How Jimmy Fallon’s Idyllic Childhood Shaped His Success

The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, 50, knows exactly how he made it to where he is today. The comedian-actor credits his idyllic, family-centered childhood in Saugerties, New York, with giving him the confidence to land both his dream job and his own treasured family with his wife, producer Nancy Juvonen.

“I had a really fun childhood,” Fallon tells AARP, sharing tales of his beloved parents and grandparents and acknowledging the impact they had on his career and personal development. “A great, supportive family. They always believed in me, no matter what.”

Now a father himself to two young daughters (Winnie, 11 and Franny, 10), Fallon hopes the fifth and final installment of his family-centric picture-book series, Papa Doesn’t Do Anything! — on sale May 13 and written with grandfathers in mind — “sparks more grandpas and dads to tell their stories” so their own families learn “who they are and where they came from.”

In addition to authoring his new children’s book, Fallon is the creator, executive producer and host of the upcoming NBC unscripted reality competition On Brand With Jimmy Fallon.

In a recent interview with AARP, Fallon explained how his family taught him everything he needed to know, and then some.

Old soul in a young boy

"My mom’s parents, grandpa Tom and grandma Gloria, lived in our backyard in a little cottage. My grandfather and I used to go to the VFW a lot, so I hung out with a bunch of 70-year-old guys when I was growing up. I’m kind of an old soul from that."

How to be a good host

"My dad’s dad, Jim, was very funny. He loved to have parties. Everyone would get up and do a bit, sing a song or tell a joke. My parents would pay me 50 cents to do Rodney Dangerfield. I was probably 8 or 9. I would put on a tie [and say]: ‘My wife’s cooking is so bad. I mean, since when does toast have bones?’"

Just kidding around

"At my parents’ parties I would do impersonations or a Saturday Night Live sketch with my sister. We’d do ‘Wild and Crazy Guys,’ and we’d get dressed up in my parents’ disco-y clothes from the ’70s."

Nature can be dangerous

"My parents were overprotective, maybe because grandpa Tom was a cop. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I didn’t go to camp. I didn’t really have sleepovers until later. They were nervous about everything! I got a tent once from a garage sale and I put it up in my backyard, and my mom came out in the middle of the night and said, ‘Get back inside. There’s a raccoon maybe out here.’"

Fallon poses with sister Gloria and Grandpa Tom Feeley.

Courtesy Jimmy Fallon

Keep your hair combed

"Grandpa Tom didn’t like my messy, spiky hair. He asked, ‘Will you comb it? Like a nice part to the side.’ But he loved my stand-up. He liked that I didn’t curse. He was there for a bunch of gigs where I bombed and he’d say, ‘Stick with it.’"