When Kathy was seven, Kenny-who was thirty-would climb into her bed and whisper into her ears Kathy did not tell her parents until she was in her twenties, at which point he admitted his pedophilia to them. Griffin's eldest brother Kenny was a drug addict and homeless at various times she said she was "afraid of him until the moment he died" because of his violent, abusive nature. In her 2009 autobiography Official Book Club Selection, Griffin said she "still suffers " but has learned to "deal with them". After most of her siblings had moved, Griffin developed a binge eating disorder. She would often visit her neighbors to tell them stories about her family she has referred to those visits as her first live shows where she learned "the power of juicy material". Her brother Gary and her sister Joyce both died from cancer. Griffin described herself during her early years as "a kid who needed to talk, all the time".
Kathy Griffin has four older siblings Kenny, Joyce (died 2017), Gary (died 2014), and John. Kathleen Mary Griffin was born on November 4, 1960, in the Chicago suburb Oak Park, Illinois, to Mary Margaret "Maggie" Griffin ( née Corbally, 1920 – 2020) and John Patrick Griffin, both of whom were first-generation Irish-Americans.
In 1978, she moved to Los Angeles, where she studied drama at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and became a member of the improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings.
She has also appeared in supporting roles in films. In 20, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums.