Jay Leno Bio-Wiki, Age, Wife, The Tonight Show, Salary, and Net Worth

Who Is Jay Leno?

Jay Leno (Born: James Douglas Muir Leno) is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, and television host. Leno was the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009. He has hosted Jay Leno’s Garage since 2014.

He was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show starting in 1986. He replaced Carson as host in 1992 amid controversy with David Letterman. He continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his term on The Tonight Show.

He signed a contract extension with NBC in 2004 which would then keep him as host of The Tonight Show until 2009. Conan O’Brien signed a contract with NBC later in 2004 under which Conan would become the host of The Tonight Show in 2009 replacing Leno at that time.

Neither Leno nor Conan succeeded in delivering the viewing audiences the network anticipated in their new roles. Several media outlets reported on January 7, 2010, that beginning March 1, 2010, Leno would move from his 10 p.m. weeknight time slot to 11:35 p.m. Due to the combination of pressure from local affiliates whose newscasts were suffering, and both Leno’s and O’Brien’s poor ratings.

It was then announced on January 21, that NBC had struck a deal with O’Brien. It had been decided that O’Brien would leave The Tonight Show. The deal was then made that O’Brien would receive a $33 million payout and that his staff of almost 200 would receive $12 million in the departure. His final episode aired on Friday, January 22, 2010. On March 1, 2010, Leno returned as host of The Tonight Show following the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Variety reported on July 1, 2010, that total viewership for  Leno’s Tonight Show had dropped from 5 million to 4 million for the second quarter of 2010 and this was compared to the same period in 2009.

Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 pm ET, on NBC. The show debuted on September 14, 2009. It was then announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it would feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and also keep the popular “Headlines” segments, which would air near the end of the show. The first guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite). He also had a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which had occurred the night before.

His last show as the host of the Tonight Show was on February 6, 2014. His last guests on the show were Billy Crystal and musical guest Garth Brooks. There were also other few surprise guests, including Jack Black, Kim Kardashian, Jim Parsons, Sheryl Crow, Chris Paul, Carol Burnett, and also Oprah Winfrey.

How Old Is Jay Leno?

James Douglas Muir Leno was born on 28 April, 1950 in New Rochelle, New York, U.S. He is 68 years old as of 2018.

Jay Leno Family

Leno was born to a homemaker mother, Catherine (née Muir; 1911–1993) and Angelo (1910–1994), who was an insurance salesman. His mother was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11 while his father was born in New York, to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.

Jay Leno Brother

Leno has an older brother Patrick Leno who died on 6 October, 2002 as a result of complications from cancer. Patrick was a Vietnam War veteran who worked as an attorney.

Jay Leno Education

Growing up in Andover, Massachusetts, Leno attended Andover High School. He then attended Emerson College where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. He started a comedy club in the school in 1973.

Jay Leno Wife

Leno has been married to American philanthropist and feminist Mavis Leno since 1980. The couple has no kids by mutual agreement. He is dyslexic and also claims to only need four to five hours of sleep each night. He does not drink or smoke nor does he gamble.

With his wife, Leno donated $100,000 to the Feminist Majority Foundation’s campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan in 2001. This was to educate the public regarding the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. His wife is on the board of the Feminist Majority.

He also donated $100,000 to a scholarship fund at Salem State College (now Salem State University) in honor of Lennie Sogoloff in 2009. He also auctioned his Fiat 500, which was sold for $385,000 in August 2012. All the proceeds went to a charity that helps wounded war veterans recover by providing them with temporary housing.

Jay Leno Stand Up

On March 2, 1977, Leno first appeared on The Tonight Show, performing a comedy routine. Leno has also appeared numerous times on Late Night with David Letterman.

Jay Leno Cars

Leno’s vehicle collection includes approximately 169 cars and 117 motorbikes. Among them are two Doble steam cars, a sedan and a roadster that were owned by Howard Hughes, the fifth Duesenberg Model X known to survive, and also one of nine remaining 1963 Chrysler Turbine. Cars. It also includes three antique electric cars; the 1925 Baker Electric is Mavis Leno’s favorite car.

In Popular Mechanics, he has a regular column which showcases his car collection and also gives advice about various automotive topics. He also writes occasional “Motormouth” articles for The Sunday Times. In the articles, he reviews high-end sports cars and giving his humorous take on motoring matters.

Jay Leno Car Show

Leno has a website and a TV program called Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC. The show contains video clips and photos of his car collection in detail, as well as other vehicles of interest to him. The show has aired as a primetime series on the cable channel since 2015.

Jay Leno Car Garage

Leno spends most of his free time visiting car collections and sometimes working in his private garage. His garage manager is Bernard Juchli. He opened his garage to Team Bondi. Team Bondi was the company that developed the critically acclaimed 2011 video game L.A. Noire. He allowed the team to recreate their images as accurately as possible in his collection.

