Jimmy Fallon, Saugerties Native, Promoted to the Tonight Show

The Tonight Show, NBC’s esteemed program, has been hosted by such charismatic figures as Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. But now Leno’s bowing out (for real this time), and in April we learned that Saugerties-raised Jimmy Fallon will take the reigns of the nearly 60-year-old show.

The 39-year-old grew up in the Ulster County town and attended Saugerties High School, where he wrote and acted for a student skit club. Fallon’s first stand-up gig came in the early ’90s at Bananas Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie where he won the “Funniest Person in the Hudson Valley” contest. From there, he went on to score a spot on Saturday Night Live, alongside the likes of Tina Fey. After a brief stint in movies, he landed his own show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; in February he will officially begin hosting Tonight. One thing is certain: Plenty of Valleyites will be tuning in for homegrown humor.

» Read about Jimmy Fallon’s childhood in Saugerties, NY

» Return to Year in Review 2013