Changes: Marlene Griggs-Knope

Latest revision as of 05:28, 18 August 2023

Marlene Griggs-Knope (born March 6, 1953^[1]) is the mother of Leslie Knope and a long-time fixture in the local politics of Pawnee. Marlene is widely regarded as unsympathetic and is known (fondly, according to her daughter) as "the Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee," a nickname given to her in 1994 by Ron Swanson.^[2]

Background

Marlene was raised by unknown parents, presumably in or around Wamapoke County. She is noted for being a particularly striking woman when she was younger, as well as a gifted athlete in track & field.

The series depicts Marlene as being a romantic from a young age, beginning with the brief affair she had as a teenager. Shortly after this, she meets and marries Robert Knope; they shared a daughter, until he passed away.

Although a longtime resident of the city of Pawnee, its hospital was overrun with raccoons on the day Leslie was born. Marlene was taken to the next nearest hospital, in Eagleton; a secret she kept from her daughter for decades.

Storyline

Season 1

Marlene's first appearance establishes her as coldly distant from her daughter, focused primarily on her own career and making a seemingly begrudging appearance at her daughter's first town hall session.

In "The Banquet," Marlene receives a Tellenson Award for Pawnee Public Service. She knows a great deal about the other winners and honorees, and shrewdly tells Leslie to blackmail the head of the zoning board.

Season 2

In "Galentine's Day", Leslie and her current boyfriend Justin attempt to set Marlene up with Frank Beckerson, the lifeguard at the beach who saved her life in 1968 when she was trapped in a current. They had an affair for two weeks, but when Frank proposed, she had to decline as her parents believed her too young. Marlene is initially excited to see Frank again, but her interest quickly dwindles as he describes the failures he's experienced in life. Marlene eventually rejects his proposal to restart their affair.

Season 3

In "The Bubble", Ben Wyatt has a meeting scheduled with Marlene about the school district's budget. Leslie initially lies about her relationship to her "ball-busting" mother, but fretfully comes clean and tells Ben that her mother is cold, and "makes snap judgements about people" seconds before Ben's scheduled meeting. When it inevitably goes poorly, Marlene capitalizes on Ben's weakness and more than doubles her demands in the budget.

As her relationship with Ben becomes more cordial (due in large part to her daughter's interference), she spends their next meeting flirting with him and making casual suggestions about sex. In a panic, Ben later explains to Marlene that he and Leslie have been keeping quiet about their romantic relationship to avoid punitive action. Marlene finds the blunder extremely funny, and lets it go with a firm reminder of her budget request.

Appearances

References

↑ In Galentine's Day (season 6), it is revealed that the newspaper headline on the day of Marlene Griggs-Knope's birth was "Josef Stalin Dies." Since Josef Stalin died on March 5, 1953, Marlene Griggs-Knope was born on March 6.
↑ https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/1748243968

Characters
Leslie • Ron • Tom • Ann • Ben • Chris • Mark • April • Andy • Donna • Jerry • More

[1] In Galentine's Day (season 6), it is revealed that the newspaper headline on the day of Marlene Griggs-Knope's birth was "Josef Stalin Dies." Since Josef Stalin died on March 5, 1953, Marlene Griggs-Knope was born on March 6.

