A whitelist or approved list is a list or register of entities that, for one reason or another, are being provided a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to whitelist can mean to authorize access or grant membership. Conversely, a blacklist is a list or compilation that identifies entities that are denied, unrecognized, or ostracized.

Email whitelists

An e-mail whitelist is a list of contacts that the user deems are acceptable to receive email from and should not be sent to the trash folder.

Spam filters that come with e-mail clients have both whitelists and blacklists of senders and keywords to look for in e-mails. If a spam filter keeps a whitelist, mail from the listed e-mail addresses, domains, and/or IP address will always be allowed.

Some internet service providers have whitelists that they use to filter e-mail to be delivered to their customers. ISPs receive requests from legitimate companies to add them to the ISP whitelist of companies. Companies either pay for a time period to be allowed to e-mail their customers or the companies pay per complaint received by the ISP from their customers. These payments per complaint increase incrementally; i.e., the first 10 complaints are $10 each, then the next 10 are $20 each. These funds are then used by the ISPs to fund anti-spam programs to prevent unwanted e-mail.

If a whitelist is exclusive, only e-mail from those on the whitelist will get through. If it is not exclusive, it prevents e-mail from being deleted or sent to the junk mail folder by the spam filter. Usually, only end-users would set a spam filter to delete all e-mails from sources not on the whitelist, not internet service providers or e-mail services.

Using whitelists and blacklists can assist in blocking unwanted messages and allowing wanted messages to get through, but they are not perfect. E-mail whitelists are used to reduce the incidence of false positives, often based on the assumption that most legitimate mail will be from a relatively small and fixed set of senders. To block a high percentage of spam, e-mail filters have to be continuously updated as e-mail spam senders create new email addresses to e-mail from or new keywords to use in their e-mail which allows the e-mail to slip through.

Non-commercial whitelists

Non-commercial whitelists are operated by various non-profit organisations, ISPs and other entities interested in blocking spam. Rather than paying fees the sender must pass a series of tests; for example, his email server must not be an open relay and have a Static IP address. The operator of the whitelist may remove a server from the list if complaints are received.

Commercial whitelists

Commercial whitelists are a system by which an internet service provider allows someone to bypass spam filters when sending e-mail messages to its subscribers, in return for a pre-paid fee, either an annual fee or a per-message fee. A sender can then be more confident that his messages have reached their recipients without being blocked, or having links or images stripped out of them, by spam filters. The purpose of commercial whitelists is to allow companies to reliably reach their customers by e-mail.

Commercial providers include GoodMailSystems's Certified Email, Return Path Certification, eco's Certified Senders Alliance, and the Spamhaus Whitelist.

LAN whitelists

Another use for whitelists is local area network (LAN) security. Many network admins setup MAC address whitelists or a MAC address filter to control who is on their networks. This is used when encryption is not a practical solution or in tandem with encryption. However, it's sometimes ineffective because a MAC address can be faked.

Some firewalls can be configured to only allow data-traffic from/ to certain (ranges of) IP-addresses.

Program whitelists

If an organization keeps a whitelist of software, only titles on the list will be accepted for use. The benefits of whitelisting in this instance are that the school administration can ensure itself that students will not be able to download and/or use programs that have not been deemed appropriate for use.

Application whitelists

An emerging approach in combating viruses and malware is to whitelist software which is considered safe to run, blocking all others. Some deem this as superior to the standard signature-based, anti-virus approach of blocking/removing known harmful software (essentially blacklisting), as the standard approach generally means that exploits are already in the wild.

These products may provide administrative control over program whitelists in addition to preventing introduction of new malware, but they cannot stop exploitation of existing processes in order to gain root (and therefore bypass/disable the whitelisting application, an example).

References

See also

External links

List of email whitelist services

Steps in improving e-mail deliverability

Category:Spamming Category:Computer security Category:Antivirus software Category:Malware

Caption	White at the Time 100 gala in 2010
Birth name	Betty Marion White
Birth date	January 17, 1922
Birth place	Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	Betty White Ludden
Occupation	Actress, comedienne, writer
Years active	1939–present
Spouse	Dyck Barker (1945)Lane Allen (1947–1949) Allen Ludden (1963–1981; his death)

Betty Marion White (born January 17, 1922) is an American actress, comedian, author, and former game-show host. She is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. , she is currently starring as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland. She has also released several books over the span of her career. In August 2010, she entered a deal with G.P. Putnam Sons to produce two more books, the first of which is scheduled for release in 2011.

White has won seven Emmy awards and received 20 Emmy nominations Her mother was of Greek, English, and Welsh descent, and her father was of Danish and English ancestry. White's family moved to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression. She attended Horace Mann School in Beverly Hills, California, and Beverly Hills High School.

Career

1939–1979

White began her television career three months after high school graduation, when she and a classmate sang songs from The Merry Widow on an experimental Los Angeles channel. White found work modeling, and her first professional acting job was at the Bliss Hayden Little Theatre. White's career was disrupted immediately, as World War II broke out, causing her to join the American Women's Voluntary Services. In the 1940s, she worked in radio appearing on shows such as Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve and This Is Your FBI. She then got her own radio show, called The Betty White Show. In 1949 she began appearing with Al Jarvis on his daily, live variety show Hollywood on Television on KLAC in Los Angeles. Life With Elizabeth was nationally syndicated by the mid-1950s, allowing White to become one of the few women in television with full creative control in front of and behind the camera at the time.

In 1973, White made a guest appearance in season four of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as The Happy Homemaker.

After The Golden Girls The characters of Ann and Pamela Douglas (Alley Mills) disappeared after their March 27, 2007, appearance and were not mentioned again until October 19, 2007, when Ann appeared briefly. White would go on to appear in three more episodes following that, one on December 10, 2007; August 28, 2008; and October 28, 2008. She returned to the show on November 18, 2009 and in the November 19, 2009 episode her character revealed that she was dying of advanced pancreatic cancer. To date she has made 22 appearances as Ann Douglas. In the November 23, 2009 episode Ann passes away due to complications from her illness, with both of her daughters next to her on the beach at Paradise Cove.

In the broadcast of the 2007 TV Land Awards, White starred in a parody of Ugly Betty, aptly titled Ugly Betty White, in which she played America Ferrera's title character, with Charo playing White's sister Hilda, and Erik Estrada playing her father Ignacio. Her performance earned her a part on Ugly Betty as herself, the victim of Wilhelmina Slater's temper as they vie for a cab in the episode "Bananas for Betty", which aired December 6, 2007.

White had a recurring role in ABC's Boston Legal from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on The Practice in 2004. The May 8 SNL episode garnered the show's highest ratings since November 1, 2008, when Ben Affleck hosted. In her opening monologue, White thanked Facebook and joked that she "didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time." The appearance earned her a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, her seventh Emmy win overall.

In June 2010, White appeared as Elka Ostrovsky the house caretaker on TV Land’s original sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

In July 2010, it was announced that she posed for her own calendar for the year 2011; the calendar also features photos from her career and her pictured with various animals. She also debuted her own clothing line on July 22, 2010, which features shirts with her face on them. All proceeds will also go to various animal charities she supports.

She guest-starred in the second-season premiere of NBC's Community as an anthropology professor. In 2010 she also guest starred in The Middle & 30 Rock. She also will have a role in Operation Secret Santa, the sequel to Prep & Landing and the second installment in Disney's "Lanny and Wayne" franchise.

Charity

White is a pet enthusiast and animal health advocate who works with a number of animal organizations, including the Los Angeles Zoo Commission, the Morris Animal Foundation, and Actors & Others for Animals. Her interest in animal rights and welfare began in the early 1970s while she was both producing and hosting the syndicated series, The Pet Set, which spotlighted celebrities and their pets. He proposed to White at least twice before she accepted. The couple appeared together in an episode of The Odd Couple featuring Felix's and Oscar's appearance on Password. Ludden appeared as a guest panelist on Match Game, with White sitting in the audience. (She was prompted to rip apart one of Ludden's wrong answers on camera during an episode of Match Game '74). The two appeared together on the Match Game panel in 1975.

Ludden died from stomach cancer on June 9, 1981, in Los Angeles. They had no children together. White has not remarried since Ludden's death.

When asked about her real-life heroes White told Vanity Fair, "Charles Darwin."

Awards, honors and nominations

White has won seven Emmy Awards, three American Comedy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990), and two Viewers For Quality Television Awards. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6747 Hollywood Boulevard alongside the star of her late husband Allen Ludden. at 6747 Hollywood Blvd.]] White was the recipient of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Golden Ike Award and the Genii Award from the American Women in Radio and Television in 1976. In 2009, White and her now deceased Golden Girls cast mates Beatrice Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty were awarded honorary Disney Legend awards. Betty will also be inducted into the California Hall of Fame in December 2010. In 2010 she was chosen as the Associated Press's Entertainer of the Year.

On November 9, 2010, the USDA Forest Service along with Smokey Bear made actress Betty White an honorary forest ranger, fulfilling her lifelong dream. White said in previous interviews that she wanted to be a forest ranger as a little girl but that women were not allowed to do that then. Today’s United States Forest Service is 38 percent female, including rangers, scientists and leaders at every level.

In December 2010, White received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role as Elka Ostrovsky in Hot In Cleveland and the show itself also received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

People's Choice Awards

2011 - Favorite TV Guest Star - Community

2011 - Favorite Web Celeb

Golden Globe Award

1986 – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Musical or comedy – The Golden Girls

1987 – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy – The Golden Girls

1988 – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy – The Golden Girls

1989 – Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy – The Golden Girls

SAG Awards

2010 – Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award

Emmy Award

1951 – Best Actress (KLAC)

1977 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Mary Tyler Moore Show

1984 – Outstanding Game Show Host – Just Men!

