James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and talk show host known for his work on Saturday Night Live. He currently hosts NBC's late night talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Fallon was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Gloria and James Thomas Fallon, Sr., who is a Vietnam War veteran. His family later settled in Saugerties, New York, while his father worked at IBM in nearby Kingston. As a child, he and his sister, Gloria, would reenact the "clean parts" of Saturday Night Live that his parents had taped for him. Fallon was such a fan of Saturday Night Live that he made a weekly event of watching it in his dormitory during college. In his teens he impressed his parents with different impersonations, the first being of James Cagney. He was also musically inclined, and started playing guitar at age 13. He would go on to mix comedy and music in contests and shows.

Fallon attended St. Mary of the Snow, a Roman Catholic parochial school, and Saugerties High School, from which he was expelled, following an incident where he allegedly pulled a fire alarm. He graduated in 1992 and attended The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. He was a Computer Science major, but switched to Communications in his senior year, dropping out 15 credits shy of a degree. "I was a Computer Science major. I got out once it got really hard. I made it up to C++. Then I couldn't do the math — it got really confusing. I switched to Communications, which is a ridiculous major — let's be honest," he recalls. On Saturday May 9, 2009, Fallon received a BA in Communications from The College of Saint Rose (Albany, NY) after presenting college officials with his impressive portfolio, which satisfied all requisites for his degree. In addition to receiving a BA, Fallon spoke at the school's 86th commencement. That night, on Saturday Night Live he held up his degree during the closing of the show. He had made an appearance as the character Barry Gibb with host Justin Timberlake. On Twitter he publicly displayed his degree. Additionally, he showed excerpts from the ceremony on his late night show May 11, 2009.