13-Year-Old Broadway and ‘SNL’ Actress Laurel Griggs’ Cause of Death Revealed

Broadway actress and rising TV star Laurel Griggs passed away this week, and her cause of death has just been revealed. The 13-year-old suffered from a severe asthma attack, according to a report by The New York Post, which was in contact with the Griggs family. Fans are now mourning that much harder for a life cut short.

Griggs was reportedly rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital on Tuesday, with a “massive asthma attack.” In a Facebook message to reporters, her grandfather, David Rivlin, explained that doctors did their best to save Griggs, but ultimately could not.

“The world lost a real princess who only wanted to make the future happy for all,” Rivlin wrote. “Acting was a just a childhood dream come true and she had big plans for the future.”

Griggs was one of the brightest rising stars of her generation, with credits on Broadway, TV and film already under her belt. She is perhaps best-known for her role as Ivanka in the musical Once, where she held the role longer than any other actress so far, according to Page Six. Before that, she was also in a notable production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at age 6, when she shared the stage with Scarlett Johansson.

Griggs made two appearances on Saturday Night Live as well — once in an episode hosted by Kumail Nanjiani and once in an episode hosted by James Franco. Both aired in 2017. She also appeared on Louis C.K.’s series Louie and provided a voice for Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies in 2015.

Griggs was laid to rest on Friday, according to her online obituary. In lieu of flowers, her family asked for donations to the charity Broadway Cares.

Griggs’ Broadway co-stars mourned her passing as the news spread this weekend. One of the other young actresses who played Ivanka, Eliza Holland Madore, posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram.

“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. Everybody in the Once Family is going to keep you alive through us. R.I.P. My heart goes to her family.”

The older performers were devastated as well, including Once star Lucas Papelias.

“My [Once the musical] family tragically lost one of our youngest members this past week,” he wrote. “We are heartbroken & devastated… We will never forget this sweet, talented, young soul.”

Griggs’ family is holding another remembrance service for her on Sunday afternoon in Chelsea.