Jay Leno

Jay Leno married Mavis Leno in 1980 and mutually decided to not have any kids. The couple has been involved in many philanthropic works over the years.

He lost his mother in 1993 when he was hosting the first season of ‘The Tonight Show’ and a year later his father passed away at the age of 84. Leno also had a brother, Patrick Leno, a Vietnam veteran who died in 2003 due to cancer.

Leno has described himself as someone who does not drink, smoke, or gamble. According to him, he is a ‘dyslexic’ and only requires four-five hours of sleep every day.

James Douglas Muir Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York on April 28, 1950 to Catherine, a homemaker, and Angelo, an insurance salesman. His mother had moved from Scotland to the United States when she was 11 years old while his father had been born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.

He went to Andover High School and later earned a bachelor's degree in ‘speech therapy’ from Emerson College.

Jay Leno started his career in a television show titled ‘The Tonight Show’ back in March 1977. In the next decade he would go on to make several appearances in numerous television shows and films including ‘Good Times ‘, ‘Holmes & Yo-Yo’, ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’, ‘American Hot Wax’, ‘Silver Bears’, ‘Almost Heaven’, ‘Going Nowhere’, ‘One Day at a Time’, ‘Americathon’, ‘Polyester’, ‘The Wild One’, ‘Alice’, ‘Feminine Mistake’, ’Laverne & Shirley’ and ‘Late Night with David Letterman’.

After many successful appearances in various productions, Leno finally got his big break in the show ‘The Tonight Show’ where he replaced Johnny Carson as the host in 1992. He would eventually go on to become the soul of the show for nearly two decades.

During his time in ‘The Tonight Show’, Leno got involved in the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation. He was one of the few celebrities who appeared as defense witnesses. Due to his involvement, he was forced not to make any jokes on Jackson on his show which had been a daily fixture on the show previously.

Leno, along with the scriptwriters, exploited the order and found a loophole to allow others on the show to do the jokes. These gigs were challenged at the court, but Leno and the production team eventually won. The court allowed them to make jokes but ordered them not to discuss Jackson’s testimony. Leno and the staff celebrated the court’s ruling with an entire episode being dedicated to Michael Jackson gigs.

After 17 successful years on ‘The Tonight Show’, Leno was replaced by Conan O'Brien in 2009, as a result of Conan’s contract with NBC. Later on March 1, 2010, Jay Leno returned to host the show again replacing Conan after the completion of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Jay Leno took ‘The Tonight Show’ to new heights as its host. He first presented the show from 1992 to 2009 when he was replaced by O’Brien, and then came back a year later to host the show until 2014. The show was a super-hit and was nominated for the Emmy Award ten times between 1993 and 2005, winning once in 1995.