1987 – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls

1988 – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls

1989 – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls

1992 – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls

1997 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Suddenly Susan

2003 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Yes, Dear

2004 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – The Practice

2009 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – My Name Is Earl

MTV Movie Awards

2010 – Best Comedic Performance – The Proposal (nominated)

2010 – Best WTF Moment – The Proposal (nominated)

New Now Next Award nominations

2010 – Cause You're Hot

Filmography

Books by White

1983: Betty White's Pet-Love: How Pets Take Care of Us

1987: Betty White In Person

1991: The Leading Lady: Dinah's Story

1995: Here We Go Again: My Life In Television

2011: If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't)

References

Further reading

Tucker, David C. The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007.

External links

Betty White News & Info blog

Betty White News on Twitter

Betty White is Hot in Cleveland

The Early Betty White 1947-1971

Archive of American Television Interview with Betty White June 4, 1997

Betty White on The Museum of Broadcast Communications

Betty White to Star on Hot in Clevlande

Video of TV Academy's Salute to Betty White

Category:1922 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Illinois Category:Animal rights advocates Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American people of Danish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American soap opera actors Category:American television actors Category:American vegans Category:American voice actors Category:Animal charities Category:Animal welfare organizations Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Game show hosts Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Oak Park, Illinois Category:Women comedians

Caption	White during his tenure with the Green Bay Packers.
Position	Defensive end
Number	91, 92
Birthdate	December 19, 1961
Birthplace	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Deathdate	December 26, 2004
Deathplace	Cornelius, North Carolina
Heightft	6
Heightin	5
Weight	300
Debutyear	1985
Debutteam	Philadelphia Eagles
Finalyear	2000
Finalteam	Carolina Panthers
College	Tennessee
Pastteams
Stat1label	Tackles
Stat1value	1,112
Stat2label	Sacks
Stat2value	198
Stat3label	Interceptions
Stat3value	3
Nfl	WHI419940
Highlights
Hof	257
Collegehof	80053

Reginald Howard "Reggie" White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004), nicknamed "The Minister of Defense", was a professional American football player who played defensive end for 15 seasons in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers becoming one of the most decorated players in NFL history. He also played for two seasons in the United States Football League for the Memphis Showboats. The 2-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, 13-time Pro Bowl and 12-time All-Pro selection holds 2nd place all-time amongst career sack leaders with 198.5 (behind Bruce Smith's 200 career sacks) and was selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. During his professional career, he became famous not only for his outstanding play, but also for his Christian ministry as an ordained Evangelical minister. This led to his aforementioned nickname, "The Minister of Defense". White was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, two years after his death.

Personal life

White was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended Howard School of Academics and Technology during high school, and from there was recruited to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. As a professional player, he played with both USFL and NFL teams.

He was married to the former Sara Copeland, with whom he had two children, Jeremy and Jecolia.

College career

White played college football at Tennessee from 1980 to 1983, where he set school records for most sacks in a career, season and game. He still holds these records. While playing for the Volunteers, White was named an All-American. He was the SEC Player of the Year in his Senior season of 1983.

Professional career

USFL

Memphis Showboats

After college, White signed with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL. He played for Memphis for two seasons, starting in 36 games. As a member of the Showboats, he racked up 23.5 sacks, 198 tackles, and seven forced fumbles.

NFL

Philadelphia Eagles

When the USFL collapsed, White had proven himself good enough to be desired by NFL teams. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, who held his NFL rights. He played with the Eagles for eight seasons, during which time he picked up 124 sacks, becoming the Eagles' all-time sack leader. He also set the Eagles regular-season record with 21 sacks in a single season (1987). White also became the only player to ever accumulate twenty or more sacks in just twelve games. He also set an NFL regular-season record during 1987 by averaging the most sacks per game, with 1.75 sacks per game. Over the course of his tenure with the Eagles, White actually accumulated more sacks than the number of games that he played. He was voted by ESPN Sportsnation as the greatest player in Eagles' franchise history.

Green Bay Packers

In 1993, White became a free agent. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers, where he played for six seasons. While not quite as prolific as in his years with the Eagles, White still notched up another 68.5 sacks, to become, at the time, the Packers' all-time leader in that category (second now to Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila who has 74.5 registered sacks). White was also just as valued for his role as a team leader. He helped the Packers to two Super Bowls, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. That victory was the only championship White ever shared in at any level. In 1998, White was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Carolina Panthers

In 2000, he came out of a 1-year retirement and started all 16 games for the Panthers. White had 6 sacks and 1 forced fumble while with the team. He again retired at the end of the 2000 season.

