James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel
(born November 13, 1967) is an American television host and comedian. Before his current position as host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
on ABC, Kimmel was well-known as co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show
. Additionally, he was the co-host of Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein's Money
, for which he earned the 1999 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host (which he shares with fellow co-host Ben Stein). Kimmel is also a television producer, with shows including Crank Yankers
and The Andy Milonakis Show
to his credit.
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JIMMY KIMMEL TICKETS
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Personal life
Kimmel was born in the
New York City borough of
Brooklyn, and is of
Italian and
German descent.
[1] The family moved to
Las Vegas,
Nevada, when he was nine years old. He graduated from
Ed W. Clark High School, and then attended
University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year before attending
Arizona State University for two years without completing a degree. Kimmel and his former wife, Gina, married in June 1988. They have a son, Kevin, and a daughter, Katie. The marriage ended in separation in early 2002. Kimmel then dated comedian
Sarah Silverman for five years, ending in the summer of 2008 and then reuniting as of October 2008.
[2] [3] The couple split again in March 2009.
[4]
Kimmel is an avid music fan, and plays the
bass clarinet. He got a chance to showcase his talent during a July 20, 2008, concert in
Costa Mesa, California, featuring the
Mighty Mighty Bosstones, when he took the stage and played bass clarinet on their hit song "
The Impression That I Get."
[5]
Kimmel has
narcolepsy.
[6]
Kimmel will serve as host of
Los Angeles' sixth annual feast of
San Gennaro from September 28-30.
2009.
[7]
Career
Early radio career
Kimmel began working in the radio industry while in high school, hosting a Sunday night interview show on UNLV's college station
KUNV. While attending
Arizona State University, he became a popular caller to the KZZP-FM afternoon show hosted by radio personalities Mike Elliott and
Kent Voss in
Phoenix, Arizona. In 1989, 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. Ten months later, Kimmel and Voss were fired by KZOK (reason unk.) and were fired again (another mystery) a year later at
WRBQ-FM in
Tampa, Florida. Kimmel went from Tampa to host his own show at KCMJ-FM in
Palm Springs, California (where Kimmel convinced a young
Carson Daly to drop out of college and become his intern because college interns were unknown then.) From Palm Springs, Kimmel landed a job with Mike Elliott at 93.7
KRQ in
Tucson. Kimmel and Elliott were fired after one year (mysterious again). From KRQ, Kimmel was hired as sports guy/comedy writer for the
Kevin and Bean
morning show at
KROQ-FM (former employer of Carson Daly) ,
Los Angeles, where he was known as "Jimmy the Sports Guy." Kimmel spent five years at KROQ, leaving in 1999 to focus on television.
Comedy Central
Kimmel's television career began as the comedic counterpart to
Ben Stein on the
game show Win Ben Stein's Money
which began airing on
Comedy Central in 1997. His quick wit and
loutish
everyman personality was a counterpoint to Ben Stein's monotone performing style and
patrician demeanor. This combination earned the pair an
Emmy award for Best Game Show Host.
In 1999, during his time with
Win Ben Stein's Money
, Kimmel was also co-host (with
Adam Carolla) and co-creator (with
Daniel Kellison) of Comedy Central's
The Man Show
. Kimmel permanently left
Win Ben Stein's Money
in 2001. He was replaced by comedian
Nancy Pimental who was eventually replaced by Kimmel's cousin
Sal Iacono. Kimmel, Carolla, and Kellison's success with
The Man Show
allowed them to create and produce other
TV shows under the banner
Jackhole Industries, including
Crank Yankers
for
Comedy Central (on which Kimmel plays the characters, "Elmer Higgins," "Terrence Catheter," "The Nudge," "
Karl Malone" and himself) and later
The Andy Milonakis Show
for MTV2. Kimmel also produced and co-wrote the feature film
Windy City Heat
, which won the Comedia Award for Best Film at the
Montreal Comedy Festival.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
thumb
In January 2003, Kimmel permanently left
The Man Show
to host his own late-night talk show,
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
on
ABC. In the April 2007 issue of , Kimmel was named the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor but clearly a mistake.
Kimmel usually ends his show with, "My apologies to
Matt Damon, we ran out of time." However, on one of his shows, he "interviewed" Matt Damon, only to say just a few seconds later, "Sorry, but once again we are completely out of time." Matt appeared to become angry, but people questioned whether this was real or a joke. Kimmel confirmed that this was in fact a joke.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
is also broadcast on Irish digital tv channel 3e.
