Jim Gaffigan interviewed by uInterview at SXSW (Image: Erik Meers)
Jim Gaffigan was born James Christopher Gaffigan on July 7, 1966 (Jim Gaffigan age: 58) in Chesterton, Indiana, to parents Marcia Mitchell and Michael Gaffigan. Gaffigan has five older siblings.
Gaffigan attended Purdue University for his freshman year and later transferred to Georgetown University to complete his bachelor’s degree in finance. During his time in college, he played football and competed in Division 1 athletics. After graduating in 1988, he worked as a litigation consultant and held an advertising job before moving on to acting.
Gaffigan took night classes in acting while working in New York City. Gaffigan immediately liked comedy after participating in a standup comedy seminar and began to do sets at local comedy clubs in the evening. Right when Gaffigan was getting into it, the comedy business was beginning to slow down.
“There were tons of people going into it,” Gaffigan told Punchline magazine in 2005. “It wasn’t the quick and easy money thing of the 80s. It was right when people could see comedy on cable, and they’d say, ‘Well, I can just see it on TV.'” Gaffigan then branched out and started auditioning for commercials, which he quickly found success with. However, he knew that his main focus was comedy.
After landing a spot on The Late Show with David Letterman and delivering a successful routine on television, Gaffigan was allowed to develop his own sitcom with David Letterman called Welcome to New York. However, due to low viewership, the show went off-air. Gaffigan returned to doing commercials and television work and ended up appearing on some high-profile shows, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Ellen Show, That ’70s Show, and more. He also began to land more and more movie roles and acted in Super Troopers (2001) and 13 Going on 30 (2004), among many other projects. From 2006 to 2009, Gaffigan played Andy Franklin on the sitcom My Boys. Gaffigan also wrote and produced his own sitcom, The Jim Gaffigan Show, which ran for two seasons.
Gaffigan is known for being a clean comic and for his “inner voice” commentary during his routines. In 2012, he filmed his first comedy special, Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe. Since then, he has been nominated for five Grammy awards for Best Comedy Album for his works, Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe (2013), Obsessed (2015), Cinco (2018), Noble Ape (2019) and Quality Time (2020).
Gaffigan played the lead role of Frank Hansen in Being Frank (2018), a comedy directed by Miranda Bailey. The film follows the story of a father who is found to have been living a second life in another town with another family.
Gaffigan was drawn to the script because it was “grounded” and used situation-based humor. The most difficult part of playing Frank, he told uInterview, was avoiding playing a cliché. He noted that Frank is a flawed character who gets “called out” during the film and that Gaffigan had to go against his instinct to defend himself and his character. Despite the difficulty, Gaffigan enjoyed the role. “It’s so fun to play flawed,” he said. “Particularly when you’re perfect in real life,” he added jokingly.
He noted that the genre of “comedy-drama of heart” has recently returned and hoped that his film would contribute to the recent progression towards “an era for everyone” to enjoy.
Gaffigan stars alongside Antoine Olivier Pilon and Stephen McHattie in the 2020 crime film Most Wanted, based on the true story of former drug addict Alain Olivier, who was used as a spy by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The movie was released under the title Target Number One in Canada. Gaffigan plays Glen Picker, a drug dealer who sets up Leger (based on Olivier) to scam the police. In an exclusive talk with uInterview, Gaffigan discussed his thoughts about the film and his character.
“We’re in this age where we’re really looking at abuse of power,” Gaffigan commented when asked about what he thought about the drug war and the events that unfold in Most Wanted. Gaffigan noted that people are led by a number of motivating factors that end up causing them to make disastrous mistakes, including “human ignorance, idiocy, and ego.”
“Really, the only truly corrupt person in this movie is my character, who, with knowledge, is doing the wrong thing over and over again… All it takes is one person, my character, to ruin a bunch of people’s lives,” Gaffigan mused.
Gaffigan married Jeannie Gaffigan in 2003. The couple has six children: Jack Gaffigan, Marre Gaffigan, Katie Louise Gaffigan, Patrick Gaffigan and Michael Gaffigan.
In 2024, Gaffigan was cast to play Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Waltz on Saturday Night Live.
