Jeannie Gaffigan
Born
Jeannie Louise Noth

(1970-03-09) March 9, 1970 (age 53)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMarquette University[1]
Occupations
  • Actress
  • producer
  • writer
Years active1990s–present
Known forThe Jim Gaffigan Show
Spouse
​
(m. 2003)​
Children5

Jeannie Louise Gaffigan (née Noth) is an American actress, producer, and comedy writer. She is best known as a writer and executive producer for The Jim Gaffigan Show, a show loosely based on her own family life with her husband, Jim Gaffigan.

Early life

Gaffigan was born on March 9, 1970, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as Jeanne Louise Noth.[2] She grew up the oldest of nine children. Her father was a theater and film critic for the Milwaukee Journal.[2] She graduated from Marquette University's Diederich College of Communication in 1992.[1]

Career

Gaffigan began her career as a stage actress in regional theater and upon moving to New York, performed in sketch comedy groups and small theater companies where playwrights developed original plays.[3] Gaffigan founded the not-for-profit theater company Shakespeare on the Playground, dedicated to teaching literacy and production to urban youth through the performance of full Shakespearean plays.[4] She began writing and producing comedy with her friend and future husband Jim Gaffigan.[5] Since then, Gaffigan has helped write and produce all five of Jim's comedy specials, also serving as the director of his fifth special.[6]

Gaffigan co-wrote an animated series called Pale Force, starring Jim Gaffigan and Conan O'Brien, for which she received an Emmy Nomination.[7] She worked on it with her brothers Paul Noth, a New Yorker cartoonist,[8] and Patrick Noth, a comedy writer and composer.[9]

In 2013, Gaffigan began developing a pilot with her husband titled The Jim Gaffigan Show. After working with NBC and CBS, the show landed at TV Land where Gaffigan co-wrote and executive produced all 22 episodes with Jim.[10] She directed the finale episode of Season 2.[6] In August 2016, Jim and Jeannie decided not to continue with Season 3 of the show so they could spend more time with their family.[11]

In July 2015, the Gaffigans appeared on the NPR program Ask Me Another, where Gaffigan played a version of the Newlywed Game; she got all the answers right.[12]

Since April 8, 2016, Gaffigan has appeared in a marketing campaign for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica starring Jim Gaffigan and the couple's children.[13]

In March 2016, she received a Christopher Award for the Season 1 episode of The Jim Gaffigan Show, "My Friend the Priest".[14] She also received the Eloquentia Perfecta award from Fordham University for her work in Television and Media.[15]

In May 2016, the Gaffigans delivered the commencement address at the Catholic University of America.[16] The Gaffigans also delivered the commencement address at Gaffigan's alma mater Marquette University on 20 May 2018. They were both awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree as part of the graduation ceremony.[1]

In June 2018, the Gaffigans released a short video written and directed by Gaffigan, starring Jim, Marre, Jack, Katie, Michael, and Patrick Gaffigan called A Short Film by @JeannieGaffigan.[17]

Personal life

Gaffigan started dating Jim Gaffigan in 2000 after they had met in New York.[18] They were married at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York on July 26, 2003.[19][18] Together, they have two daughters and three sons. The couple chose home births for all five children.[20] The family lives in Manhattan.[2] Gaffigan is Catholic[5] and Jim has jokingly referred to her as a "Shiite Catholic" relative to him.[21]

On 14 April 2017, Gaffigan was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor known as papilloma of the choroid plexus.[22] The tumor was the size of a pear, and was successfully removed in a nine-hour surgery at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital.[23][24][25] Gaffigan's left vocal fold remained paralyzed, and she underwent type 1 thyroplasty to restore her voice in 2019.[22]

Gaffigan wrote a book about her diagnosis, her recovery, and the life lessons she learned from this experience. When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People was published on October 1, 2019.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan to serve as Marquette's spring commencement speakers". news.marquette.edu. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c KATZ, BRIGIT (July 17, 2015), Behind the Hot Pocket". Women in the World. The New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Actor". Jeannie Gaffigan. 13 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Shakespeare on the Playground". Jeannie Gaffigan. 13 January 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Catholic Comedian Jeannie Gaffigan Accepts Eloquentia Perfecta Award". 17 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Director". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Breaking News - NBC Digital Entertainment Lands Two Daytime Emmy Nominations | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com.
  8. ^ "PaulNoth.com". www.paulnoth.com.
  9. ^ "Patrick Noth". patricknoth.com. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  10. ^ ALAN, SEPINWALL. "How Jim Gaffigan learned to say no to network sitcoms". Hitflix. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  11. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (22 August 2016). "'The Jim Gaffigan Show' Done: No Season 3 For TV Land Comedy Series". Deadline. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  12. ^ Eisenberg, Ophira (July 9, 2015), "According to Jim (Gaffigan)". Ask Me Another. NPR. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  13. ^ "Jim Gaffigan stars in Chrysler brand's 'Dad Brand' marketing campaign for the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica" (Press release). Penarth, Wales, UK: Automotive World. 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  14. ^ "The Christophers, Inc". www.christophers.org (Press release). New York. March 30, 2016. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  15. ^ "Catholic Comedian Jeannie Gaffigan Accepts Eloquentia Perfecta Award". Fordham Newsroom. 17 October 2016.
  16. ^ Editor, ChurchPOP (14 May 2016). "Watch: Jim and Jeanne Gaffigan's Hilarious CUA Commencement Speech". ChurchPOP. ((cite web)): |last1= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ jimgaffigan (12 June 2018). "A short film by @JeannieGaffigan". Retrieved 25 September 2018 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ a b Kimble, Lindsay (May 3, 2017). "Inside Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan's 14-Year Marriage and Comedy Partnership". People. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  19. ^ "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Jeannie Noth, Jim Gaffigan". The New York Times. 2003-07-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  20. ^ "Jim Gaffigan: Dad Is Fat". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  21. ^ Boorstein, Michelle (May 21, 2015). "What's so funny about Jim Gaffigan's Christianity". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  22. ^ a b "Episode 1057 - Jeannie Gaffigan". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  23. ^ Kennedy, Lauren Paige. "How Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan Found Humor in a Crisis". WebMD. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  24. ^ Byrne, Suzy (2 May 2017). "Jim Gaffigan's Wife, Jeannie, Recovering From Life-Threatening Brain Tumor". Yahoo! Celebrity. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  25. ^ Kimble, Lindsay (May 10, 2017). "Jim Gaffigan's Wife Jeannie on Discovering She Had a Brain Tumor the Size of an Apple: 'I Was a Ticking Time Bomb'". People. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  26. ^ Gaffigan, Jeannie (19 February 2019). When Life Gives You Pears. Grand Central. ISBN 9781538751046. Retrieved 2019-02-19. ((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)

External links

Jim Gaffigan
Authority control databases
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