Jimmy Fallon reveals his family’s ”first baby” has passed away: ”Miss you so much”

Jim­my Fal­lon, usu­al­ly known for his bound­less laugh­ter and play­ful ener­gy, showed a deeply emo­tion­al side this week after shar­ing heart­break­ing news with fans — the pass­ing of his family’s beloved gold­en retriev­er, Gary.

The Tonight Show host took to Insta­gram on Tues­day to hon­or the 13-year-old fam­i­ly dog, call­ing her much more than a pet. In his post, Fal­lon described Gary as “our first baby,” a source of com­fort, laugh­ter, and love through every stage of their family’s life.

“She was the last name we signed on every birth­day card,” Fal­lon wrote, open­ing his trib­ute with a line that per­fect­ly cap­tured his grief.

A Life Full of Love and Laughter

Fallon’s post was accom­pa­nied by a series of touch­ing pho­tos — Gary as a pup­py, snug­gled beside him on a bright orange rug, and sur­round­ed by his wife Nan­cy Juvo­nen and their daugh­ters Win­nie (12) and Fran­ny (10).

“She was our first baby, a ther­a­pist, a pil­low, a big sis­ter, a school­marm, a come­di­an, a par­ty girl and a rebel,” Fal­lon wrote.

The come­di­an reflect­ed on how emp­ty the house feels with­out Gary, describ­ing the silence as almost painful, yet slow­ly being filled again with warm mem­o­ries and laugh­ter between the tears.

“Fran­ny, Win­nie, Mom­my, and I miss you so much. The house feels emp­ti­er with­out you, so qui­et that it almost hurts. Slow­ly, that qui­et is being filled again with mem­o­ries of you and laugh­ter between the tears. Thank you for every­thing you gave us. We miss you more than words can say. Good­night, Gary.”

“She Made Summer Itself”

Fal­lon also remem­bered Gary’s sil­ly and joy­ful nature — the kind of spir­it that turned ordi­nary moments into cher­ished mem­o­ries. He recalled how she would leap into the pool just after a bath and roll around in the grass “doing bun­ny kicks with her tongue stick­ing out.”

“She loved a good scratch and would lean into you if she liked you — though ‘if’ is gen­er­ous — she did this for basi­cal­ly every­one,” Fal­lon joked.

How Jimmy Met Gary

In a 2017 inter­view with Peo­ple, Fal­lon shared the sweet sto­ry of how he met Gary. The pup first appeared on his late-night show for a com­e­dy bit — “She came out dressed in a suit, play­ing a polit­i­cal pun­dit,” he said with a laugh.

At the time, Fal­lon and Juvo­nen were try­ing to have chil­dren, and Gary came into their lives as a bright dis­trac­tion dur­ing that emo­tion­al peri­od. “It was just some­thing to kind of lift our spir­its,” Fal­lon recalled.

An Outpouring of Support

With­in hours of his post, Fallon’s com­ment sec­tion was flood­ed with love and con­do­lences from fans and fel­low celebri­ties alike.

Actress Chris­sy Metz wrote, “I am so sor­ry to you and your fam­i­ly, Jim­my. Sure sounds like you were all beau­ti­ful­ly changed by one anoth­er.”

Neu­ro­sci­en­tist Andrew Huber­man added, “So very sor­ry for your loss, Jim­my. Dogs are fam­i­ly.”

Al Roker, who recent­ly lost his own dog, shared, “We lost our fur baby last year and it still hurts. But what love!”

Actress Cheri Oteri offered com­fort­ing words: “We only get them for a short time, but they come to open our hearts.”

Even the Jane Goodall Insti­tute’s account left a ten­der mes­sage: “Gary and Dr. Goodall will have great adven­tures togeth­er.”

A Family Member Forever

For Fal­lon and his fam­i­ly, Gary wasn’t just a dog — she was part of the foun­da­tion of their home, their laugh­ter, and their love. Her spir­it, Fal­lon said, will con­tin­ue to live on in their hearts.

As one fan poignant­ly com­ment­ed: “Gary will con­tin­ue to watch over the Fal­lon fam­i­ly, for­ev­er smil­ing.”