Retirements

After the 1998 season, White retired from professional football. However, in 2000, White was wooed back to the league by the Carolina Panthers. He played for one season as a Panther, then retired again.

At the time of his retirement, White was the NFL's all-time sacks leader with 198. (He has since been surpassed by Bruce Smith who has 200.) White also recorded three interceptions, which he returned for 79 yards. He recovered nineteen fumbles, which he returned for 137 yards and three touchdowns. His nine consecutive seasons (1985–1993) with at least ten sacks remain an NFL record. He was named an All-Pro for thirteen of his fifteen seasons, including eight as a first-team selection.

Professional wrestling

White famously appeared on screen at two professional wrestling events–wrestling one match. In April 1995 he was ringside as part of Lawrence Taylor's "All-Stars" for his match against Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI. During the show he participated in one backstage segment with the All-Stars, calling out Money Inc. member Irwin R. Shyster. Before and during the actual match the All-Stars and Money, Inc. teams were involved in a scuffle, which White participated in.

On May 18, 1997, White wrestled his only professional wrestling match for WCW at Slamboree. He wrestled fellow NFL (and LT's All-Star team mate) alumnus Steve McMichael. The two men emulated football tackles during their bout. White received a warm response from the professional wrestling crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina, but nonetheless lost to McMichael after being hit with a steel Zero Halliburton briefcase secretly given to McMichael by his valet (and then-real life wife) Debra McMichael.

Religious activities

In White's last year of football, a friend reportedly gave White a teaching CD from Messianic teacher Monte Judah. Following his retirement, White began studying Torah and Torah-observant Messianic theology. White also studied Hebrew under Nehemia Gordon. In October 2003, White was interviewed by Messianic teacher and televangelist Michael Rood, and he discussed his studies of Torah. The interview was broadcast on February 4 and 6, 2005, on the Sky Angel cable channel. Following White's death, the January 2005 edition of Messianic magazine Yavoh was dedicated to him as a "Messianic Believer," leading to confusion regarding White's religious beliefs. Some reported—incorrectly—that White had abandoned Christianity and was studying Judaism. This may have arisen because some Christians consider Messianic theology to be a form of Judaism because it holds obedience to the Torah as an expression of one's faith, and it is frequently referred to as "Messianic Judaism."

White was touched by the African American church arson scares during the mid-1990s. The Inner City Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where White was an associate minister, burned to the ground in 1996.

Controversy

White's retirement was not without controversy. He created a stir in March 1998 with his comments before the Wisconsin state legislature, invoking racial stereotypes of Latinos, Asians, whites, blacks, and Native Americans. He stated that these diverse "gifts" of each race, "formed a complete image of God [...] because He was trying to create Himself". An image that society had pushed aside, leading to the aversion of racial unity. He specified that "without assimilation there's no desegregation, nor is there integration, because people of all ethnic backgrounds have to be able to compete economically in order to build their families."

Later, in an interview with ABC's 20/20, White made remarks about gays and lesbians. Subsequently, White became an ally of organizations opposed to homosexuality; he appeared in a newspaper advertising campaign to convince gays and lesbians that they could "cease" their homosexuality. As a result, CBS withdrew a five-year, $6 million contract for being a part of the pregame panel because of his statements calling homosexuality a sin. Both the Green Bay Packers and the NFL objected to the ads, since White had appeared in his football uniform without the consent of the team or the league. Later versions of the ad removed the uniform.

Death

On the morning of December 26, 2004, White was rushed from his home in Cornelius, North Carolina, to a nearby hospital in Huntersville, North Carolina, where he was pronounced dead. White had suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. The most likely cause of this, according to the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office, was the cardiac and pulmonary sarcoidosis that he had lived with for years. It was also stated that sleep apnea, which White was known to suffer from may have contributed to his death. His grave site is situated at Glenwood Memorial Park, Mooresville, North Carolina.

Accolades

Jersey number retirements

During the 2005 season, two NFL teams retired White's number 92 jersey and one collegiate team.

The University of Tennessee retired White's jersey at a halftime presentation on October 1, 2005 during their game against the University of Mississippi, the third such retirement in the modern era of football at the school; a commemorative sign was also unveiled in the south end of Neyland Stadium. On December 5, 2005, the Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey in a halftime ceremony during the Eagles' Monday Night Football game with the Seattle Seahawks, who were coached by Mike Holmgren, White's former coach in Green Bay. During a halftime presentation at Lambeau Field on September 18, 2005, White became the fifth Green Bay Packer to have his number retired by the franchise and the first player in NFL history to have his number officially retired by multiple teams. The Packers and the Eagles also wore a helmet decal honoring White for the remaining games in the season.

