Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films (American Hot Wax) but hit paydirt with his late-night television appearances (he made a record number of visits to Late Night with David Letterman); for several years, he served as Johnny Carson's permanent guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A big, sweet guy with a very good comedy routine, he vied with David Letterman to inherit Carson's seat when Johnny retired in 1992. His victory was well-publicized, but empty, though he did gain a measure of revenge when his show beat Letterman's for the Emmy in 1995. Though he consistently lost in the ratings to Letterman except on special occasions, like Hugh Grant's first TV appearance after his encounter with Divine Brown, he surged ahead in 1996, as CBS plunged further into oblivion.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992): $20,000,000 (2002-3)

Born at 2:03am-EST. Raised in Andover, Massachusetts. He and his wife of many years have no children. Maintaining classic cars and motorcycles is one of Jay's hobbies. Owns over 30 classic cars and over 40 motorcycles. His very first automobile was a 1934 Ford V-8 truck which he restored himself at the age of 14. His wife, Mavis, is active in the Feminist Majority Foundation which helps raise funds to combat the strict Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime that requires women to wear head-to-toe shrouds. Her first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was March 2, 1977. Met his wife while performing at a comedy club in Los Angeles. Mavis was in the audience, and she laughed at all his jokes at the right time. 1972 graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Jay's father was Italian, but his mother was Scottish. Growing up in Massachusetts, he suffered from dyslexia. Under the teacher's comments of Jay's 5th-grade report card read, "If Jay spent as much time studying as he does trying to be a comedian, he'd be a big star." Had guests sign one of his Harley Davidsons (the first being Arnold Schwarzenegger), after which the bike was auctioned off with the money going to help victims of the September 11th attacks. In May 2003, he hosted NBC's morning talk show The Today Show. In a May sweeps promotion, "Today" show host Katie Couric, in turn, hosted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Is a "seasoned" Monopoly player; likes to play with real money and the "race car" is his favorite playing piece. Attended Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dropped out after only one semester. Is one of the few owners of the McLaren F1 supercar. Was a writer on the 1970s comedy series Good Times, as was his current late night talk show competitor David Letterman. He will step down as host of the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2009. His replacement will be current NBC Late Night with Conan O'Brien host Conan O'Brien. Although Leno's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno predecessor Johnny Carson appeared on rival late night talk show Late Show with David Letterman twice (in a walk-on stage appearance soon after Letterman's show debuted, and later in a filmed segment), Carson never once appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with his successor. Many, including Leno, took this as a sign that "Johnny likes Dave more" and would have preferred David Letterman to have been his "Tonight Show" replacement. During the Michael Jackson trial in February of 2005, Jay Leno had been subpoenaed to testify at the trial. Judge Rodney S. Melville issued a "gag order" barring anyone involved in the case from discussing it outside court, and the comedian feared that the order would apply to his monologues on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He was allowed to write the jokes but not tell them. To get around this order, Leno called on his fellow comedians to tell the jokes he wrote for him. Some of these people included Brad Garrett, Scott 'Carrot Top' Thompson, Roseanne, Dennis Miller, and Drew Carey. They came out and told the jokes while Leno stood beside them on stage. On March 11, 2005, the judge had the gag order lifted. In a statement, he explained, "I am not attempting to prevent anybody from making a living in the normal way that they make their living," adding that Leno may not talk about the specific things to which he is a witness. Is a die hard fan of Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat and Johnny Cash. Is portrayed by Daniel Roebuck in The Late Shift He and his wife were contestants on the couples game show Tattletales in the early 80s.