Who Is Jim Gaffigan's Wife? All About Jeannie Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan has been married to Jeannie Gaffigan since 2003

Jim Gaffigan and Jeannie Gaffigan are partners in life, love and laughter.

The couple first met in 2000 in a New York City bodega and wed in July 2003. Jim and Jeannie live in N.Y.C. with their five kids, about whom Jim often jokes in his stand-up routines.

In addition to raising their children, Jim and Jeannie have worked together on various comedy specials, including the TV Land series The Jim Gaffigan Show, loosely based on their family life. Not only did Jeannie direct one episode and serve as a co-writer, but she was also one of the executive producers of the series. Jim told Vanity Fair in 2015 that the sitcom was a "perfect utilization of us."

"Our relationship has always been — ever since we first started dating —collaborative," Jim told PEOPLE in May 2017. "We've always had this similar work ethic where we don't really view it as a job. And it doesn't happen in a set or even a scheduled time; it's an ongoing discussion."

Here's everything to know about Jeannie Gaffigan and her relationship with the Grammy-nominated funnyman.

She's originally from Milwaukee

Jeannie was born in Milwaukee and is the oldest of nine siblings. Her brother, Patrick Noth, is a writer and actor with more than a dozen credits to his name (including The Jim Gaffigan Show), and her brother, Paul Noth, is a cartoonist whose work has been featured in The New Yorker.

In 2021, Jeannie celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary of her mom and dad, Louise and Dom Noth, sharing a series of throwback family photos on Instagram.

She captioned the images of the large Noth brood, "Happy 52nd Anniversary mom & dad from your 9 kids, 10 grandchildren, all the spouses, partners, friends, nephews, nieces & all the 'adopted children' you have accumulated over the years w your unconditional love & support!"

She and Jim have honorary doctorate degrees

Before moving to N.Y.C. to pursue an acting career, Jeannie graduated in 1992 from Marquette University's Diederich College of Communication, located in her native Milwaukee.

In May 2018, she and Jim received honorary doctorate degrees from Marquette. During the commencement ceremony, associate professor Dr. Stanley M. Harrison recognized the duo for their "extraordinary success and contributions as a couple to the worlds of comedy, theater, television and cinema."

She didn't agree to go out with Jim right away

The couple first met in 2000 at a Korean market in N.Y.C.'s NoLiTa neighborhood.

''I smiled at him and said 'hello,'" Jeannie, who was also working in comedy at the time, told The New York Times in July 2003. "He said, 'Where do I know you from?' And I said, 'We've probably seen each other at the comedy clubs.'"

Jeannie initially turned down the comedian's requests for a date, but "he asked again and again."

She continued, "When I finally said I'd go out to lunch with him the next Saturday, he said to me, 'You know, we're probably going to get married.'"

She married Jim at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in N.Y.C.

According to their wedding announcement in The New York Times, Jeannie and Jim tied the knot on July 26, 2003, at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in N.Y.C. Rev. Thomas Kallumady, a Roman Catholic priest, officiated the ceremony.

She wrote her first joke with Jim in 2000

One of the pair's first collaborations was a joke Jeannie co-wrote for Jim's guest appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

"We had been dating for a while, and the 'Thong Song' by Sisqó was really popular. It was on the radio all the time, and we just both thought it was so hysterical," Jeannie told Fast Company in September 2015. "Jim wasn't talking about stuff like that onstage at the time, but he made a really funny observation about the song, and I made one too — one that would not work for me if I was gonna deliver the joke, but I knew it would really work for Jim."

She continued, "So, he was doing Craig Kilborn's show, and he called me after the taping, and he said, 'I did your joke on Kilborn,' and I said, 'Oh my God, how did it go?' And he was like, 'It killed.' That just felt so great. It was really fulfilling to me in a way that writing for someone else wouldn't have been."

"After the Kilborn thing, I started to really learn him, learn his cadence, learn his point of view, and we started building TV spots together," she told Fast Company. "We would do different chunks, like segments of topics at different clubs, to see which one was the best one."

Jim told PEOPLE in 2017 that he and Jeannie always write together for his comedy specials and tours, including Beyond the Pale (2006), King Baby (2009) and The Pale Tourist (2020)

"I will typically come up with an idea, go onstage, kind of play around with it, write from that, and then have a discussion with my wife," he said. "Then she'll see me do the set, she'll have ideas or edits, and the jokes will kind of grow from there."

She shares five kids with Jim

Jeannie and Jim's five kids — daughters Marre and Katie and sons Jack, Michael, and Patrick — are often referenced in Jim's comedy bits that draw from his real-life experiences. But he is quick to give her all the credit, saying Jeannie has parenting down to a science, partly due to her having eight siblings.

"I don't know what I'm doing," the star told PEOPLE in 2016. "I think it's my wife; she's Wonder Woman. But it's just fun chaos. I come from a big family, and my wife comes from a big family — I think there's a lot of value in sibling chaos."

One particularly hectic time the couple had to navigate was during the COVID-19 pandemic. They had to devise a new system to make things work in quarantine and embrace more time with their kids.

"Sure, there was a lot of screaming and crying — and sometimes the kids got upset too, but we had incredible moments with each one of them that we would have never had if they were off at school or if Jim was traveling," Jeannie told PEOPLE in January 2021, "That was the bright patch in all of this chaos."

She was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2017

On May 1, 2017, Jim revealed his wife had undergone surgery for a brain tumor.

"Two weeks ago an MRI revealed @jeanniegaffigan had a large tumor around her brain stem that was life threatening," he wrote on Facebook.

Jim told PEOPLE that his wife's over nine-hour surgery on April 18 was successful.

"We were prepped for the understanding that good news would be like, 'We got 85 percent of it,'" he said in May 2017. "But they removed all the tumor, and there was no damage to her 12 cranial nerves."

According to PEOPLE, Jeannie had been experiencing various symptoms, from recurring headaches to dizziness, but ignored them. However, when she started losing her hearing, she sought answers. An MRI showed a pear-sized tumor, later confirmed to be a benign papilloma of the choroid plexus.

Jim shared his initial reaction to his wife's diagnosis in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in September 2019.

"The doctor said, 'This is very concerning,' and I saw fear in his face," Jim recalled. "That was the day I was most frightened. It was definitely a period where I was like, 'All right, I'm probably going to be a mediocre single father of five."

He was anything but, with Jeannie opening to PEOPLE in July 2018 how her husband stepped into the "caregiving role" and brought some levity to a frightening situation.

"His comic ability [was able] to transform situations into something that wasn't as horrible," she said.

Jim — who made frequent trips to the hospital to support Jeannie — added, "You're grateful for the opportunity to support this loved one and, obviously, it's emotionally taxing, but there's a lot of commitment that you have to undertake."

In September 2019, on the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, Jeannie told the host she had a second surgery to repair her left vocal cord that was paralyzed due to the tumor.

She wrote a memoir

Jeannie published her first memoir, When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Faith, Family and Funny People, in 2019, two years after her brain tumor diagnosis.

The book chronicles her diagnosis and recovery process, as well as the "brutal conversation" she had with her children and loved ones.

"We have been the beneficiaries of so much love and support by everyone through this medical crisis," she told PEOPLE exclusively in June 2019. "I hope that sharing our story can bring hope and laughter to anyone facing the unimaginable."

Jim added, "I can't believe how perfectly Jeannie captures the fear, grace and humor of this terrifying part of our life. Then again, I can't believe she married me."

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