Hall of Fame

White was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot on February 4, 2006. He was enshrined at a ceremony on August 5, 2006 in Canton Ohio. White's widow, Sara White, delivered her husband's acceptance speech at the ceremony. She was introduced by their son, Jeremy White, who also released the first copies of his autobiography, In His Shadow: Growing Up With Reggie White, during the Hall of Fame weekend in honor of his father. Jeremy thanked the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" in his introduction, echoing Reggie White's dedication to his faith.

White was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Named Street

The official sign hanging for Reggie White Boulevard took place on Monday, December 8, 2008, at 2 p.m. at the intersection of 20th and Carter Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. White’s mother, Thelma White Collier, along with other family and friends were on hand to witness the change to Reggie White Boulevard. The official name change was approved by the Chattanooga City Council on November 4, 2008.

There is also a Reggie White Way in Green Bay Wisconsin off of Lombardi Avenue near Lambeau Field.

Lists

White was named the 7th best NFL player of all time according to NFL Networks "Top 100" on November 4th, 2010.

References

External links

Video NFL Top 100 Players #7

Packers.com: Reggie White

Teammates, Friends Shocked by Reggie White's Death

Transcript of Reggie White Pro Football Hall of Fame speeches

Reggie White Foundation's Crescent Rising Program

Category:1961 births Category:2004 deaths Category:People from Chattanooga, Tennessee Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:American Christian ministers Category:American football defensive ends Category:American football defensive tackles Category:Tennessee Volunteers football players Category:Philadelphia Eagles players Category:Green Bay Packers players Category:National Football League players with retired numbers Category:Carolina Panthers players Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players Category:NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:African American players of American football Category:Deaths from cardiovascular disease Category:Burials in North Carolina Category:Memphis Showboats players

Caption	Griffin in 2008 filming season four of My Life on the D-List| birth_date = November 04, 1960
Birth place	Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Birth name	Kathleen Mary Griffin
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Genre	Observational comedy, Satire, Blue comedy, Insult comedy
Subject	Celebrities, gossip, pop culture
Influences	Joan Rivers, Don Rickles, Johnny Carson
Spouse	Matt Moline (2001–2006)
Active	1978–present
Notable work	Suddenly Susan

Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and a LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan. She is now the star of the Bravo reality show , for which she has won two Emmy Awards as executive producer. She has also worked as a voice artist and red carpet commentator, in addition to several other career pursuits. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Early life

Kathleen Mary Griffin was born in Oak Park, Illinois on November 4, 1960. Her mother, Mary Margaret "Maggie" (née Corbally), and her father, John Patrick Griffin, were first-generation Irish American. Maggie worked as a cashier in the Oak Park Hospital. The last of five children, her siblings are Kenny, Joyce, Gary and John. When most of her siblings moved, Griffin often spent hours alone in the house, and she developed a binge eating disorder. She explained that even though eating disorders were not very well-known at that time, she knew it was wrong and always threw the garbage away in the neighbours's can. In her 2009 autobiography Official Book Club Selection, Griffin confessed that she "still suffers [from food issues]" but has learned to "deal with them".

Griffin recalls that her older brother Kenny was a troublemaker, and was constantly arrested. Many of his female companions admitted to Griffin that he beat them. When she was eight years old, he would climb into bed with her and cuddle, whispering "sweet nothings" to her. As a young girl Griffin attended St. Bernadine's Elementary School, and began to develop a dislike for organized religion due to the punishments of the nuns towards her and other "vulnerable" students. After graduation, she attended Oak Park High School and sought refuge in musical theater, portraying roles as Rosemary on How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. During her senior year, she started having fights with her parents who wanted her to attend college, while she wanted to become a professional actress. Her first appearance on television was as an extra on a Chicago White Sox commercial and was signed with different Chicago talent agencies. At age eighteen, Griffin convinced her parents to move to Los Angeles, California to help her become famous.

At age nineteen, Griffin attended a show of the California-based improvisational group The Groundlings. She said, "I thought. This is where I want to be. This is the greatest thing in the world." After the show ended, she went backstage and asked member Phil Hartman about it.

In her 2009 autobiography Official Book Club Selection, Griffin went on the record for the first time about her brother Kenny's troubled life. Detailing his history of drug abuse and domestic violence, she also discussed how, though he was never prosecuted, she believes he was a child molester. Many of his female companions later admitted that he abused them. She also states that, while he never actually molested her, he would go to her bed, cuddle, whisper "sweet nothings" to her when she was eight years old. After being told of his inappropriate contact with minors, Griffin chose to end her relationship with her brother.

In the autobiography, Griffin goes on to explain the impact this decision had on her life. Other members of Griffin's family refused to believe he was a child molester, which caused a rift in the family. Many years later, Griffin's father, while speaking on the telephone to Kenny—who was imprisoned—confronted him about the issue. Rather than deny or confirm, Kenny simply stated "I do what I do." This ended the family argument on the issue. Griffin stated that, many years later, she actually passed Kenny standing on a road with a cardboard sign begging for money. It struck her that his sign stated simply "Need Food" rather than the commonly seen "Will Work For Food", and it influenced her well-known work ethic for the rest of her life. After living on the street, he eventually returned home to his parents and died in his mother's arms while waiting for an ambulance. later the title of Griffin's 1998 solo HBO special.

