 77 percent increase in viewers aged 18 to 49, and a 57 percent increase in overall viewers. The new season introduced Tom Vize, who was hired as a dog walker but was promoted to Griffin's housemate and tour manager, and Tiffany Rinehart, Jessica's assistant; it also covered an emotional period of her life during the death of her father. In July 2008, the third season was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, racking up three consecutive nominations in the Outstanding Reality Program, non-competition category for the show.
Fourth seasonSeason Four of My Life on the D-List premiered June 12, 2008. So far into the fourth season, Griffin has introduced her now former boyfriend, Apple co-founder and billionaire Steve Wozniak. In the beginning of the first episode, Griffin looks back at what has happened between the end of taping for season three up to the beginning of taping for season four. This includes her Emmy win and controversial Emmy acceptance speech. Celebrity cameos have also been plentiful throughout the season, with guest appearances by Ricky Gervais, Lance Bass, Molly Shannon, Rosie O'Donnell, Megan Mullally, Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho and Mario Cantone to name a few.
Style of humorGriffin established her career with candid observations about her dating life, later focusing on mocking celebrities, her act currently consists of recounting embellished stories 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 Paris Hilton, Clay Aiken, Barbara Walters, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Star Jones, Paula Abdul, Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan.
Griffin is sometimes the object of her own humor, particularly with regard to her D-List status. While Griffin paints herself as a Hollywood outsider, she has a group of close celebrity friends such as Rosie O'Donnell, Joan Rivers, Brooke Shields, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Coolidge, Ricky Gervais, and Lance Bass. Griffin's longtime friendship with Bass was the catalyst for a feud between her and gossip blogger Perez Hilton, in which Griffin expressed anger over Hilton's "outing" of Bass on his website, calling Hilton's attacks on Bass "mean" and "unfunny". Hilton responded by saying that Griffin's anger was hypocritical, considering all of the gay jokes she makes about Clay Aiken in her stand-up routines. In 2007, Griffin commented on her aversion to making fun of celebrity friends by saying, "There’s nothing I won’t do, but on the other hand I’m full of shit because that changes. For example, you know Lance Bass from 'N Sync and how he’s gay now? All those years that I knew he was gay, he and I were friends, I would never say, ‘Hey, by the way, did you know that Lance Bass is gay?’" Griffin and Hilton ended their feud after the death of Griffin's father, and Hilton appeared on an episode of her show in 2007.
Her style has led to a number of controversies. Griffin has claimed to be banned from appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Show with David Letterman, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She recently got rebanned from The View because of a joke she made about Barbara Walters. She says Ellens producers told her they can't have her on "trashing celebrities." However, Griffin appeared as a guest on The Ellen Degeneres Show on September 11 2007. One of the most notable controversies occurred when she made a joke during a 2005 E! televised event that the child actress Dakota Fanning had entered rehab. This incident got Griffin fired from hosting duties on E!'s red-carpet award show coverage. Nevertheless, E! purchased rights to air My Life on the D-List for its British channel, a fact she noted in an episode of season 3.
Griffin has claimed to have been fired from an appearance on the show Hannah Montana, on account of her Emmy acceptance speech. According to Griffin "the instructions literally came down, 'We don't want her anywhere near the building.'" Disney has since disputed this claiming the star was fired for "creative reasons." Griffin hit back in her comedy act joking that Miley Cyrus "...has been flashing her green bra and posing topless."
In May, 2006 Kathy visited the troops in Kuwait who were on their way to service in Iraq. She had dinner at the chow hall with many troops including Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-25.
"Kathy Griffin: For Your Consideration" On June 10, 2008, Griffin released a comedy CD titled "For Your Consideration." It is Griffin's first audio-only release of her stand-up material. The disc was recorded at the the ETK Theatre at the Grand Theatre Center For The Arts in Tracy, California on February 17, 2008. Included on the disc are her takes on various celebrities and her personal life. Griffin stated that she decided to release this CD to try to win a Grammy award.
It made its debut on the Billboard Top 200 at #85, making it the highest-ranked album by a female comedian since 1983, when Joan Rivers reached No. 22 with "What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?" "For Your Consideration" debuted in the #1 spot on the Top Comedy Albums chart the week of July 5. It fell to #2 the following week.
Personal lifeGriffin describes herself as a "militant atheist". While in high school, she fell away from the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to become a Unitarian. Said Griffin: "I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds better."
She is an outspoken opponent of LASIK eye surgery, having endured a series of operations for her own eyesight that left her partially blind in one eye with a visible eyeball deformity. She is open about her multiple plastic surgeries, and claims that fat "grew back" after her liposuction procedure.
Her father, John Patrick Griffin, died of heart failure on February 17 2007, during the shooting of the third season of her reality show; he was 92 years old. The episode related to his passing aired on June 19, 2007.
She placed 17th on Oxygen's 2007 list of "The 50 Funniest Women Alive."
She is a frequent guest on CNN's Larry King Live. King has stated that she is "one of my favorite guests". During her appearances on the
show she usually chides King on various topics and past guests on his show adding her own personal observations.
On February 12, 2001, Griffin appeared on The Howard Stern Show and discussed several aspects of her personal life.
- She mentioned that she "lightly dated" N'Sync member Joey Fatone.