[2] ttps://twitter.com/azizansari/status/1748243968

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Infobox character
+{{infobox character
-| image= marlene.jpg
+|image = Marlene.jpg
+|first = "[[Canvassing]]"
-| caption=
+|last = "[[Ben's Parents]]"
-| name = ''Marlene Knope''
-| first = "[[Canvassing]]"
+|portrayer = [[Pamela Reed]]
+|born = 6 March 1953<br />[[Pawnee, Indiana]]
-| gender = Female
+|age = 67
-| born = March 5, 1953 (Age 62)
+|gender = Female
-| occupation = Education Department
+|status = Alive
-| portrayer = Pamela Reed
+|occupation = Director of the Education Department
-| creator =
+<!--|affiliates = -->
-| episode = 4
+|spouse = Robert Knope (deceased)
-| family      =
+|children = [[Leslie Knope]] <small>(daughter)</small>
-| spouse      =
+|nationality = American
-| significantother =
+|residence = [[Pawnee, Indiana]]
-| children    = [[Leslie Knope]] (daughter)
+|relatives = [[Ben Wyatt]] <small>(son-in-law)</small><br> [[Sonia Knope-Wyatt]] <small>(granddaughter)</small><br>[[Stephen Knope-Wyatt]] <small>(grandson)</small><br> [[Wesley Knope-Wyatt]] <small>(grandson)</small>|aka=the Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee}}
-| relatives   =
+'''Marlene Griggs-Knope''' (born March 6, 1953<ref>In [[Galentine's Day (season 6)]], it is revealed that the newspaper headline on the day of Marlene Griggs-Knope's birth was "Josef Stalin Dies." Since Josef Stalin died on March 5, 1953, Marlene Griggs-Knope was born on March 6.</ref>) is the mother of [[Leslie Knope]] and a long-time fixture in the local politics of [[Pawnee]]. Marlene is widely regarded as unsympathetic and is known (fondly, according to her daughter) as "the Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee," a nickname given to her in 1994 by [[Ron Swanson]].<ref>https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/1748243968</ref>
-| residence   =
-| religion    =
+==Background==
-| nationality =
+Marlene was raised by unknown parents, presumably in or around Wamapoke County. She is noted for being a particularly striking woman when she was younger, as well as a gifted athlete in track & field.
-}}
-'''Marlene Griggs-Knope''' was born March 5, 1953. She is the mother of [[Leslie Knope]] and a long-time fixture in the local politics of [[Pawnee]]. Marlene is widely regarded as unsympathetic and is known (fondly, according to her daughter) as "the Iron Cock-Shredder of Pawnee," nickname given to her in 1994 by [[Ron Swanson]].
+The series depicts Marlene as being a romantic from a young age, beginning with the brief affair she had as a teenager. Shortly after this, she meets and marries Robert Knope; they shared a daughter, until he passed away.
-Marlene griggs-knope is definitely not a whore.Marlene griggs-knope  has not five but seven aisan friends. Marlene griggs-knope has never solicited a male prostitute.  Marlene griggs-knope has said the N word only four times in her entire life. -Tom haverford
-<ref>https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/1748243968</ref> a
+Although a longtime resident of the city of Pawnee, its hospital was overrun with raccoons on the day Leslie was born. Marlene was taken to the next nearest hospital, in Eagleton; a secret she kept from her daughter for decades.
 ==Storyline==
-===Season One===
+===[[Season 1]]===
+Marlene's first appearance establishes her as coldly distant from her daughter, focused primarily on her own career and making a seemingly begrudging appearance at her daughter's first town hall session.
-In "[[The Banquet]]," she gave Leslie advice on how to blackmail the head of the zoning board. She received a [[Tellenson Award]] for [[Pawnee, Indiana|Pawnee]] Public Service in the same episode.
+In "[[The Banquet]]," Marlene receives a [[Tellenson Award]] for [[Pawnee, Indiana|Pawnee]] Public Service. She knows a great deal about the other winners and honorees, and shrewdly tells Leslie to blackmail the head of the zoning board.
+===[[Season 2]]===
+In "[[Galentine's Day (season 2)|Galentine's Day]]", Leslie and her current boyfriend [[Justin Anderson|Justin]] attempt to set Marlene up with [[Frank Beckerson]], the lifeguard at the beach who saved her life in 1968 when she was trapped in a current. They had an affair for two weeks, but when Frank proposed, she had to decline as her parents believed her too young. Marlene is initially excited to see Frank again, but her interest quickly dwindles as he describes the failures he's experienced in life. Marlene eventually rejects his proposal to restart their affair.
-===Season Two===
+===[[Season 3]]===
+In "[[The Bubble]]", [[Ben Wyatt]] has a meeting scheduled with Marlene about the school district's budget. Leslie initially lies about her relationship to her "ball-busting" mother, but fretfully comes clean and tells Ben that her mother is cold, and "makes snap judgements about people" seconds before Ben's scheduled meeting. When it inevitably goes poorly, Marlene capitalizes on Ben's weakness and more than doubles her demands in the budget.
-In "[[Galentine's Day]]", Leslie attempts to set Marlene up with [[Frank Beckerson]], the lifeguard who saved her life back in 1968 when she was drowning. They had an affair for two weeks before never seeing each other again because her parents objected. At first, Marlene is excited to see Frank, but after he announces he got a job at a grocery store right out of college and he is completely unemployed currently, she isn't as interested. He suggests they pick up where they left off, but Marlene rejects him.
+As her relationship with Ben becomes more cordial (due in large part to her daughter's interference), she spends their next meeting flirting with him and making casual suggestions about sex. In a panic, Ben later explains to Marlene that he and Leslie have been keeping quiet about their romantic relationship to avoid punitive action. Marlene finds the blunder extremely funny, and lets it go with a firm reminder of her budget request.
-===Season Three===
-In "[[The Bubble]]", [[Ben Wyatt]] has a meeting with Marlene and he asks Leslie if they're related. She denies this, but later tells him how tough his mother is. Ben goes into the meeting with Marlene a nervous wreck, and immediately says yes to her request for four new school buses. Later, Leslie is disappointed to her hear mother call him a "spineless jellyfish". Ben receives another request from the Education Department, but this time for even more buses than originally asked for. Leslie teaches Ben about things her mother likes and also how to be tougher with her. In their meeting together, Marlene makes a pass at Ben, not knowing that he was dating Leslie. They later go into her office together and tell her that they're dating. Ben says that since he knows it could get Leslie fired, he trusts Marlene won't tell anybody. Marlene immediately bursts out laughing and tells them "that's hilarious". She tells Ben she'll take 4 buses, but Ben counters with 2, and she accepts. She tells Leslie after Ben leaves the room, "I like this one".<br clear="all" />
 ==Appearances==
@@ Line 38: / Line 43: @@
 * [[Rock Show]]
 * [[Christmas Scandal]]
-* [[Galentine's Day (Season 2)|Galentine's Day]]
+* [[Galentine's Day (season 2)|Galentine's Day]]
 * [[The Bubble]]
 * [[Born & Raised]]
 * [[Operation Ann]]
 * [[Ben's Parents]]
+* [[Fluoride]] (via phone)
+* [[Pie-Mary]] (Mentioned)
 == References ==
 <references />{{Parks and Recreation}}
-[[Category:Recurring Characters]]
+[[Category:Recurring characters]]
 [[Category:Knope Family]]
 [[Category:Characters]]
-[[Category:Family and Friends]]
+[[Category:Female Characters]]
+[[Category:Season 1 Characters]]
+[[Category:Season 2 Characters]]
+[[Category:Season 3 Characters]]
+[[Category:Season 4 Characters]]
+[[Category:Season 5 Characters]]
+[[Category:Parks and Recreation]]

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