Griffin made an appearance in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, as a pedestrian coming to the aid of Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) after he is hit by Butch Coolidge's car (Bruce Willis).

She broke into film with the supporting role of Connie in the horror film The Unborn, starring Brooke Adams.

Griffin gradually amassed such TV and film credits as a role in comedian Julie Brown's , a Showtime parody of the 1991 Madonna film ; two appearances as the character Susan Klein, a reporter, on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, her TV sitcom debut; fellow comic Bob Goldthwait's film Shakes the Clown; as the enthusiastic leader of a fanatical car club on the Ellen episode "Oh, Sweet Rapture", airing in January 1996; starring in a dual-role in a seventh season episode of The X-Files, and an episode of ABC's divorce-attorney series Civil Wars, Griffin's dramatic-series debut. In addition, she appeared on Ugly Betty as a fashion channel reporter.

After starring in an HBO Half Hour Comedy Special, Griffin had her first consistent public exposure in 1996, when she was cast as the acerbic colleague of Brooke Shields' title character on the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan. In 1998, Griffin starred in her first one-hour special, HBO's Kathy Griffin: A Hot Cup of Talk. She honed a comedy and television career that poked fun at her relatively modest place in the Hollywood hierarchy in a self-deprecating manner. She frequently appears in such self-consciously tacky projects as the reality show competition Celebrity Mole Hawaii, in which she won the 2003 edition after undergoing such experiences as walking over hot lava with her bare feet. She identifies her victory as the moment she became a "D-list" celebrity. .]] Griffin also has a secondary career in voiceover work and has been featured on a variety of projects such as the animated series Dilbert and .

Griffin's TV production company is called Inappropriate Laughter, a reference to her sometimes shocking form of humor.

On 12 June 2008, Griffin hosted the first ever Bravo! A-List Awards. Included in the show was a scene where Griffin mimicked a "wardrobe malfunction" (referring to the infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show controversy in 2004). She also hosted the 2009 Bravo A-List Awards, which aired on 15 April 2009 and her Bravo special Kathy Griffin: She'll Cut a Bitch, taped on 4 March 2009 in Portland, Oregon, aired beforehand. Shout! Factory released an extended version of the show on DVD in early 2010.

On 8 September 2009, Ballantine Books published Griffin's memoir, titled Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin. The book debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. A week prior, she released her second comedy album, Suckin' It for the Holidays. It is the comedian's second bid to win a Grammy Award.

She also appeared in Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" music video as a nurse.

It was announced on 3 November 2009, that Griffin was to host ABC's new show Let's Dance, which was supposed to premiere immediately after the finale of Dancing with the Stars on 23 November. On the show, celebrity contestants would have re-enacted famous routines from past music videos, movies, and musicals, while competing for a $250,000 grand prize for their favorite charity. However, the show never aired.

Griffin hosted CNN's New Year's Eve Broadcast on December 31, 2009, along with Anderson Cooper. As Cooper talked about the Balloon boy hoax, Griffin said the word "fucking" while making fun of the pronunciation of Falcon Heene, the six-year-old boy who was said to have been trapped in the balloon. Although Griffin was rumored to be banned from future CNN broadcasts, she co-hosted the show again with Cooper, on December 31, 2010.

Griffin has also guest-starred in an episode of , playing a lesbian activist.

Giffin has since the 2008 election enjoyed making jokes about the Palin family (now stars of their own reality TV show) at every turn. Shots at Sara Palin, her husband Todd Palin, and their eldest daughter Bristol have garnered cheers but also booes (particularly with conservative audiences). Most recently Griffin has announced that 2011 will be the year that she includes minor daughter Willow Palin in her jokes as well, following an incident in which Willow made some harsh homophobic remarks on Facebook that received a fair amount of publicity.

Guest co-host of The View

Kathy Griffin served as the unofficial guest co-host of The View from May 2007 to September 2007, and was considered to join the panel as a replacement for the recently departed Rosie O'Donnell. However, Whoopi Goldberg was ultimately selected as the permanent replacement. On 10 September 2007, Sherri Shepherd took over the remaining co-host spot that had been vacant since Star Jones's departure. Walters stated that she was worried about hiring another loose cannon after the troubles with O'Donnell.

Griffin recently divulged in her stand-up that she is now banned from The View after talking about the gig on her televised comedy special, Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell. While declining to discuss the ban on Access Hollywood, during the filming of an episode for My Life on the D-List with former View co-host/moderator Rosie O'Donnell, Griffin did talk about the ban, specifically targeting View executive producer Bill Geddie. Griffin has also been mentioned as a possible replacement for Walters in the event she departs the show. As of August 2009, Griffin had been un-banned from The View and was a guest on September 18, 2009, and June 15, 2010. However, in an interview on The Talk, Griffin has stated she has been re-banned from The View, due to an argument with The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselback.

