Why Jimmy Fallon's Dad Was 'Insulted' By The Title of His Newest Children's Book

Yahoo

14-05-2025

There's something about Jimmy Fallon's warm and outgoing demeanor that is both comforting and familiar, like you grew up together. Between his time on Saturday Night Live to hosting The Tonight Show, he has technically been hanging out in my living room, late into the night, for almost 30 years. So, while I personally don't know Fallon, answering my phone for our Parents' interview to a jovial, 'Hi Lauren! It's Jimmy!' felt like an old friend calling to catch up.
Without missing a beat, Fallon and I instantly connect over our kids! His daughters Winnie, 11, and Franny, 10, whom he shares with wife Nancy, are the center of his world. With summer almost here, he's devastated that his girls want to attend sleepaway camp for the second year in a row.
'When they were gone, it was the saddest two weeks of our life—but they had the best time. They love their independence. I think they like being able to create a new identity with kids who aren't their schoolmates,' says Fallon. 'They were so busy, I only got to talk to them twice. It was like getting a call from prison. I was like, 'Oh, hi honey, we're going to get you out!' But they were like, 'Dad, it's so busy that I don't have time to miss you guys.''
It's no surprise that family means everything to Fallon. His number one, New York Times best-selling series of children's books focuses on the important role family members play. They include Your Baby's First Word Will Be DADA, Everything Is MAMA, This Is BABY, and NANA Loves You More. But, the last book in the series, PAPA Doesn't Do Anything, is ending on a particularly special note for Fallon, paying tribute to the incredible role grandfathers play in our lives.
During our conversation, Fallon fondly recalls his own grandfather sitting in his La-Z-Boy chair, reading the newspaper and watching TV.
'If you just looked at him, you'd wonder, Hey, do you do anything?'" laughs Fallon. 'I thought that would be a funny way to look at a Grandpa/Grandkid book. It's like, 'Grandpa, you just sit here.' And he's like, 'Wait, are you kidding me? I do tons of stuff—I created this whole family. I had jobs, I was a boxer, or I fought in the war!'
Fallon hopes PAPA Doesn't Do Anything will encourage grandpas to read to their grandkids and spark them to share some stories of their own, because he says this generation is very humble and quiet.
'You'll never forget those stories, and one day you won't have the chance to talk to them,' says Fallon. 'Get them to tell their story so that you can write them down and everyone remembers them.'
Fallon admits that his father-turned-grandfather wasn't too pleased when he first heard the title of the new book.
'My dad was offended. He was like, 'What? Papa doesn't do anything?' and I told him, 'That's the point! You gave me this sense of humor. I got it from you.''
Fallon hopes that while reading together, grandfathers will recognize how their grandkids take after them. And, of course, the book's end reveals what Papa does—and that is anything for you—because he loves you.
Growing up, Fallon was extremely close to his grandparents. They even lived in his backyard.
'Not in a tent! But they had a cottage in our backyard with the same address, so I was raised by my grandparents and my parents together,' Fallon shares. 'I would hang out with my grandparents after school, and I did everything with them. My mom didn't drive, so my grandfather was the only one besides my dad that drove a car. My whole family is from Brooklyn, and nobody from Brooklyn drives.'
At 17 years old, Fallon started breaking into stand-up comedy. His grandfather drove him to gigs. The time Fallon spent with his grandfather was formative. They listened to Irish music together, he shared stories, and got Fallon into sports.
'My dad, being from Brooklyn, knows how to play maybe stickball or stoop ball, but didn't know football or baseball. My grandfather taught me how to throw a football, and he introduced me to golf,' Fallon says.
Learning about golf from his grandfather was a little moment that became a big force in Fallon's life.
'We had a garden in our backyard with 15 tomato plants. We had sticks that would hold the plants up so that they didn't fall over and break in the wind,' Fallon recalls.
He was curious about the 'thing' on top of the sticks to which his grandfather said were his old golf clubs.
'I go, 'Your what?' He was so surprised I didn't know golf! So I took the club out of the dirt, like the sword in the stone, and he taught me how to swing a golf club,' Fallon recalls. 'My grandfather said, 'Jimmy, this is a great investment. You could play this game for the rest of your life—which, if you think about it, is unlike any other sport.'
Fallon admits that at the time, he didn't fully understand what an 'investment' really meant, but he took his grandfather's advice, joined the golf team in high school, and even played golf with his grandfather's 70-year-old buddies. Fallon says that made him 'an old soul.' Fallon is still a big golfer even though his grandfather actually wanted him to play baseball.
'I didn't have the skills,' laughs Fallon. 'Though I actually did make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, so I know my grandfather would be proud of that!' Fallon reveals.
How did he pull such a feat? Here's a fun fact: The Red Sox hat Fallon wore in the 2005 movie Fever Pitch is proudly displayed there.
The close bond Fallon had with his grandfather has been passed down to his daughters. They share a very close relationship with Fallon's dad, talking or FaceTiming at least once a week and seeing him every holiday and for every birthday.
'My dad is always there, and they love him," Fallon shares. "He loves music, so he'll listen to their music with them even though they're really into Hamilton right now and that's more Broadway.'
Like his father before him, Fallon loves being a dad and watching his daughters find themselves and their interests. He's really proud of their sisterly relationship, describing them as 'best friends' who talk about everything—school, friends, fashion—yet are 'total opposites.'
'Franny is more of the performer while Winnie is more studious and wants to maybe become a writer right now,' shares Fallon.
Now that his girls are older, it means so much to Fallon that they're still awake when he gets home from taping The Tonight Show, giving them precious extra time together. Fallon shares how on April Fool's Day, Franny was particularly excited when he walked in, begging him to change into a shirt that he wouldn't care about if it gets messy. Knowing that clearly something was going to happen, Fallon complied and put on a T-shirt.
'Franny goes, 'All right, hold on a second' and comes out of her room and slaps me across the face with a whipped cream pie!' Fallon laughs. 'There was whipped cream all over the wall—nothing on the shirt, by the way—all over the rug, everything. She yells, 'April Fools!' and I was like, 'No, honey. That's not how it works. And, I'm going to get you back.'
Fallon was floored when Franny responded, 'Do you think I care?'
When Fallon said he was going to scare her and put snakes in her bed, she deadpanned, 'I like snakes.'
But later that night, Fallon got the last laugh.
'I was putting her to bed. I cleaned everything off, turned the lights out, gave her a kiss, and said goodnight. As I was leaving, she goes, 'Dad—I really don't want snakes in my bed.' And I looked at her and I said, 'Do you think I care?''
Don't worry (or tell Franny), but Fallon admits he would never really go through with it.
'We have fun and both my girls have good senses of humor,' he says.
Now that his daughters are older, his books may age up too.
'The more I've written these books, the more words are in them. The first book just had two words. It was animal sounds and the word 'dadda.' Now I'm actually creating arcs and stories,' says Fallon. 'So if I do another book, it would probably be YA [young adult]. I don't know what the take is on it yet, but my books have grown with my children, and clearly they're outgrowing them now.'
Before Fallon and I said goodbye, I shared that my daughter had recently followed in my dad's footsteps and was taking golf lessons—were his girls doing the same?
'I just don't want to push. I don't know how to [use] reverse psychology to make them golf. How are you parenting to make that work?' he laughs.
I shared that my 'reverse psychology' was a combination of my daughter taking lessons with her best friend and the promise of a post-lesson playdate.
'I'm going to get on that and see if any of their friends will play golf!' Fallon laughed.
As we hung up, I smiled, knowing just how much we had in common—and making a mental note to start recording the conversations my daughter has with both her grandfathers from here on out.
Read the original article on Parents