Jay Leno Motorcycle Collection

Leno purchased his first motorcycle, a 350cc Honda that he purchased when he was a student because “it was cheap transportation.” He bought a Brough in the 1980s, paying $5,000 for a 1939 model that his friends scoffed at. He then began trading up, and acquiring more esoteric examples.

His motorcycle collection include;

  • 350cc Honda
  • 1918 Pope
  • Henderson Four
  • 1922 Megola
  • 375-horsepower Y2K bike

He also has a set of electric motorcycles and scooters, in a group not far from a rare Nimbus, a rare Rudge and also an early Whizzer.

Jay Leno Book

  • How to be the funniest kid in the whole wide world – 2005
  • If Roast Beef Could Fly – 2004
  • Hot Wheels Cars – 2001
  • Jay Leno’s police blotter – 1994
  • Headlines IV: The Next Generation – 1992
  • Headlines III: Not the Movie, Still the Book : Real But Ridiculous Samplings from America’s Newspapers – 1991

Jay Leno Politics

He made jokes mocking then-President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State John Kerry while hosting the 2014 Genesis Prize award ceremony in Jerusalem. He accused Obama of “trying to break” the U.S.’s relationship with Israel.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post in 2015, he said, “I always considered Israel as not only the only democracy in the Middle East, I think it’s the purest, because every Israeli voter seems to have his own political party.” He then added about Israel’s relations with other Middle East countries: “Israel is so efficient in defending itself and so good at it, that to the rest of the world it looks like bullying.”

Jay Leno Salary

Depending on ratings for Leno on The Jay Leno Show, he could have earned up to $30 million each year.

Jay Leno Net Worth

Leno is believed to have acquired some great wealth from his wide television career on The Tonight Show. The television personality owns a vehicle collection and an oceanfront mansion in Rhode Island which are worth a handsome good amount. The stand-up comedian has an estimated net worth of $350 million.

Jay Leno Chin

Leno is highly known for his prominent jaw described as mandibular prognathism. In his book, Leading with My Chin, Leno stated that he is aware of surgery that could reset his mandible. He however states that he is not ready to endure a prolonged healing period with his jaws wired shut.

Jay Leno House

Leno is a proud owner of an oceanfront mansion in Rhode Island. It is a $13.5 million home in Newport which was listed by Lila Delman Real Estate. The mansion has a gated entrance and winding drive leads up to the estate. It sits on a 9-acre lot and features 15,851 square feet of living space.

It has a 12 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms and three half-baths, and is also packed with luxe amenities, including a carriage house, walled garden and tennis court. It also comes with access to the beach.

Jay Leno Height

The millionaire comedian stands at a a height of 1.8 m.

Jay Leno Tank Car

Leno’s Tank Car is designed by the Blastolene brothers, Randy Grubb and Mike Leads. It was never really meant for road use, but for show. When he got the car, his priority was to modify it to be street legal. The 20 foot long, 10,000 pound tank is fully equipped to driven on the road legally and weighs 10,000 pounds.

Jay Leno Movies

  • 1977
    Fun with Dick and Jane
  • 1978
    Almost Heaven
    Silver Bears
    American Hot Wax
  • 1979
    Americathon
  • 1981
    Polyester
  • 1983
    What’s Up, Hideous Sun Demon
  • 1989
    Collision Course
  • 1993
    Dave
    We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story Vorb (voice)
    Wayne’s World 2
  • 1994
    The Flintstones
    Major League II
  • 1996
    The Birdcage
  • 1997
    Meet Wally Sparks
    Contact
    In & Out
    Mad City
    Wag the Dog
    Just Write
  • 1999
    EDtv
  • 2000
    Space Cowboys
  • 2002
    John Q
    Juwanna Mann
  • 2003
    Stuck on You
    Calendar Girls
  • 2004
    Mr. 3000
    First Daughter
  • 2005
    Robots
  • 2006
    Tales of the Rat Fink
    Cars
    Ice Age: The Meltdown
    The Astronaut Farmer
  • 2007
    Christmas Is Here Again
    Underdog
  • 2008
    Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King
    The Great Buck Howard
    Igor
    Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare
  • 2010
    I’m Still Here
  • 2013
    Delivery Man
  • 2014
    Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas
  • 2015
    Ted 2

Jay Leno TV Shows

  • The Fairly OddParents – 2001 to 2017
  • The Tonight Show with Jay Leno – 1992 to 2014
  • Kelly Clarkson’s Cautionary Christmas Music Tale – 2013
  • The Jay Leno Show – 2009 to 2010
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson – 1962 to 1992
  • Television Parts – 1985
  • Jay Leno’s Garage – since 2015
  • Mickey and the Roadster Racers – since 2017
  • Celebrity Rides: Jay’s Duesenberg
  • Jay Leno’s Garage: Extras

Jay Leno Twitter