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

Emmy Awards controversy

and Michael McDonald perform an improv skit for Soldiers and Airmen in Tikrit, Iraq.]] The second season, which premiered on 6 June 2006, brought Griffin the 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program, non-competition, on 8 September 2007. She received it during the Creative Arts Emmy, which was hosted by Carlos Mencia and aired on E! on 15 September. Griffin stirred up controversy with her acceptance speech, saying, }} Griffin later explained that she meant this remark not as a slight on Jesus, but rather as a satire of celebrities who thank Jesus profusely and nonsensically for their awards, especially artists who themselves are controversial.

Her remarks were quickly condemned by the Catholic League which urged the academy to "denounce Griffin's obscene and blasphemous comment." The Academy said that her "offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night". Griffin later responded, "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?" The editing was condemned in two consecutive episodes of Freethought Radio, a radio program produced by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the latter episode containing the deleted material. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly called Griffin a "pinhead" for her remark, which Griffin considered a "badge of honor."

Style of humor

Griffin developed her love for popular culture through her immediate and extended family, who were always commenting about the latest news. She explained that "I may have been into The Brady Bunch like every other kid, but I also wanted to watch John Lennon and Yoko Ono on The Dick Cavett Show, and every minute of the Watergate hearings. It was fear of the dinner table that got me hooked." She has also named her mother Maggie as influential in her consumption of pop culture, calling her "the ideal audience for the Hollywood dish."

"...[The Mary Tyler Moore Show] gave me the first inking of what place I could have in the entertainment world. [...] But when Rhoda burst through the door in her Gypsy headscarf, billowy caftan, and hilariously abrasive delivery, I was like, 'Who is that? Oh my God!' That’s when I fell in love with wanting to be the sidekick. Everything out of her mouth was hysterical, yet she was vulnerable and human. I remember my family fell in love with her, too. That’s who I wanted to be. She had all the jokes." Her favorite celebrity topics are plastic surgery, Scientology, drunkenness, substance abuse, snooty attitudes, eating disorders, and stars whose sexual orientation is disputed. Among Griffin's staples are Paris Hilton, Clay Aiken, Barbara Walters, Whitney Houston, Larry David, Celine Dion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfeld, Star Jones, Paula Abdul, Sharon Stone, Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, Ryan Seacrest, Lindsay Lohan, Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, Bravo's Real Housewives and Kirstie Alley.

Griffin is sometimes the object of her own humor, particularly with regard to her D-list status. While Griffin paints herself as a Hollywood outsider, she has a group of close celebrity friends such as Rosie O'Donnell, Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Coolidge, Larry David, Ricky Gervais and Lance Bass. Griffin's longtime friendship with Bass was the catalyst for a feud between her and gossip blogger Perez Hilton, in which Griffin expressed anger over Hilton's "outing" of Bass on his website, calling Hilton's attacks on Bass "mean" and "unfunny". Hilton responded by saying that Griffin's anger was hypocritical, considering all of the gay jokes she makes about Clay Aiken in her stand-up routines. Griffin and Hilton ended their feud after the death of Griffin's father, and Hilton appeared on an episode of her show in 2007. However, the season premier of The D-List depicted that Zajicek was no longer working for Griffin; Griffin explained early in the episode that Zajicek "has decided to move on". of the VH1 Divas Awards in 2009.]]

Her style has led to a number of controversies. Although some talk show hosts welcome her humor on their programs such as Craig Kilborn, Bill Maher and Howard Stern (who she credits with giving her a "straight fanbase"), Griffin has claimed to be banned from appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Late Show with David Letterman. She recently got rebanned from The View because of a joke she made about Barbara Walters. She says Ellens producers told her they cannot have her on "trashing celebrities," but she appeared as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 11 September 2007. One of the most notable controversies occurred when she made a joke during a 2005 E! televised event that the child actress Dakota Fanning, then age 11, had entered rehab. This incident got Griffin fired from hosting duties on E!'s red-carpet award show coverage. Nevertheless, E! purchased rights to air My Life on the D-List for its British channel, a fact she noted in an episode of season 3.

In a July 2009 episode of My Life on the D-List, after using profanity in an Octomom joke during her routine at New York's legendary Apollo Theatre, Griffin claimed that she received a letter banning her from the venue.

Griffin has claimed to have been fired from an appearance on the show Hannah Montana, on account of her Emmy acceptance speech. According to Griffin "the instructions literally came down, 'We don't want her anywhere near the building.'" Griffin hit back in her comedy act joking that Miley Cyrus "...has been flashing her green bra and posing topless."

