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.


Born at 2:03am-EST. He and his wife of many years have no children. 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. 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. Jay's father was Italian, but his mother was Scottish. 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." In May 2003, he hosted NBC's morning talk show "Today" (1952). In a May sweeps promotion, "Today" show host Katie Couric, in turn, hosted "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992). Attended Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dropped out after only one semester. Was a writer on the 1970s comedy series "Good Times" (1974), as was his current late night talk show competitor David Letterman. Although Leno's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) predecessor Johnny Carson appeared on rival late night talk show "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) 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" (1992) 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. Is a die hard fan of Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat, and Johnny Cash. He and his wife were contestants on the couples game show "Tattletales" (1982) in the early 80s. He has recently started a tradition for his Thanksgiving day shows. Each year on Thanksgiving Day, the entire audience is made up of men and women of the Armed Forces. He is usually the only late-night host to tape a new show on Thanksgiving Day. Is famous for his collection of motorcycles, two of which were featured in the movie, Batman and Robin. When he was a child, he fell down the stairs. As a result of the accident, his spleen was ripped and had to be removed. Driver of Pace Car at 83rd Indianapolis 500; May 30, 1999. Barack Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode dated 19 March 2009" (2009) marked the first TV talk show appearance by a sitting President. The final guest on his run of "The Tonight Show" was successor Conan O'Brien and the musical guest was James Taylor.