Kathy Griffin
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Kathleen "Kathy" Griffin (born November 4, 1961) is an Emmy nominated American stand-up comedian whose career took off in the early 1990s. She is also an actress, a voice actor, a red carpet commentator, and a self-proclaimed "D-list" celebrity.
Biography
Early life
Griffin was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and raised there and in nearby Forest Park, Illinois."Fast Chat: Q & A with Kathy Griffin", New York Newsday, June 18, 2006 Her father John worked in an electronics store and her mother Maggie assisted in a hospital's administrative office. Kathy is the youngest sibling of three boys and two girls. Her parents retired to California after Griffin graduated from high school in 1979.Career
Griffin began performing in the early '80s 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", later the title of Griffin's 1998 solo HBO special. She did some acting, breaking into film with the supporting role of "Connie" in 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 (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.
After starring in an HBO Half Hour Comedy Special, Griffin reached a measure of fame in 1996 playing 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 went on to a comedy and television career poking dissatisfied fun at her relatively modest place in the Hollywood hierarchy, frequently appearing 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 in her bare feet. Griffin has also done voiceover work on a wide variety of projects, including Dilbert and Spider-Man animated series.
In 2005, Griffin starred in her solo reality show , on the cable network Bravo. The show also featured her now ex-husband Matt Moline and her personal assistant Jessica Zajicek. The second-season premiered on June 6, 2006. The first season of the program was nominated for a 2006 Primetime Emmy award for Best Reality Program.
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 observations about celebrity culture and fame. Her stage act invariably consists of recounting events involving celebrities. Her favorite celebrity topics are plastic surgery, 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. Most of all, she is the butt of her own humor, particularly with regard to her plastic surgery and ostensible D-List status.Griffin frequently mentions her admiration for gay men, and in her live performances acknowledges her large gay following.
Personal life
Griffin met Washington, D.C. native Matt Moline (born c. 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 December 2005 (announced on February 10, 2006). 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.[Griffin split for stealing]. The Daily Dish. Moline has refused to comment, citing personal privacy concerns.Moline has an IT consulting firm in Los Angeles, Moline Systems [link]. Griffin stated on her show that her contract has a clause that states her husband is to accompany her on all performances.
Griffin's parents John and Maggie Griffin often appear on their daughter's TV series.
Griffin describes herself as a "militant atheist."[link]
Trivia
- She has a cameo in Pulp Fiction, in which she played an on-the-scene witness when Butch intentionally used the car he was driving to hit Marsellus Wallace. Quentin Tarantino, the film's director, dated Griffin in the early 1990s.The New York Times (Oct. 25 2004): ["Bringing the A-List to Its Knees: On the Fringes of Celebrity, a Comedian Finds Success and a Following"], by Bernard Weinraub; reprinted at Kathy Griffin official site.
- One of her most notable controversies occurred when she made a joke during a 2005 E! televised event that 11-year-old actress Dakota Fanning entered rehab.Griffin describes the incident in her show Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (2006).
- She enjoys making it known during her shows that she opposes the Iraq War, President George W. Bush, and the Republican Party. She also admits she is a liberal Democrat, but her mother is a conservative Republican who is a big fan of Bill O'Reilly
- 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.
- 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.
- Griffin, Jim Gaffigan, Debra Wilson, and Michael Ian Black have starred together in several commercials for Sierra Mist soda.
- She appeared as a panelist on the June 22, 2006 episode of CBS' "Gameshow Marathon," which recreated the Match Game.
- An episode of the animated TV series Family Guy, "A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks", includes a cutaway scene where Peter Griffin's cousin Kathy Griffin talks so much that he puts Rohypnol in her drink to shut her up, but accidentally gives his son her glass.
- Griffin claims to be banned from appearing on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and The View. She says Ellen's producers told her they can't have her on "trashing celebrities".The New York Post (May 30, 2006) ["Last in Line for Celebrity: Griffin - Hollywood's Outcast"], by Deborah Starr Seibel
- Griffin also claims her presence (and eventual victory) on Celebrity Mole: Hawaii as the moment she became a D-list celebrity (referencing how Celebrity Mole and other popular reality shows tended to use celebrities that were once popular in previous decades and aren't as prominent today, or "underground" celebrities that are somewhat popular today but whose popularity pales to major multi-millionaire celebs). This joke can be heard on her Kathy Griffin: The D-List special.
- 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. A letter from Seinfeld is also seen framed in Griffin's house on the season finale of The Adam Carolla Project.
- Griffin was spoofed on the MTV2 animated show Where My Dogs At? as a plastic surgery-obsessed woman who carries body parts in a plastic bag.
Selected filmography
TV
- (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)
- 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)
- Kathy Griffin: Allegedly (2004)
- Kathy Griffin: The D-List (2004)
- Kathy Griffin Is... Not Nicole Kidman (2005)
- (2005-present, in second season according to Bravo Network)
- Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (2006)
- CNN's Larry King Live (July 11th, 2006)
Film
- The Unborn (1991)
- Shakes the Clown (1992)
- It's Pat (1994, cameo)
- 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)
Footnotes
References
- [] at TV.com
- [}}}] at NNDB
- [Kathy Griffin official site]
- [Bravo official site: ''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List']
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