In May 2006, Griffin visited the troops in Kuwait who were on their way to service in Iraq. She had dinner at the chow hall with many troops, including Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25.

LGBT rights advocacy

Griffin is an outspoken supporter for LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage. She has protested with fellow proponents in West Hollywood, California, and showcased the footage of such protests on her reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. Her mother Maggie Griffin is also a supporter of LGBT rights and is seen in Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List protesting alongside her daughter. Prior to the Proposition 8 ballot results, Griffin volunteered for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center’s "Vote for Equality" campaign, going door-to-door asking Los Angeles residents for their opinion of LGBT marriage rights.

She also has been a long-time supporter of the Aid For AIDS annual fundraiser, Best In Drag Show in Los Angeles, and hosted the opening of the show for more than five years. In November 2009, Aid For AIDS presented Kathy Griffin with an AFA Angel Award at their silver anniversary celebration.

Personal life

Griffin describes herself as a "militant atheist". While in high school, she fell away from the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to become a Unitarian. Said Griffin: "I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds better."

She is an outspoken opponent of LASIK eye surgery, having endured a series of operations for her own eyesight that left her partially blind in one eye with a visible eyeball deformity. She is open about her multiple plastic surgeries, and claims that fat "was donated to a soup kitchen" after her liposuction procedure.

Her father, John Patrick Griffin, died of heart failure on 17 February 2007 during the shooting of the third season of her reality show; he was 90 years old. The episode related to his death aired on 19 June 2007.

She placed 17th on Oxygen's 2007 list of "The 50 Funniest Women Alive".

Marriage and relationships

during her visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in April 2008.]] Griffin married Washington, D.C. native Matt Moline on 18 February 2001, atop the 360 Degree Restaurant in Hollywood. ABC News reported that she walked down the aisle to the strains of 1980s power ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger. Her maid of honor was Brooke Shields; and the wedding was attended by, among others, Camryn Manheim, Bill Maher, James Williams, and Jane Krakowski.

Griffin and Moline appeared to have a loving and supportive relationship on her reality show, but there were problems beneath the surface. After briefly separating and reconciling in 2005, they divorced in May 2006. Griffin had her tattooed wedding ring laser-removed after her divorce. On Larry King Live, Griffin accused her husband of stealing $72,000 from her. In a written statement, he declined to respond to the allegations publicly.

Since July 2007, rumors had circulated that Griffin had been dating Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. They attended the 2007 Emmy Awards together, and speculations arose when the two were interviewed together on the red carpet. On 18 September 2007, Us Weekly reported that Griffin and Wozniak were engaged; however, neither Griffin nor Wozniak confirmed the rumor. During a January 2008 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Griffin confirmed that Wozniak will be a regular guest on the fourth season of her reality show. On Tom Green's House Tonight on February 6, Griffin confirmed her relationship with Wozniak. When asked if she actually targeted Wozniak to make her ex-husband jealous, Griffin stated "What better way to get back at my ex, who was a tech, than to marry the biggest techno-nerd in the Universe?" Wozniak and Griffin served as King and Queen of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley Fur Ball on 5 April 2008, in Santa Clara, California, and scenes for the fourth season of My Life on the D-List were taped. However, as of June 2008, it was confirmed that Griffin and Wozniak are no longer dating and have decided to remain friends.

On August 9, 2009, she attended the Teen Choice Awards with Levi Johnston and subsequently interviewed him in her role as guest host on Larry King Live. In the interview, Griffin and Johnston mocked the idea that they were in a serious relationship.

Filmography

Stand-up specials

HBO Comedy Half-Hour (1996) Kathy Griffin: Hot Cup of Talk (1998)

Kathy Griffin: The D-List (2004)

Kathy Griffin: Allegedly (2004)

Kathy Griffin Is... Not Nicole Kidman (2005)

Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (2006)

Kathy Griffin: Everybody Can Suck It (2007)

Kathy Griffin: Straight To Hell (2007)

Kathy Griffin: She'll Cut A Bitch (2009)

Kathy Griffin: Balls Of Steel (2009)

Kathy Griffin Does the Bible Belt (2010)

Kathy Griffin: Whores on Crutches (2010)

Discography

On 10 June 2008, Griffin released a comedy CD titled For Your Consideration. It is Griffin's first audio-only release of her stand-up material. The disc was recorded at the ETK Theatre at the Grand Theatre Center For The Arts in Tracy, California on 17 February 2008. Included on the disc are her takes on various celebrities and her personal life. Griffin stated that she decided to release this CD to try to win a Grammy award. On 2 December 2009 it was nominated for Best Comedy Album, making it Griffin's second Grammy nomination.

Griffin received her third Grammy nomination for "Kathy Griffin does the Bible Belt".

References

External links

Kathy Griffin vs. Betty White Challenge: Who Hosts SNL First?

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