Who is Jim Gaffigan’s wife? Gaffigan is married to Jeannie Gaffigan.
What is Jim Gaffigan’s net worth? According to Celebrity Net Worth, Gaffigan has a net worth of $30 million.
Does Jim Gaffigan have children? Gaffigan has six children: Jack Gaffigan, Marre Gaffigan, Katie Louise Gaffigan, Patrick Gaffigan and Michael Gaffigan.
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1997 | Reflections of a Sensitive Man | Eddie |
| 1997 | Fool’s Paradise | Chester |
| 1998 | Soul Man (TV Series)- Raising Heck | Keats |
| 1998 | Late Night with Conan O’Brien (TV Series)- David Hasselhoff/Molly Shannon/Morcheeba | Man on street – Seinfeld finale sketch (uncredited) |
| 1998 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (TV Series)- Old Man | Jim (voice) |
| 1998 | The Real Howard Spitz | Storekeeper |
| 1998 | Conrad Bloom (TV Series)- How Florrie Got Her Groove Back | Oliver |
| 1998 | From a High Place | Eph Williams |
| 1999 | LateLine (TV Series)- Pearce on Conan | The Del-Ex Kid |
| 1999 | Personals | Waiter |
| 1999 | Entropy | Bucky |
| 1999 | Not Afraid to Say… | Larry |
| 1999 | Wirey Spindell | Announcer #2 |
| 1999 | Kimberly | Jim at the Ad Agency |
| 1999 | Three Kings | Cuts Troy’s Cuff Soldier |
| 1999 | Random Play (TV Series)- Episode #1.2- Pilot – Episode #1.4 | Various |
| 1999 | Puppet | Mr. Kamen |
| 2000 | Third Watch (TV Series)- Journey to the Himalayas | Portis |
| 2000 | CryBaby Lane | Dan |
| 2000 | Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story (Short) | The Narrator |
| 2000 | Little Pieces | Officer Rodriguez |
| 2000 | Killing Cinderella | Patrick |
| 2000 | Endsville | Ivy Vaughn |
| 2000-2001 | Welcome to New York (TV Series) (13 episodes) | Jim Gaffigan |
| 2001 | Super Troopers | Larry Johnson |
| 2001 | 30 Years to Life | Russell |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)- Countdown | Oliver Tunney |
| 2001 | Final | Dayton |
| 2001 | Sex and the City (TV Series)- Defining Moments | Doug |
| 2002 | Hacks | Arty Hittle |
| 2002 | No Sleep ‘til Madison | Owen |
| 2002 | Igby Goes Down | Hilton Manager |
| 2001-2002 | The Ellen Show (TV Series) (18 episodes) | Rusty Carnouk |
| 2003 | The Paper Mache Case (Short) | Barry |
| 2003 | Season of Youth | Dr. Gelding |
| 2003 | Hope & Faith (TV Series)- Anger Management | Brad |
| 2003-2004 | Ed (TV Series)- Best Wishes- Back in the Saddle – Business as Usual – Partners | Tony Gibbons |
| 2004 | Bad Apple | Butters |
| 2003-2004 | That ‘70s Show (TV Series)- Won’t Get Fooled Again- A Legal Matter – I’m a Boy – We’re Not Gonna Take It – You Shook Me – No Quarter – Hey Hey What Can I Do | Roy Keene |
| 2004 | 13 Going on 30 | Chris Grandy |
| 2004 | Strip Search | Reverend Craig Peterson |
| 2004 | Duane Incarnate | Bob |
| 2004 | The Jury (TV Series)- Mail Order Mystery | Mr. Nifco |
| 2004 | Channel Surfing | (voice) |
| 2005 | The Great New Wonderful | Sandie |
| 2005 | Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker (TV Series)- Gimmick Sports | Jerome Block |
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Gordon, Bitter Sex Addict |
| 2006 | Stephanie Daley | Joe Daley |
| 2006 | Love, Inc. (TV Series)- Anything But Love | Jamie |
| 2006 | Shorty McShorts’ Shorts (TV Series short)- My Mom Married a Yeti | Og the YetiHenrichven (voice) |
| 2007 | The Living Wake | Lampert Binew |
