50 interesting facts about Jimmy Fallon: Wanted to be a priest, is a huge Yankees fan

Comedian and actor Jimmy Fallon first rose to fame on Saturday Night Live and now hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

1. Jimmy Fallon was born on September 19, 1974, in Brooklyn, New York.

2. His full name is James Thomas Fallon Jr.

3. His ancestry is five-eighths Irish, two-eighths German, and one-eighth Norwegian; his paternal grandmother, Luise Schalla, was from Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Germany, while one of his maternal great-grandfathers, Hans Hovelsen, was an emigrant from Fredrikstad, Norway.

4. Since a young age, he absolutely loved Saturday Night Live and his parents would record the program and show him only the clean versions of it.

5. Fallon is Catholic and, as a child, he wanted to become a priest

6. He was a comedian from an early age, in fact, his kindergarten photo included the caption: "Most likely to take over for David Letterman." " Ironically, the actor and talk show host sat in for Letterman in June 2003.

7. Ater graduating from high school, his mother encouraged him to try performing at an open mic night at a comedy club called Bananas in Poughkeepsie, NY. He continued to perform throughout college then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a comedy career full time.

8. He was a Computer Science major at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, but he dropped out. He later went back and earned his degree, a Bachelor of Arts in communications in 2009. The school offered him an honorary degree, as well, and he spoke at that year's graduation ceremony.

9. A troll doll that Fallon was given for his high school graduation inspired one of his first stand-up comedy performances; a commercial for troll dolls in which he impersonated famous people.

10. In 1998, Fallon appeared briefly on the show Spin City in the second season as a man selling photographs. By late 1998, Fallon was studying at the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles, making $7.50 a set at The Improv Theater, when he was summoned to New York to audition for the long-running late night sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live.

11. Fallon won the coveted role as a Saturday Night Live cast member at the age of 24. He achieved this by doing the impossible - making the show's creator and producer Lorne Michaels laugh! Michaels is renowned for not laughing during auditions, but he couldn't contain himself when it came to Fallon and his impression of actor Adam Sandler.

12. He joined the show's cast for the 1998-1999 season, which also featured Will Ferrell, Tracy Morgan and Molly Shannon.

13. If you ever watched "Saturday Night Live" while Jimmy was a cast member, you probably noticed that he often laughed or tried not to laugh during his many sketches, and he sometimes ended up breaking character. Several actors now refer to this as "Jimmy Falloning" in honor of the actor turned host.

14. Fallon also co-hosted the show's recurring news sketch "Weekend Update" with Tina Fey.

15. Fallon co-hosted the 2001 MTV Movie Awards with Kirsten Dunst on June 7, 2001.

16. Fallon played Neo in Sex and the Matrix, a comedic two-in-one parody of Sex and the City and The Matrix.

17. He hosted the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards alone that year. His opening number included parodies of videos by Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Nelly, The White Stripes, Dave Matthews and Enrique Iglesias.

18. Also in 2002, Fallon appeared in The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch as the son of Melvin Hall, and constantly pesters his father, often stealing his mic, claiming that the film is "his documentary."

19. Jimmy Fallon was nominated for a 2003 Best Comedy Album Grammy for "The Bathroom Wall," Jimmy Fallon."

20. In 2004, Fallon announced during the "Weekend Update" section that he was leaving the show. He appeared with Queen Latifah in the crime comedy Taxi, which turned out to be a commercial flop.

21. One of his best friends is actress Drew Barrymore. The two starred in the film "Fever Pitch" together in 2005.

22. Fallon also hosted the 2005 MTV Movie Awards and played Anakin Skywalker in a comedic parody of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith's Mustafar scene, in which Anakin and Padme have their last conversation.

23. In 2006, Fallon showed a more dramatic side in Factory Girl. The film starred Guy Pearce as artist Andy Warhol and Sienna Miller as his muse, Edie Sedgwick. Fallon played promoter Chuck Wein.

24. In 2002, he made the publication's "50 Most Beautiful People" list. He has also been on its "50 Most Eligible Bachelors" list.

25. He married Hollywood producer Nancy Juvonen on Necker Island in the Caribbean on December 22, 2007.

26. In 2007, Fallon wrote the song "Car Wash for Peace" and donated all proceeds to charity. He performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The View and dedicated a MySpace page to the cause. Around the same time, a video circulated on various Internet sites called lonelyfallon32, in which Fallon parodied YouTube celebrity Jessica Rose (a.k.a. lonelygirl15) and later performed the song.

27. In 2009, Fallon landed a challenging, high-profile role. He took over Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show. On the first Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, in March 2009, his guests included Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake.