[8]
In February 2008 Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called, "
I'm Fucking Ben Affleck,"
[9] as "revenge" after his then-girlfriend
Sarah Silverman and
Matt Damon recorded a similar video, "
I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman's video originally aired on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
, and became an "instant
YouTube sensation."
[10] Kimmel's "revenge" video featured himself, Ben Affleck, and a big lineup of stars, particularly in scenes spoofing the 1985 "
We Are the World" video:
Brad Pitt,
Don Cheadle,
Cameron Diaz,
Robin Williams,
Harrison Ford,
Dominic Monaghan,
Benji Madden and
Joel Madden from
Good Charlotte,
Lance Bass,
Macy Gray,
Dicky Barrett of
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
Josh Groban,
Huey Lewis,
Perry Farrell,
Christopher Mintz-Plasse,
Pete Wentz,
Meat Loaf,
Rebecca Romijn,
Christina Applegate,
Dom Joly,
Mike Shinoda,
Lauren Conrad and
Joan Jett.
As a tradition, celebrities voted off
Dancing with the Stars
appear on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
, causing Kimmel to describe himself as "the
three-headed dog the stars must pass on their way to No-Dancing Hell."
[11] In the 2008 season of his show, Kimmel started another tradition of ceremonially burning the dancers' shoes after they were voted off
DWTS
.
Other television work
In Spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the
Fox network.
Kimmel's other television work included being the on-air football prognosticator for
FOX NFL Sunday
for four years. He has had numerous appearances on other talk shows including, but not limited to,
Live with Regis and Kelly
,
The Howard Stern Show
,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, and
Late Show with David Letterman
(Kimmel is a fan of
David Letterman, who, together with
Howard Stern, were his idols growing up . He has appeared on the
The Late Show
five times, most recently on
April 21 2008.) Kimmel is a three-time host of the
American Music Awards and served as roastmaster for the
New York Friars' Club Roast of
Hugh Hefner and
Comedy Central Roasts of
Pamela Anderson
. He has appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, along with his parking lot security guard Guillermo.
In August 2006, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel would be the host of their new game show
Set for Life
.
[12] The show debuted on
July 20,
2007. On
April 6,
2007, Kimmel filled in for
Larry King on
Larry King Live
. That particular show was about the paparazzi. It was on that show that Kimmel decimated
Emily Gould, an editor from
Gawker.com about the web site's alleged stalking of celebrities. On
July 8,
2007, Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007
Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity
Softball Game in San Francisco. He played in the game in 2004 and 2006 (Houston and Pittsburgh). On
July 11,
2007, Kimmel along with basketball player
LeBron James, hosted the 2007
ESPY Awards
. The show aired on
ESPN on
July 15,
2007. Kimmel hosted the
American Music Awards on
ABC four times, in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Kimmel guest hosted
Live with Regis and Kelly
during the week of
October 22 2007 –
October 26 2007, commuting every day between
New York and
Los Angeles. In the process, he broke the
Guinness Book of World Records for the longest distance () travelled in one work week.
[13].
Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs. His voice appeared in
Garfield
and
Road Trip
, and he portrayed Death's Dog in the
Family Guy
episode "
Mr. Saturday Knight";
Family Guy
creator
Seth McFarlane later presented Kimmel with a figurine of his character on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
. Kimmel also did voice work for
Robot Chicken
. Kimmel's cousin "Sal" has accepted and won a wrestling match with
WWE superstar
Santino Marella.
Awards
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nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for best COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS 2008 for "Jimmy Kimmel’s Big Night of Stars", Written by Jimmy Kimmel, Gary Greenberg, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Ned Rice, Jon Bines, Will Burke, Rick Rosner, Jake Lentz, Sal Iacono, Tony Barbieri
References
- Bendweekly.com on Jimmy Kimmel
- US Weekly Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman Split After Five Years
- Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman Reportedly Back Together
- Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel Call It Quits – Again
- Dropkick Murphys, Mighty Mighty Bosstones win one for Boston at Pacific
- What It Feels Like...to Have Narcolepsy
- http://lastheplace.com/2007/09/21/jimmy-kimmel-and-adam-corolla-host-the-6th-annual-precious-cheese-
- Who's News
- So Long, Sarah! Jimmy Kimmel Is, Well, 'Dating' Ben Affleck
- Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel
- YouTube - Jimmy Kimmel with DWTS Adam & Julianne Part 1
- Jimmy Kimmel Named Host For ABC's Newst Game Show, "Set For Life", From Endemol USA
- Inner Tube: Jimmy Kimmel goes distance, sets World Record