Some entertainers try to forget get their hometowns after they make it big.
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Hoboken, NJ, for instance, has a birthday party for their patron celebrity Frank Sinatra every year, and still does, but Frank never shows up. . Frank’s lack of love for his birthplace has reached urban legend status.
Elvis was born in a two room house built by his grandfather in Tupelo, Mississippi. Who knows how often Elvis traveled back there?
But Jimmy Kimmel seems to be different, and 2013 seemed to be his year in his hometown, Las Vegas.
Jimmy was born in the Mill Basin neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn November 13, 1967, and his family moved to Las Vegas when he was 9 years old. He attended Las Vegas schools, including Clark High School and The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, He got his start at the UNLV radio station, KUNV, and became a popular caller to the Mike Elliott and Kent Voss show on KZZP-FM in Vegas, before landing his first paying gig at KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington.
Talking about the induction of ex-UNLV coachJerry Tarkanian into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Jimmy said about Tark and his home town,
“You know, the Rebels are ranked No. 1,’ and thinking like, wow, that’s a big deal …“That was the first time I really felt proud of being from Las Vegas because it gave us something to rally around and be proud of. Our city is there for the amusement of other people, but Tark and the Rebels gave us an identity beyond that, and I think he really deserves a lot of credit for bringing Las Vegas together as a community.”
On March 19, 2013 Jimmy gave probably one of the funniest commencement speeches at his alma mater, UNLV.
The video.
The day before he cut the ribbon at the Jimmy Kimmel Technology Center at Clark High School in Las Vegas, UNLV announced they were giving Jimmy an honorary degree. Honorary because they appreciate his work for the community and because he never finished his degree work there.
Jimmy donated $58,000 to the high school which bought 72 computers and filled two rooms.
Here’s the hilarious video chronically the Center’s ribbon cutting ceremony:
Most recently Jimmy pushed Las Vegas tourism on his TV show through a collaboration between his team and R&R Partners, in ad spots sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