28. There was a giant pickle hanging from the ceiling of Fallon's office. It was a gift from previous "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien, who in turn received it from David Letterman.

29. Inspired by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, ice-cream giants Ben & Jerry's created a flavor inspired by the TV host. 'Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack' was 'vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and fudge covered potato chip clusters,' and featured an image of Fallon on the carton - it definitely sounds interesting!

30. He had a mole removed on television during a February 2011 appearance on "The Dr. Oz Show." Cosmetic surgeon Arthur Perry removed a mole from Jimmy's left hand in front of a live audience!

31. He is a registered Democrat. In April 2012, he filmed a live version of his show "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. President Obama came on as a guest and spoke about student loans.

32. In April 2013, it was announced that he will become the new host of The Tonight Show, after Jay Leno's contract expires.

33. The show moved its tapings from Los Angeles to New York when Fallon assumed his new position. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon debuted on February 17, 2014.

34. He's gotten a little self-conscious about weight after being on television. "I mean, you see some pictures of yourself, you're like, 'Aaaah, dude. Like, you're on television, come on!'" The worst was watching his "Best Of" specials and feeling at some points that he looked like he had three chins. That was right after his "fat period" between doing movies and Late Night,when he'd been a full ten pounds overweight. "Ten pounds is a lot on TV," says Fallon. "It's 20 pounds, right?"

35. He has a very cute dog, named Gary Frick, who played a political-pundit puppy they dressed in a suit and Fallon debated on the show. Gary Frick turned out to be up for adoption, and also turned out to be a girl, but the name stuck. "I was like, 'I'm gonna surprise my wife and give her a dog,'" says Fallon, "which is not a good thing to surprise your spouse with. It's like saying, 'Here, here's something you have to take care of for 12 to 15 years! And it's in training!' My wife, she just started bawling. I think she [was] thinking of, like, 'Oh my god, this is so much work.' And we were trying to have a baby and all that stuff. But it's the best thing ever now. We love the dog so much."

36. His talk show has become a favorite spot for celebrities, artists, and politicians looking to reach a "hipper" audience, and it has also become a showcase for Fallon's musical talent.

37. Jimmy and his wife, producer Nancy Juvonen, announced they had become parents on July 23, 2013. Their little girl, Winnie Rose Fallon, came into the world via a surrogate.

38. Where did Winnie get her name? Fallon proposed to Juvonen at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where her family has a house. "It's kind of because of Lake Winnipesaukee, because we love that lake, butWinnipesaukee is too long of a name for a little girl.

39. He does excellent impression of many famous celebrities. Some of these include Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, Barry Gibb, and Carson Daly.

40. He currently resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.

41. Fallon released a song titled "Idiot Boyfriend." "Pick up the phone, c'mon. Let's get in my dad's SUV. Go over to my house, my crib, my pad. I'll tell my mom to go to sleep."

42. Jimmy Fallon is a huge Yankees fan.

43. Fallon's net worth is $25 million.

44. As of August 2013, Fallon was earning a salary of $11 million a year for his work on Late Night.

45. Lorne Michaels has said that The Tonight Show will be the last job Fallon will have. "He's right," says Fallon. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work." But he does have a backup plan: "I'll sell reruns of Late Night on DVD on infomercials," he says. "If it doesn't work, the good news is I'll be able to go on Letterman. Maybe. If he'll have me."

46. Jimmy Fallon says hello to all his guests before they appear on his show. This was advice passed on to him by his Tonight Show predecessor, Jay Leno.

47. In January 2014, Fallon (impersonating singer Bruce Springsteen) performed, along with Springsteen himself, a parody of Springsteen's hit song "Born to Run" which mocked New Jersey governor Chris Christie and his alleged role in the Fort Lee lane closure scandal.

48. Fallon is the creator and one of the executive producers of Guys with Kids, part of NBC's 2012-13 television schedule.

49. When Fallon goes on vacation, he likes England best because he can walk around and they don't really know who he is. "I wouldn't really want to go to a resort anymore," he says. "It feels like I'm being paid to be on a cruise. It's like, 'Hey, Jimmy Fallon's in the pool. Let's go hang out with him.'"

50. He's already getting gray hairs, but he doesn't want to dye them. "My grandpa had all white hair, so I think that's what I'm going to have." Still, he's boggled by the passage of time. "It just happened so fast. You go, 'What? Fifteen years? Is that when I got hired [on SNL]?' Like, 'Oh my god, that's how many years? That's three high-school classes of seniors!' I wish I wrote it down in a diary so I could remember it. So much stuff has happened. The last five years have been the fastest so far."