The Woman Behind The Silly Man

This Is Jim Gaffigan's Wife Jeannie

Who is the strong woman behind the hilariously silly comedian? The two are frequent collaborators and have built up Jim's comedy empire to be one of the most well known today.

Jeannie Gaffigan (née) Noth was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a hard worker who graduated from Marquette University's Diederich College of Communication.

Jeannie first started her career as a stage actress in smaller theaters until moving to New York where she joined sketch comedy groups and small theater companies. She even founded the non-profit, 'Shakespeare on the Playground' meant to teach literacy and stage production to urban children using full Shakespearean plays.

Jim Gaffigan's Amazing Wife Jeannie

At one point she began working with friend Jim Gaffigan writing comedy in 2000. She even helped write all 5 of his incredibly successful stand-up comedy specials and was even the director for his latest special. On July 26th, 2003, the two married in New York at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral and went on to have 5 children. Impressively tough Jeannie even had home births for all 5!

Jeannie and Jim went on to create The Jim Gaffigan Show centered around their family life and had a very successful 2 seasons of the show. Ultimately both decided not to continue with the show so they could spend more time with their family. Jeannie even won a Christopher Award for her episode of The Jim Gaffigan Show "My Friend the Preist".

Jeannie was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor the "size of a pear" in 2017. It was successfully removed after a nine-hour surgery, which left one of her vocal cords paralyzed. She eventually went through type 1 thyroplasty to return her voice. Jeannie wrote a book about the terrifying ordeal and what she learned in her 2019 book When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People.

The amazing mother of 5 continues to work and produce comedy with her powerhouse husband. What a woman!