Kathy Griffin

AKA Kathleen Mary Griffin

Born: 4-Nov-1960

Birthplace: Oak Park, IL



Gender: Female

Religion: Atheist [1]

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: Actor, Comic

Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: Vicki on Suddenly Susan

Kathy Griffin is the acerbic redheaded comedian who played Brooke Shields' neurotic co-worker Vicki Groener on Suddenly Susan, and now stars as herself on the Bravo sitcom, My Life on the D-List. She has had cable specials including Kathy Griffin Is ... Not Nicole Kidman and Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman, and hosted the reality shows Average Joe and Celebrity Mole.

Griffin's schtick involves poking fun at celebrity in general, often mocking specific celebrities (including herself). She often explains that the rich and famous take themselves too seriously, and that celebrities who cannot laugh at themselves need to be laughed at. She is reportedly banned from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, because the producers don't want guests who make other potential guests the butt of their jokes. Griffin is also on the outs with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who was furious when she joked that then-10-year-old Dakota Fanning -- star of Spielberg's War of the Worlds -- had been admitted to rehab.

Griffin studied drama at the Lee Strasberg Institute, then spent seven years honing her comedy with the L.A. improv group The Groundlings. She often appears in movies, but seems to have a knack for choosing ill-fated projects -- Shakes the Clown, It's Pat, The Cable Guy, etc. She had a tiny cameo in Pulp Fiction, playing herself as a pedestrian who witnesses Ving Rhames being hit by a car.

Griffin has an epithelial ingrowth on her right eyeball, a complication of eye surgery that can potentially cause glare, double vision, ghosting, halos, or illusions of starbursts. She divorced her husband in 2006 because, Griffin says, she found him poking through her wallet, and figured out that he had pilfered about $72,000 from her.

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