Jimmy Kimmel - Wikipedia

Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the neighborhood of Mill Basin.[4] He is the eldest of the three children of Joan (née Iacono) and James John Kimmel, who worked at American Express and was an IBM executive.[5][6][7]

He was raised Catholic and was an altar boy as a child.[8][9] Kimmel's mother is of Italian descent; her grandparents migrated to the United States from Ischia, Naples, after the 1883 earthquake.[10][11] Two of his paternal great-great-grandparents were German immigrants. His family's surname was Kümmel ('caraway' in German) several generations back.[12][13][14][15] He obtained Italian citizenship in 2025.[16]

He attended P.S. 236 elementary school before the family moved to Las Vegas when he was nine years old,[5][17][18] where he befriended his neighbor Cleto Escobedo III, who would go on to be the bandleader on Jimmy Kimmel Live![19][20] He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School[21] and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), for one year before his family moved to Arizona. He attended Arizona State University for the 1985–86 academic year and left without graduating.[22][23] He received an honorary degree from UNLV in 2013.[22]

Kimmel's uncle, Frank Potenza ("Uncle Frank"), appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a regular from 2003 until he died in 2011.[24] His cousin Sal Iacono performed Kimmel's former co-hosting duties during the last season of Win Ben Stein's Money and then became a writer and sketch performer on Jimmy Kimmel Live![25] His Aunt Chippy (Concetta Potenza) is also a featured part of the show.[citation needed] His brother Jonathan works on the show as a director. His sister, Jill, is a comedian.[citation needed]