Jimmy Fallon: Always Late Night, Getting Earlier
Posted by Elizabeth Hazel on 17th Sep 2015
Happy 41st Birthday to Jimmy Fallon! He was born on September 19, 1974, 6:22 pm EDT in Bay Ridge, New York. Jimmy's career has a consistent upward trajectory. He wasn't an overnight success, though; he worked his way up through the ranks. What's remarkable is how he took the right career steps to reach the heady peak of late-night television jobs. In 2014 he acquired the Tonight Show host's chair previously occupied by Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. Let's take a look at his birth chart and some of the marking points along the way.
The best tracker of Fallon's career success is his progressed Mercury. There are a variety of progressions but the most popular are secondary progressions. The birth chart is moved forward one day for each year of life. Planetary connections hinted at in the birth chart become exact in time, and the person has an opportunity to fulfill the potential in these contacts when the aspect becomes exact. Progressions are usually combined with transits (the daily movement of the planets) and compared with the natal chart when generating forecasts.
Fallon's natal Mercury is in Libra and conjunct Uranus. This wacky planet combo is a big talent cluster. Mercury has the gift of words and mimicry, and Uranus adds sharp wits and high-speed improvisation skills. Both planets square Saturn! This might seem like a downer, but over time Fallon has learned to use this aspect to his benefit. Saturn creates form and adds longevity. Jimmy Fallon specializes in performing impressions of other comedians and actors. This hard-to-master form of comedy requires the ability to mirror another person's voice, mannerisms, and body language. Mercury and Venus are in mutual reception, occupying each other's signs. This is like people sharing keys to each other's houses and with permission to raid the refrigerator and borrow stuff. Venus is sextile Saturn, adding her creative beauty to Mercury's mimicry. Fallon's chart also contains a Grand Trine in Water between his Pisces Ascendant and Jupiter, Saturn in Cancer, and Moon in Scorpio. This lucky birth signature suggests an ability to navigate most of life's obstacles with ease.
Jimmy Fallon became interested in comedy and music as a kid. Progressed Mercury entered Scorpio when he was nine years of age. He attended college but dropped out when he was one semester shy of his degree in 1996. Why did he change directions? His progressed Mercury turned retrograde at 10 Scorpio while forming a trine to his Jupiter. He moved to Los Angeles and started doing stand-up comedy. By 1998 he was hired as a feature player on Saturday Night Live and soon became a regular cast member. During his six years on the show he developed a number of comedic characters (Saturn gives form!) that appeared in episodic skits. He became an anchor on SNL's Weekend Update with Tina Fey in 2002.
The next milestone arrived in 2004 when he left SNL. His progressed Sun was conjunct Uranus and square Saturn, suggesting that it was time for him to depart and do more solo (Sun) work. He appeared in a number of films and hosted the MTV Awards. Uranus contacts often signal a powerful desire for independence and greater freedom.
On his birthday in 2007, Mercury returned to its exact natal location as progressed Venus and Mars joined Uranus. Jimmy got married in December. Four months later he made a second major partnership agreement when he signed on to take over Conan O'Brien's host duties on NCB's Late Night. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon premiered on March 2, 2009. The transiting Sun was conjunct his Ascendant-Jupiter in Pisces, and a big stellium of planets in Aquarius made big trines to his natal stellium in Libra. His progressed Mercury Rx was conjunct the progressed Sun: he got a talk show (Mercury) with his name (Sun) featured in the title. Cute, huh?
His next six years were extremely active. Fallon hosted awards shows, appeared in films, and did voice-overs for cartoon characters. Progressed Mercury Rx made a conjunction to Venus and Mars in 2011. It backed into Libra in 2012, and made a return conjunction to Uranus in 2012-13. This coincided with his “Tebowie” parody-impression that went viral in January 2012. A pattern emerges here – big contacts to his natal Uranus augur major life events! Tracking progressed Mercury this way may not work for everyone. Mercury rules Jimmy's Sun sign Virgo so it's a top-dog planet in his chart. His natal Mercury-Uranus conjunction is uber-sensitive to activity, and there are dramatic life events when significant contacts occur.
