Maggie Griffin, impish mother of comedian Kathy, dies at 99

Kathy Griffin and her mother Maggie at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Image: AP/Chris Pizzello

The mother of comedian Kathy Griffin, who inspired many of the jokes in her famous daughter’s standup routines, has died. Maggie Griffin was 99.

“My Mom, the one and only, Maggie Griffin, passed away” Tuesday, Kathy tweeted. “I am gutted. My best friend. I’m shaking. I won’t ever be prepared.”

The sweet, impish and quick-tongued Maggie was a frequent presence in her daughter’s reality show, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” in the early 2000s. More often than not, she was holding a glass of wine.

Addressing her fans, the comedian said in her tweet: “I’m so grateful you guys got to be part of her life. You knew her. You loved her. She knew it.”

“Oh, and OF COURSE she went on St Patrick’s Day,” Kathy went on, followed by three broken-heart emojis.

She revealed on Twitter in January 2019 that her mother had “rapidly fallen into the throes of dementia.”

“This is never easy for any child, I know this is a reality that millions of people deal with every year,” the comedian wrote. “But when it comes to my mom this is particularly hard because her sharp mind was everything.”

Kathy’s father and Maggie’s husband, John, died in 2007. RGA

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