Jim Gaffigan is a much-loved American comedian, actor, and writer with highly successful careers in all three industries. He is best known for his stand-up comedy specials including, King Baby, Mr. Universe, and The Pale Tourist. His net worth is approximately $40 million.
| Full Name | James Christopher Gaffigan |
| Date of Birth | July 7, 1966 |
| Place of Birth | Illinois, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83m) |
| Net Worth | $40 Million |
Jim Gaffigan Early Life
Jim Gaffigan (James Christopher Gaffigan) was born on July 7, 1966, in Elgin, Illinois. He was the youngest of 6 children born to Marcia Miriam Gaffigan and Michael Ambrose Gaffigan. His family ancestry is from Ireland, and their last name was originally Gavahan. His maternal grandfather, Richard F. Mitchell served as a judge on the Iowa Supreme Court.
His mother was a dedicated charity worker who spent her life helping those less fortunate. She was also skilled at needlepoint and received a national award for original design and craftsmanship from the American Needlepoint Guild in 1985. She sadly passed away from cancer in 1990, aged 53.
Gaffigan’s father was a banker and ran the Mercantile National Bank of Indiana as president and CEO for 15 years, until he retired in 1991. He used to be a seminarian, and he also did a lot of charity work in the area. Sadly though, he too passed away from cancer in 1999, aged 63.
Jim Gaffigan went to La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana, and played football for the school. He then went on to Purdue University for one year and joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
Following this he transferred to Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and got a degree in finance in 1988. Even though he didn’t enjoy studying finance, he worked as a litigation consultant for a short time after he graduated and “was terrible at it.”
Comedy Career
Jim Gaffigan moved to New York in 1990 to try to make a living as a comedian. He did this because he respects David Letterman, who is also from Indiana. He was working in advertising during the day and going to acting school at night. Around this time, he was chosen to be in a series of ads for Blockbuster Video called “Entertainment Squad.”
A classmate dared him to take a stand-up comedy class that required a live performance at the end. This was the turning point in his career. He fell in love with stand-up comedy, and after taking acting classes in the evening, he started doing stand-up every night until early in the morning.
During the first seven years of his career, he tried out many different styles, such as angry humor, impressions, and voices. Also, after reaching its peak in the 1980s, live comedy went downhill, which was made worse by the growing popularity of cable TV. He tried out for The Late Show with David Letterman repeatedly for six years. But it wasn’t until 1999 that he performed a stand-up act on the show which was a huge success.
Gaffigan’s observational style is mostly about eating, being a dad, and being lazy. He is famous for his Hot Pocket act, which was based on an ad he saw that he thought was a Saturday Night Live skit.
Over the years Gaffigan has had immense success releasing 8 stand-up specials that have all been well received. 6 of his 8 specials have been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Comedy Album category but with no winners yet.
In 2014, Gaffigan received the award for Concert Comedian at the American Comedy Awards for his work.
In 2007, Pale Force was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Broadband Program in the Comedy category. Gaffigan served as executive producer, writer, and lead actor.
Stand-Up Specials
Here is list of Jim Gaffigan’s Stand-Up Specials in chronological order.
- Beyond the Pale (2006)
- King Baby (2009)
- Mr. Universe (2012)
- Obsessed (2014)
- Cinco (2017)
- Noble Ape (2018)
- Quality Time (2019)
- The Pale Tourist (2020)
Film
Jim Gaffigan has also had an exceptionally prosperous film career. He has earned credits in over 50 Hollywood productions including some voice acting work for prominent animated films. All in all, he has spent 25 continuous years in the industry and has never been short of work. This speaks to not only his work ethic but also how much he is respected by others.
His first film appearance was as a storekeeper in the 1998 film, “The Real Howard Spitz”. Although this was a small part, he quickly leapt into public domain through some much larger parts in hugely successful comedy movies.
Some of his most notable appearances through the years include, Super Troopers (2001), 13 Going On 30 (2004), Chuck (2016) and, Drunk Parents (2019).
Television
Jim Gaffigan’s tremendous acting talent has also landed him some significant TV work.
From 2001-2002, he had a recurring role on The Ellen Show playing Rusty Carnouk, featuring in a grand total of 18 episodes.
From 2006-2009, he had a leading role in the sitcom, My Boys. He played the character Andy Franklin for a 40-episode run.
Jim then went on to write and star in his own show alongside his wife, Jeannie. The Jim Gaffigan Show ran for 23 episodes across 2 seasons from 2015-2016. The show featured a fictionalized version of his family and was a sitcom about raising a family of 5 children in a 2-bedroom apartment in New York.
Books
Jim Gaffigan has also written 2 books both of which were published by Crown Publishing. Both of his two books are a collection of comedic essays writing around the subject of parenting.
The first, Dad is Fat, was released in 2013 and debuted at number 5 on the New York Times Best Seller’s List, remaining on the list for three months.
The second book, Food: A Love Story, followed quickly in the fall of 2014. Although not as popular as the first, it still received much praise from fans and critics alike.
Jim Gaffigan Net Worth
It is easy to see that with outstanding careers in comedy, film, TV, and writing, Jim Gaffigan has had a very lucrative professional life.
It is reported that in the year between June 2017 and June 2018 he earned a total of $18 million from all his ventures. Thus, making him one of the top 10 highest earning comedians of that year.
Jim has been earning substantial income from various sources for the best part of 25 years. However, it is important to note that he has 5 children, and as we all know, the cost of raising children is significant.
Taking this into account we estimate that Jim’s net worth is around the $40 million mark.
Social Media
Jim Gaffigan is surprisingly active on social media and enjoys interacting with his audience. He is most active on Twitter.
His Instagram account is followed by 1 million people and can be found by clicking here.
His Twitter account is followed by 3.1 million people and can be found by clicking here.
Personal Life
In 2003, Jim Gaffigan got married to actress Jeannie Noth (now Gaffigan). They have 5 children together, two daughters and three sons. The family of seven lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the Manhattan borough of New York City, before moving to a larger Manhattan home in 2015.
Gaffigan and his family are practicing Catholics and go to Mass at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan. This is where he and his wife got married and where their children were baptized. In May 2016, he and his wife spoke at the Catholic University of America’s commencement address. In May 2018, they also gave the commencement speech at Marquette University, where his wife went to school. As part of the graduation ceremony, both were given an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.