We wrote the details of the career and private life of comedian Jay Leno, who likes to laugh and laugh, and uses it in his career, who shows himself in stand-up shows and also draws attention with his acting and voice-over skills.
Real name James Douglas Muir Leno was born on April 28, 1950 in New Rochelle, New York. He was born to his mother, housewife Catherine Muir, and father, an insurance salesman, Angelo Leno. Leno has an older brother named Patrick, a Vietnam War veteran and a lawyer. Growing up in Andover, Massachusetts, Leno attended and graduated from Andover High School. He then earned a bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College in Boston in 1973.
Leno made his debut on March 2, 1977, performing a comedy routine called "The Tonight Show." In the 1970s, he first appeared in the 1976 episode of the TV sitcom "Good Times" called "J.J. in Trouble". In the same year, he appeared in small roles in many TV series and movies, including the pilot episode of the comedy TV series "Holmes & Yo-Yo". The following year, he made an unnamed appearance in the 1977 black comedy film "Fun with Dick and Jane."
In 1978, he appeared in more prominent roles in the biographical film "American Hot Wax" directed by Floyd Mutrux and in the comedy crime thriller "Silver Bears" directed by Ivan Passer. The first movie was a box office bomb. Other film and television appearances from that period include; He appeared in "Almost Heaven" (1978) and the comedy film "Americathon" (1979). He also continued his career by appearing in the TV sitcom "One Day at a Time" (1979), the comedy movie "Polyester" (1981), and the TV series "Alice" (1981). Additionally, he appeared in three weeks of the short-lived NBC tv panel game game show "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour" in 1983 and 1984.
Later, he acted twice in the sitcom TV series "Laverne & Shirley". In 1988, he appeared in the educational children's TV series "Sesame Street". His only leading film role was with Pat Morita in the 1989 direct-to-video action comedy "Collision Course" directed by Lewis Teague. He has also made several appearances on the talk show "Late Night with David Letterman".
Beginning in 1986, Leno served as a regular backup host for Johnny Carson on the talk show "The Tonight Show." He hosted the late-night talk show "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" from 1992 to 2009. He also guest-starred on a fictional late-night talk show called "The Larry Sanders Show." In addition to this, he did a voiceover in the tv sitcom "Frasier". That same year, he appeared in the pardo movie "Loaded Weapon 1" directed by Gene Quintano and the political comedy "Dave" directed by Ivan Reitman.
Later that year, he voiced the character of Vorb in the animated adventure comedy "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story." The film was met with both mixed reviews and a box office bomb. Later, he acted as himself in the comedy film "Wayne's World 2" (1993) directed by Stephen Surjik.
The following year, he appeared on the TV sitcoms "The Sinbad Show" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". In the same year, he starred in the family comedy film "The Flintstones" directed by Brian Levant. The film, which was released in theaters on May 27, 1994, received mostly negative reviews. Despite this, it was a huge commercial success worldwide. Later, he acted as himself in the sequel sports comedy "Major League II". The film was a financial success as well as debuting at #1 at the box office.
In 1995, he appeared in the tv sitcoms "Home Improvement" and "Mad About You". In the same year, he voiced the anthology animated TV series "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child". Later that year, he appeared in the legal drama TV series "JAG" and the TV sitcom "Friends" as himself. In 1996, he appeared as himself on the TV sitcoms "Seinfeld", "Homicide: Life on the Street", "Wings", "Ellen", "The Nanny" and "3rd Rock from the Sun".
The following year, he appeared as himself in the comedy film "Meet Wally Sparks" directed by Peter Baldwin, the science fiction drama film "Contact" directed by Robert Zemeckis, and the comedy "In & Out" directed by Frank Oz. The second and third films were well received at the box office. Later that year, he starred in the thriller drama "Mad City" directed by Costa-Gavras.
In 2000, he appeared in the adventure drama film "Space Cowboys" directed by Clint Eastwood and the thriller drama "John Q." also took part. Both films were successful at the box office. In 2003, he appeared as himself in the comedy film "Calendar Girls" directed by Nigel Cole. The film was a huge financial gain at the box office, as well as receiving generally positive reviews from critics.
In 2005, he appeared in a voice-over role in the animated science fiction comedy "Robots". The film, which was successful at the box office after its release, received generally positive reviews from critics. The following year, he appeared in the animated sitcom "Family Guy" to appear at different times. In the same year, he took a voice role in the animated sports comedy "Cars". The film received both critical acclaim and financial gain at the box office.
He then voiced himself in the sequel animated adventure comedy "Ice Age: The Meltdown". Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film managed to become the third-highest-grossing film of 2006 and the highest-grossing animated film by grossing worldwide.
The following year, he guest-starred in the superhero movie "Underdog" based on the TV series of the same name. The film, which received generally negative reviews, was met with a healthy success at the box office. In 2008, he was cast as the voice of Murray Hare in the animated movie "Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare".
In 2009, he hosted the talk show "The Jay Leno Show". The program, which premiered on September 14, 2009, featured interviews with famous guests and other comedy episodes. Ashton Kutcher, Gabourey Sidibe and Bob Costas guest-starred in the program, which aired its last show on February 9, 2010. In 2013, he starred as himself in the comedy-drama film "Delivery Man" written and directed by Ken Scott. Despite receiving mixed reviews, it was a box office success.
In 2015, he appeared as herself in the satirical comedy sequel "Ted 2" directed by Seth MacFarlane. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the film was still a success at the box office. In the same year, he began hosting the web and TV series "Jay Leno's Garage. In his long-running season special program, Leno reviews cars and motorcycles about classic and supercars, restored cars, vintage and sports cars. In 2016, the program won a Primetime Emmy Award.
Leno also voiced in the animated TV series "The Fairly OddParents" from 2001 to 2016. In 2017, he voiced himself in the animated preschool TV series "Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures". Leno has also appeared in a recurring role on the comedy TV series "Last Man Standing" since season 5 as Joe Leonard, a mechanic in a department store run by Allen's character Mike Baxter.
Leno has hosted the third remake of the comedy quiz show "You Bet Your Life" since its fall 2021 premiere. In 2022, he appeared as Ed Sullivan in the biopic about the life of music entrepreneur Brian Epstein, "Midas Man." It has not been announced when the film will be released.
Personal life
Leno has been married to philanthropist Mavis Leno since 1980. The couple had no children. Leno and his wife take part in the campaigns of different institutions and organizations. It provides support in terms of material-spiritual, time and effort.
Leno is known for his prominent jaw formation, defined as mandibular prognathism. In her own book, "Leading with My Chin," he said he was aware of a surgery that could reset his chin, but didn't want to put up with the post-op recovery period. Also, Leno is dyslexic. A car lover, Leno owns around 286 cars, spending most of his free time visiting car collections and working in his private garage. Of these, 169 are cars and 117 are motorcycles.
Leno has faced heated criticism, controversy and some negative publicity for his role in the 2010 Tonight Show shootout. Bill Zehme, co-author of Leno's autobiography "Leading with My Chin," told the Los Angeles Times of Leno: "What Leno has to do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by coming back. People are the bad guy to look at. will be seen.” he said.
Among the comedians Leno was influenced by are Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, David Brenner, Mort Sahl, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, and Rodney Dangerfield.