55 Facts About Jimmy Kimmel

1.

James Christian Kimmel was born on November 13,1967 and is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer.

2.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012,2016 and 2020.

3.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Academy Awards in 2017,2018 and 2023.

4.

Jimmy Kimmel has produced shows including Crank Yankers, Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, and The Andy Milonakis Show.

5.

Jimmy Kimmel has hosted a late-night talk show the longest of all current late night television hosts in the United States, after Conan O'Brien's retirement from hosting a late-night program.

6.

Jimmy Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in the neighborhood of Mill Basin.

7.

Jimmy Kimmel is the eldest of three children of Joan and James John Kimmel, who worked at American Express and was an IBM executive.

8.

Jimmy Kimmel was raised Catholic and as a child, was an altar boy.

9.

Jimmy Kimmel's mother is of Italian ancestry from Ischia, Naples and her family migrated to the United States after the 1883 earthquake.

10.

Jimmy Kimmel graduated from Ed W Clark High School and attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year before transferring to Arizona State University.

11.

Jimmy Kimmel received an honorary degree from UNLV in 2013.

12.

Jimmy Kimmel was the host of a Sunday night interview show on UNLV's college station, KUNV.

13.

In 1989, Jimmy Kimmel landed his first paying job alongside Voss as morning drive co-host of The Me and Him Show at KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington.

14.

Jimmy Kimmel went on to host his own show at KCMJ in Palm Springs, California, where he recruited Carson Daly, who had been a family friend since his childhood as his intern.

15.

Jimmy Kimmel spent five years as "Jimmy The Sports Guy" for the Kevin and Bean morning show.

16.

Jimmy Kimmel initially did not want to do television; he began writing for Fox announcers and promotions and was quickly recruited to do the on-air promotions himself.

17.

Jimmy Kimmel declined several offers for television shows from producer Michael Davies, being uninterested in the projects, until he was offered a place as the comedic counterpart to Ben Stein on the game show Win Ben Stein's Money, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1997.

18.

In 1999, during his time on Win Ben Stein's Money, Jimmy Kimmel co-hosted and co-produced, Comedy Central's The Man Show.

19.

Jimmy Kimmel left Win Ben Stein's Money in 2001 and was replaced by comedian Nancy Pimental, who was eventually replaced by Jimmy Kimmel's cousin Sal Iacono.

20.

Jimmy Kimmel produced and co-wrote the feature film Windy City Heat, Festival Prize winner of the Comedia Award for Best Film at the 2004 Montreal Comedy Festival.

21.

Jimmy Kimmel was then chased down by Damon, who was cursing about Kimmel being behind all this.

22.

Jimmy Kimmel indicated the executives were correct, and he lost approximately half of his audience during that time.

23.

In spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the Fox Network.

24.

Jimmy Kimmel has had numerous appearances on other talk shows, including Live with Regis and Kelly, The Howard Stern Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and the Late Show with David Letterman.

25.

Jimmy Kimmel has appeared on The Late Show five times, most recently in 2010.

26.

Jimmy Kimmel served as roastmaster for the New York Friars' Club Roast of Hugh Hefner and the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson.

27.

Jimmy Kimmel has appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

28.

On July 8,2007, Jimmy Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game in San Francisco.

29.

Jimmy Kimmel played in the game in 2004 and 2006.

30.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the American Music Awards on ABC five times, in 2003,2004,2006,2007, and 2008.

31.

Jimmy Kimmel himself has questioned the record, suggesting that a world leader or the Pope must actually hold the record.

32.

Jimmy Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs.

33.

On January 14,2010, amid the 2010 Tonight Show host and time slot conflict, Jimmy Kimmel was the special guest of Jay Leno on The Jay Leno Shows "10 at 10" segment.

34.

Jimmy Kimmel derided Leno in front of a live studio audience for taking back the 11:35 pm time slot from Conan O'Brien, and repeatedly insulted Leno.

35.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 23,2012, and the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18,2016.

36.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 89th edition of the Academy Awards ceremony on February 26,2017.

37.

Jimmy Kimmel returned as host for the 90th edition on March 4,2018.

38.

Jimmy Kimmel will come back to host the 95th edition of the ceremony on March 12,2023, for the third time.

39.

In June 2018, Jimmy Kimmel was challenged by US Senator Ted Cruz to a one-on-one basketball game after Jimmy Kimmel compared Cruz's appearance to that of a blobfish.

40.

Jimmy Kimmel was the host and co-executive producer of a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which premiered for the show's 20th anniversary in 2020 and ran until 2021.

41.

Later, videos surfaced of Jimmy Kimmel using racial slurs in a music video.

42.

Jimmy Kimmel later issued an apology for his actions and for taking a long time to address the criticism.

43.

Jimmy Kimmel did not address the interview with Megan Fox.

44.

In July 2019, Jimmy Kimmel released his first book, The Serious Goose, an interactive children's picture book featuring his own illustrations that tasks readers with helping to make the serious goose smile.

45.

Jimmy Kimmel wrote a piece for Time about his love for Letterman, saying:.

46.

Jimmy Kimmel married Gina Maddy in 1988; they divorced in 2002.

47.

Jimmy Kimmel had a relationship with comedian Sarah Silverman from 2002 to March 2009.

48.

Jimmy Kimmel was born with a rare congenital heart defect, tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, which was first detected when he had a purplish appearance at three hours after birth.

49.

Jimmy Kimmel underwent successful surgery at three days of age.

50.

The first guests Jimmy Kimmel had when his show returned following his son's birth were cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, who explained the condition, and snowboarder Shaun White, who was born with TOF.

51.

Kimmel later cited his son's condition in a monologue criticizing a previous guest, Senator Bill Cassidy, who had co-authored a congressional healthcare bill, for not living up to the "Jimmy Kimmel test" regarding access for patients with preexisting conditions.

52.

In 2020, Jimmy Kimmel learned that he and Martha Stewart are cousins through a genealogy report on the TV show Finding Your Roots.

53.

Jimmy Kimmel plays the bass clarinet, and was a guest performer at a concert in Costa Mesa, California, on July 20,2008, featuring The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, performing with the group on the song "The Impression That I Get".

54.

Jimmy Kimmel co-founded the annual Los Angeles Feast of San Gennaro, a New York City annual tradition, and co-hosted the eighth annual Los Angeles version in 2009.

55.

In 2021, Jimmy Kimmel became the title sponsor of the LA Bowl, a college football bowl game to be played annually in Los Angeles.