Laurel Griggs, Rising Broadway Star, Dies At 13

Laurel Griggs, a rising Broadway star who had worked with Scarlett Johansson, has died. She was 13 years old. The young actor, who passed away on November 5, died of a “massive asthma attack,” according to a Facebook post from her grandfather, David Rivlin. “The world lost a real princess who only wanted to make the future happy for all,” Rivlin told Page Six in a Facebook message. “Acting was a just a childhood dream come true and she had big plans for the future.”

Griggs got her start acting at the age of six in the 2013 Broadway production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof starring Johansson. She appeared in the Broadway musical Once from 2013 to 2015, becoming the longest-running Ivanka in the production, according to her IMDb page.

Griggs, who lived in New York City with her parents, went on to appear in the 2016 film Café Society starring Kristen Stewart and Blake Lively, and lent her voice to the animated series Bubble Guppies. She also appeared on Saturday Night Live in episodes hosted by James Franco, Kumail Nanjiani, and Natalie Portman. Following her 2017 SNL debut, Griggs wrote on Instagram, “Last night was the most amazing night of my life! Thank you to the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live for making me feel so welcome!” She also thanked her agent for “this once in a lifetime opportunity!” hashtagging the image #dreamsdocometrue.

Those who knew Griggs are paying tribute to the young star, including her fellow Once castmate Eliza Holland Madore. “I am deeply saddened by the sudden loss of one of my Ivanka sisters,” Madore wrote. “Laurel- you were always smiling and always made other people laugh. I’m so incredibly grateful that I got to know you. You will never be forgotten, and we will never stop loving you.”

“Voicemails you've left me over the years, I will never stop listening,” Griggs’s best friend wrote on Instagram. “Videos of us joking and laughing together, I will never stop watching. Memories of us, of you, I will never forget...I love you more than I thought ever possible. I am so devastated.”