| 2002-2007 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series)- Smile- Dead | Marty PalinRussell Matthews |
| 2005-2008 | Pale Force (TV Series) (20 episodes) | JimConanLady Bronze |
| 2008 | The Love Guru | Trent Lueders |
| 2008 | Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do with It) | Mart Ryder |
| 2009 | The Slammin’ Salmon | Stanley Bellin |
| 2009 | Flight of the Conchords (TV Series)- Murray Takes It to the Next Level | Jim |
| 2009 | 17 Again | Coach Murphy |
| 2006-2009 | My Boys (TV Series) (40 episodes) | Andy Franklin |
| 2009 | Away We Go | Lowell |
| 1998-2009 | Law & Order (TV Series)- Reality Bites- Flight | Larry JohnsonGeorge Rozakis |
| 2009 | WordGirl (TV Series)- Tobey’s Tricks and Treats/Escape Wham- Monkey vs Robot/Becky and the Bard – Becky and the Chocolate Factory/Chuck’s Brother | Mr. Dudley (voice) |
| 2009 | The Daily Show (TV Series)- Maziar Bahari | Edward R. Brokaw-Amanpour |
| 2010 | Ten Stories Tall | Simon |
| 2010 | It’s Kind of a Funny Story | George |
| 2010 | Going the Distance | Phil |
| 2010 | Bored to Death (TV Series)- Super Ray Is Mortal! | Drug Counsellor |
| 2011 | Salvation Boulevard | Jerry Hobson |
| 2011 | Royal Pains (TV Series)- Astraphobia | Pete Stanbleck |
| 2012 | Howard Cantour.com (Short) | Howard Cantour |
| 2012 | Love Sick Love | Andrew Blythe |
| 2012-2013 | Portlandia (TV Series)- Soft Opening- Winter in Portlandia | Donald |
| 2013 | Kilimanjaro | Bill |
| 2014 | Teachers Lounge (TV Series) | Nutritionist |
| 2014 | Us & Them (TV Series)- Coeds & Carburetors- Upstairs & Downstairs | Theo |
| 2014 | The Nobodies (Short) | MC |
| 2015 | Walter | Corey |
| 2015 | The Experimenter | James McDonough |
| 2015 | Hot Pursuit | Red |
| 2015 | Wallykazam! (TV Series)- Rock and Troll | Mr. Trollman |
| 2015 | Staten Island Summer | Danny’s Dad |
| 2015-2016 | The Jim Gaffigan Show (TV Series) (23 episodes) | Jim Gaffigan |
| 2016 | Chuck | John |
| 2016 | Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas | Santa Claus |
| 2016 | Nightcap (TV Series)- The Cannon | Jim Gaffigan |
| 2017 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (TV Series)- Kimmy Bites an Onion! | Officer Krupke |
| 2017 | Chappaquiddick | Paul Markham |
| 2018 | Duck Duck Goose | Peng (voice) |
| 2018 | Being Frank | Frank |
| 2018 | Super Troopers 2 | Larry Johnson |
| 2018 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Van Helsing (voice) |
| 2018 | American Dreamer | Cam |
| 2013-2018 | Bob’s Burgers (TV Series)- UFO No You Didn’t- Ain’t Miss Debatin’ – The Millie-churian Candidate – Carpe Museum | Henry Haber (voice) |
| 2019 | Them That Follow | Zeke |
| 2019 | Light from Light | Richard |
| 2019 | Troop Zero | Ramsey Flint |
| 2019 | Drunk Parents | Carl Mancini |
| 2019 | The Day Shall Come | Lemmy |
| 2015-2019 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil (TV Series)- Beach Day/Gone Baby Gone- Mathmagic/The Bounce Lounge – Freeze Day/Royal Pain | Father Time (voice) |
| 2019 | Above the Shadows | Paul Jederman |
| 2019 | Playmobil: The Movie | Del (voice) |
| 2019 | Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (TV Series)- The Fastest Fast Food Fiend! | Jim Gaffigan (voice) |
| 2019 | I’ve Got Issues | Narrator |
| 2019 | Tesla | George Westinghouse |
| 2020 | Most Wanted | Glen Picker |
| Jesus Revolution (pre-production) |
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