With a progressed Mercury Rx-Uranus conjunction in 2012-2013, it was time for another huge career leap. It was announced in 2013 that Fallon would take over for Jay Leno on The Tonight Show as host, writer, and executive producer in 2014. This also coincides with his progressed Midheaven entering Aquarius. By progression, Saturn (the old ruler of Aquarius) sextiles his Ascendant, too. This is going to be a long-term gig for Fallon.
Fallon's progressed Mercury turns direct in 2019 (age 45). This will be another watershed year. His progressed Midheaven squares progressed Mars and trines natal Mars at the same time! Mars rules Jimmy's 2nd and 9th houses, suggesting some highly profitable deals for producing other shows, spin-offs, and perhaps films. The 9th house connection indicates global distribution, web connections, and publishing activities. With his Pisces Ascendant-Jupiter and Mercury in Libra, Jimmy Fallon will always juggle multiple projects – it staves off boredom!
NBC's The Tonight Show is the longest-running talk show in television history. Legendary comedy pioneer Steve Allen started as host in 1954 followed by Jack Paar in 1958. Johnny Carson set the standard for The Tonight Show.He hosted the show for 30 years, from 1962-1992. Carson was born on October 23, 1925 at 7:15 am in Corning, Iowa. His Scorpio Ascendant conjuncts Mercury and Saturn, all sextile Moon and Jupiter in Capricorn and trine Uranus in Pisces. This is the exact same planet group Fallon has in his chart, although arranged somewhat differently.
Jay Leno hosted the show from 1992 until 2014, with a brief tour of duty by Conan O'Brien in 2009-2010. Leno was persuaded to return after a sharp drop in the show's ratings, while O'Brien made a successful transition to his own talk show on TBS. Leno was born on April 28, 1950 at 2:03 am in New Rochelle, New York, has Jupiter on his Ascendant – just like Jimmy Fallon. Leno's chart has Jupiter trine Uranus and a Moon-Saturn conjunction in Virgo, while his Virgo Mars trines Mercury and opposes Venus. The same group of planets are highlighted in Jay Leno's chart!
Let's look at this in a different way:
Johnny Carson Moon-Jupiter (Capricorn) sextile Ascendant-Mercury-Saturn (1st house Scorpio)
trine Uranus (Pisces)
Venus (Sagittarius) sextile chart ruler Mars* (Libra)
Jay Leno Moon and chart ruler Saturn* (Virgo) opposite Jupiter (1st house Pisces)
Mercury (Taurus) sextile Venus (Pisces) and trine Mars (Virgo)
Jimmy Fallon Moon (Scorpio) trine the Ascendant and chart ruler Jupiter* (1st house Pisces) trine Saturn (Cancer)
Mercury-Uranus (Libra) square Saturn and mutual reception with Venus (Virgo)
(* the chart ruler is the planet that rules the Ascendant)
The same planets and the same signs turn up again and again in a slightly different arrangement. Why post a job description? The producers just need to hire an astrologer to look at the birth chart of the applicant to see if the person has these planets and signs strongly constellated in the natal chart!
When Johnny Carson was on the verge of retirement, Joan Rivers was a prominent candidate for the host's chair. She substituted for him on numerous occasions. Her chart has the same planets in strong positions – but they're in air and fire signs instead of earth and water signs! Joan's chart has a powerful Mercury-Venus conjunction in Gemini sextile 1st house Uranus in Aries. Mars and Jupiter are conjunct in earthy Virgo but square her fiery Sagittarius Moon. She has a Gemini Sun trine Saturn in Aquarius. The right planets are in beefy positions and share aspects, but the predominance of fire and air signs in her chart doesn't fit into the natal chart mold established by Johnny Carson. There was some disgruntlement when Joan chose to start her own talk show while Carson's successor was still being debated. Perhaps she sensed that she wouldn't be chosen and decided to grab the opportunity that was a sure thing rather than wait and be disappointed.