Kathy Griffin herself tweeted the heartbreaking news late last night that her mother Maggie Griffin (Life On The D List) had passed away at the age of 99. In January of 2019, Griffin had revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that her mother had been suffering from advanced dementia. “This is never easy for a child,” she said at the time. “I know this is a reality that millions of people deal with every year. But when it comes to my mom this is particularly hard because her sharp mind was everything.” Kathy went on to say that her mom had “rapidly fallen into the throes of dementia”.
My Mom, the one and only, Maggie Griffin, passed away today. I am gutted. My best friend. I’m shaking. I won’t ever be prepared. 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. 💔💔💔 pic.twitter.com/l9IZHuIWLb
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 18, 2020
Maggie Griffin was born in 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. Starting as a hospital administrator, she started being involved in her daughter’s career in 2001 with Kathy’s So-Called Reality. In 2005, she began appearing as herself in Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, going on to do six seasons of the show with her daughter. As Griffin’s career progressed so did Maggie’s. She made further appearances on the Kathy talk show on Bravo and the documentary Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story. Maggie Griffin had become so much of a beloved figure in her own right that she had written a hilarious book with the very Maggie-esque title Tip It-The World According To Maggie. Whenever Griffin mentioned her mother Maggie in her stand up act or on a talk show appearance (or even better brought her out as a surprise guest) the crowd reacted with raucous applause for their beloved and adored Maggie Griffin.