Mr BioFile Interviews by Scoop Malinowski
By Scoop Malinowski
Position: Host and executive producer of ABC’s late night talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel LIVE.”
DOB: November 13, 1967 In: New York City
Childhood Dream: “I really wanted to be a baseball player. I idolized Steve Garvey of the Dodgers. But I realized pretty early, if you can’t break the line-up of your Little League team you’re not gonna make it to the All Star Game.”
Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “I like to sit in front of my televisions. I have nine DIRECTV receivers in my home (in Hollywood). I have a hundred inch projection TV and two plasma TV sets into each wall. Each has two screens. I can see five NFL games at once. It’s a good time. My house is more like a sports bar than a home. I even have cocktail waitresses.”
Favorite Movies: “The Godfather movies. Broadway Danny Rose – a Woody Allen movie, my favorite comedy.”
Musical Tastes: “Elvis Costello, Huey Lewis – no kidding. The Strokes. Does Oprah have an album? If she did, I’d buy it…Oprah doing Luther Vandross songs.”
First Job: “I worked at a seafood store in Las Vegas when I was fourteen. One of my jobs was to clean out the fish freezer, which was ankle-deep in fish-related fluids.”
First Car: “A tan ’72 Chevy Impala station wagon with a luggage rack.”
Favorite TV Shows of All Time: “Late Show with David Letterman. The Honeymooners. The Simpsons. The Oprah Winfrey Show. She doesn’t do just a TV show, she heals.”
Favorite Meal: “Linguini with white clam sauce.”
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Count Chocula.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Banana.”
Early TV Memory: “When Chris Elliott used to come out from under the stairs on Letterman and say crazy things for no apparent reason. It was so funny and such a blatant waste of TV airtime that it really attracted me to the medium.”
Embarrassing Career Memory: “It takes a lot to really embarrass me.”
Greatest Career Moment: “The first time I was on Letterman in ’99. I have never been more nervous, including the birth of my children. My face went white and my blood went cold. I’ve been back a bunch of times since and gotten better each time. I should really have it right by about 2020.”
Most Painful Moment: “I went to wrestling school in 2000. A fat, smelly, toothless man bodyslammed me. For about five minutes I didn’t think that I’d ever walk again. I’d rather be shot than have my head in his armpit again.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Good hygiene, number one. Loyalty. Sense of humor.”
