Jay Leno was born as James Douglas Muir-Leno in 1950, in New York. His mother immigrated to the States from Scotland as a teenager and his father is an Italian American. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and attended college at Emerson College. He majored in speech therapy and got his degree in 1973. While in school, Leno supported himself by working at McDonald’s.
After Leno realized he wanted to become a standup comic, he would perform at any place that would let him, which even included Dairy Queen throughout the 1970s. He developed a good reputation locally and was known for his professionalism and pleasant attitude. Leno made occasional appearances on TV, usually as a guest on the Tonight show, then hosted by Johnny Carson. Leno also appeared as the opening act for John Denver at his concerts.
Leno’s popularity on the national level slowly began to grow after he became almost a regular occurrence on Late Night with David Letterman as well as a common face on The Tonight Show. After Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show, NBC offered the role as host of the show to Leno, who has now been with the show for fourteen years.
Leno has announced that he will retire as host in 2009. Conan O Brien, who is the current host of Late Night also on NBC, will fill his role. In 2005, Leno made a reported $32 million for his role as host.
Leno continues to perform as a stand up comedian, often in Vegas. He also frequently performs at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, CA. When Leno appeared on Inside the Actor’s Studio with James Lipton, he revealed that he has never touched his earnings as host of The Tonight Show. He says that he continues to live off of everything he makes as a stand-up comedian.
Jay’s role as host has opened up many doors for him in Hollywood. Although most of his film appearances are cameos where he usually plays himself, he has had a few notable performances including Collision Course in 1989, co-starring Pat Morita. He also starred in The Flintstones in 1994, which co-starred John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Rosie O’Donnell, and Elizabeth Perkins. Most recently, he has voiced roles in the animated films Ice Age 2 and Cars.
Jay Leno married Mavis Leno in 1980. The couple has decided that they would prefer not to have kids. Mavis works extensively with Afgan women who suffer under the Taliban.
Leno is almost as well known for his car collection as his job as host. He has a huge antique car collection and restores them himself. He is also known for driving various cars from his collection from his home to the studio everyday. His notoriety as car nut, landed him a regular column in Popular Mechanics magazine.
Leno took his car and motorcycle enthusiasm to a whole new level when he auctioned off one of his Harley-Davidson motorcycles to aid victims of the September 11th attacks in 2001. He had some of his celebrity guests sign the bike and it sold for a reported $360,000. He repeated his efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and for Hurricane Katrina. Those bikes sold for $810,000 and $1,505,100 respectively.
YUDDY
