Jimmy Kimmel

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Jimmy Kimmel
Birth name James Christian Kimmel
Born November 13, 1967 (1967-11-13) (age 40)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium radio, television
Nationality American
Years active 1989–present
Genres Observational comedy, News satire
Subject(s) Everyday life, American culture, Pop culture
Influences David Letterman, Howard Stern
Notable works and roles Creator and Host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) and The Man Show (Comedy Central)
Emmy Awards
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host: 1999 Win Ben Stein's Money

James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American comedian, writer, talk show host, game show host, and producer.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Jimmy Kimmel was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and is of German and Italian descent.[1] The family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was nine years old.[citation needed] He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and then attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year and Arizona State University for two years. He did not complete his degree. Kimmel and his ex-wife, Gina, married in June 1988. They have a son, Kevin, and a daughter, Katie. The marriage ended in separation in early 2002. Kimmel is currently dating Sarah Silverman.

[edit] Career

[edit] 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 and were fired again 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). From Tampa, Kimmel landed a job with Mike Elliott at 93.7 KRQ in Tucson. Kimmel and Elliott were fired after one year. From KRQ, Kimmel was hired as sports guy/comedy writer for the Kevin and Bean morning show at KROQ-FM, Los Angeles, where he was known as "Jimmy the Sports Guy." Kimmel spent five years at KROQ, leaving in 1999 to focus on television.

[edit] 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 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 Daniel 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.

[edit] Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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 Stuffmagazine.com, Kimmel was named the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor but clearly a mistake.

In February 2008 Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck",[2] as "revenge" after his 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".[3] 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,The Jonas Brothers, Dom Joly and Joan Jett.

Kimmel often 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 got very angry, but people questioned if this was real or a joke. Kimmel confirmed that this was in fact a joke.[4]

[edit] 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 appeared on The Late Show four times between 1997 and 2003.) 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.[5] 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 criticized Emily Gould, an editor from Gawker.com about the website'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 guest hosted Live with Regis and Kelly during the week of October 22-26, 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 (22,406 miles) traveled in one work week. Kimmel has lent his voice to several movies playing dogs in animated movies. Some of the movies include, Garfield and Road Trip and appeared as Death's Dog on the show Family Guy. Kimmel also did voice work for Robot Chicken. Kimmel's cousin "Sal" has accepted a future wrestling match with WWE superstar Santino Marella.

[edit] Awards

Awards
Preceded by
Pat Sajak		 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host
1999
with Ben Stein		 Succeeded by
Bob Barker and Tom Bergeron

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bendweekly.com on Jimmy Kimmel
  2. ^ Silverman, Stephen M.. "So Long, Sarah! Jimmy Kimmel Is, Well, 'Dating' Ben Affleck", People, 2008-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
  3. ^ Jordan, Julie. "Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel", People, 2008-02-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
  4. ^ Who's News. USAWeekend.com. Retrieved on September 1, 2007.
  5. ^ Jimmy Kimmel Named Host For ABC's Newst Game Show, "Set For Life", From Endemol USA

[edit] External links

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