- At the 2000 Billboard Music Awards, she planned to say a joke directed at Britney Spears in regards to her nipples, but since another member of N'Sync was dating Britney, Griffin randomly directed the joke towards Toni Braxton instead. Toni became very irate over it since she had been rushed to the hospital recently due to an incident with her breast implants. It was reported in the news that later that night, Griffin nearly got into a fight with pop singer Pink, but Griffin explained that the incident was completely false.
- She clarified that she was never romantically linked to Joel Anderson (from the TV show Survivor).
- She mentioned that she is a friend of Jenny McCarthy. Jenny was invited to Griffin's wedding.
- She discussed the fact that she and Matt Moline had not signed pre-nuptial agreements.
- She told Stern that she does not drink any alcohol based on an incident that occurred when she was very young. While choking at the dinner table, she was handed her father's stein of beer. After taking two "gulps", she thought it tasted disgusting.
- She is a friend of Lisa Kudrow, who was not invited to her wedding because Lisa had become very famous and they hadn't had a chance to see each other in a long time.
- She recently told Larry King that she would not go on a date with George Clooney because "He's too green. I just don't have time in my life to recycle."
Marriage and relationshipsGriffin married Washington, D.C. native Matt Moline on February 18, 2001 atop the 360 Degree Restaurant in Hollywood. ABC News reported that she walked down the aisle to the strains of the 1980s power ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger. Her maid of honor was Brooke Shields, and the wedding was attended by, among others, Camryn Manheim, Bill Maher, James Williams, and Jane Krakowski.
Although they appeared to have a loving and supportive relationship on her reality show, there were problems beneath the surface. After briefly separating and reconciling in 2005, they divorced in May 2006. Griffin had her tattooed wedding ring laser-removed after her divorce. On Larry King Live, Griffin accused Moline, a computer technician, of stealing $72,000 from her. In a written statement, Moline declined to respond to the allegations publicly.
Since July 2007, rumors had circulated that Griffin had been dating Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. They attended the 2007 Emmy Awards together and speculations rose when the two were interviewed together on the red carpet. On September 18, 2007, US Weekly reported that Griffin and Wozniak were engaged, however, neither Griffin nor Wozniak confirmed the rumor. During a January 2008 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Griffin confirmed that Wozniak will be a regular guest on the fourth season of her reality show. On Tom Green's House Tonight on February 6, Griffin confirmed her relationship with Wozniak. When asked if she actually targeted Wozniak to make her ex-husband jealous, Griffin stated "What better way to get back at my ex, who was a tech, than to marry the biggest techno-nerd in the Universe?" Wozniak and Griffin served as King and Queen of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley Fur Ball on April 5 2008 in Santa Clara, California, and scenes for the fourth season of My Life on the D-List were taped. However, as of June 2008, it has been confirmed that Griffin and Wozniak are no longer dating and have decided to remain friends. Wozniak is currently engaged to another woman, according to Griffin, but did not mention who she was.
Filmography
Award wins and nominations| Year | Group | Award | Won? | Show |
|---|
| 2006 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Reality Program, Non-Competition | No | "" | | 2007 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Reality Program, Non-Competition | Yes | "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" | | 2008 | PGA Awards | Non-Fiction Television | No | "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" | | 2008 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Reality Series | Yes | "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" | | 2008 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special | Nominee | "Kathy Griffin: Straight To Hell" | | 2008 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Reality Program | Nominee | "Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List" |
Other appearances
Griffin has made frequent appearances on reality programs and game shows.
- Griffin appeared on CNN with newsanchor Anderson Cooper to host a New Year's Eve 2007 show.
- Griffin starred in a humorous episode of The X-Files entitled "Fight Club." She portrayed two identical women who do not know each other, but whose meetings cause others to behave violently.
- 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." The single was noted for its caustic criticism of certain celebrities and the entertainment industry.
- Griffin, Jim Gaffigan, Debra Wilson, and Michael Ian Black have starred together in several commercials for Sierra Mist soda.
- Jerry Seinfeld was so amused by Griffin's caustic comments about him in her standup act that he cast her in the Seinfeld episode "The Cartoon", as standup comic Sally Weaver, who makes fun of him. She had previously appeared in "The Doll", in the seventh season.
- She won the first edition of Celebrity Mole.
- In a Family Guy episode, A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks, Griffin was briefly referenced, where she is portrayed as the fast-talking and rambling cousin of protagonist Peter Griffin.
- Griffin was interviewed in her limousine by Fausto Fernós of the Feast of Fools in December 2005.
- Griffin appeared in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction as a witness to Bruce Willis hitting Ving Rhames with his car.
- Griffin appeared on Loose Women alongside Jackie Brambles, Jane McDonald, Denise Welch and Carol McGiffin. She referred to them as "British uptight chicks who don't get me" on her show.
- Griffin appeared on an episode of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC, discussing her finances
- Some of her earliest, raunchiest and most personal performance material can be heard on the Un-Cabaret compilation CD
- Griffin had a show on MTV called "Kathy's So Called Reality" where she and a panel of comedians made jibes at reality shows.
- Kathy Griffin was the voice of Alice of the short lived Animated show Dilbert.
- Kathy has also appeared numerous times on CNN's Larry King Live. On one of these occasions (July 25, 2008), she sat in for Larry.
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