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• CC makes appearances at MSG and on NBC

  Major League Baseball - Found 14 hours ago It had been exactly 11 days since Jimmy Rollins used the 'Ten@Ten' segment on The Jay Leno Show to predict that the Phillies would win the World

• Sabathia to appear on 'The Jay Leno Show'

  Major League Baseball - Found 23 hours ago When Jimmy Rollins appeared on 'The Jay Leno Show' prior to the World Series, he famously declared the Phillies would beat the Yankees in five... Sabathia to appear on 'The Jay Leno Show' - New York Yankees Explore All

• 'Grey's Anatomy' tops Thursday ratings

  Variety - Found Nov. 6, 2009 ... among adults 18-34. "Parks and Recreation" (2.2/6, 4.9 million) reached a season-high in 18-49."The Jay Leno Show" (1.6/5, 4.7 million) showed... 'This Is It' doesn't skip a beat overseas - Variety 'This Is It' passes $100 mil mark - Hollywood Reporter Jackson film crosses $100 million internationally - Reuters Jackson Film Crosses $100 Million Internationally - ABC News Explore All

  MTV

• With ratings fall, Jay Leno show is 'everybody's favorite pinata'

  Christian Science Monitor - Found Nov. 5, 2009 Los Angeles - Jay Leno may not be a "whiner," as he put it in response to the criticism his new 10 p.m. prime time show has faced. Fall TV's winners and losers - San Jose Mercury News Stargazing: Mel Gibson's eighth, Leno on late night - Hartford Courant Barney: Picking out fall TV's winners and losers - San Jose Mercury News A rumor to ponder: NBC local newscasts at 10, Leno at 11 - South Florida Sun-Sentinel Explore All

  San Jose Mercury News

• Yankees win a ratings victory for Fox

  Variety - Found Nov. 5, 2009 Unit? (2.5/6 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall) but it then dropped sharply at 10 p.m. with ?The Jay Leno Show? (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.7... ABCs V Rises to Top Spot in Ratings - New York Times World Series puts Fox at top of lineup - Los Angeles Times Ratings: V Conquers in Prime-Time Invasion - Seattle Post Intelligencer "V" invades Canada with big ratings - Reuters Canada Explore All

  Huffington Post

• Outlook Not So Good on Jay Leno's Psychic Sit-Down

  New York Times - Found Nov. 4, 2009 Jay Leno set off a fresh round of speculation about the future of his prime time ?Jay Leno Show? with . (Among other things, Mr. Leno told... Late night limbo - CNN Leno Would Welcome A Return To Late Night - NPR People: Leno would take his old 'Tonight Show' spot if NBC offered ... - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Picking out fall TV's winners and losers - Belleville News Democrat Explore All

  EdgeBoston.com

• Mariah Carey Falls For Jay Leno

  MaleFirst Mens Magazine - Found Nov. 4, 2009 Mariah Carey was left red-faced on Monday night when she tripped and almost lost her balance on U.S. TV. The Hero hitmaker appeared on The Jay Leno Mariah Carey Laughs Off Embarrassing Slip Up On The Jay Leno Show - Post Chronicle Explore All

• Phil Rosenthal: NBC sale could reopen debate

  Chicago Tribune - Found Nov. 4, 2009 ... known for such gold-standard dramas as "ER" and "Hill Street Blues," now fills much of prime time with Jay Leno and reality programs a la "The... Wall Street wary of Comcast - Variety Video: Faber Report: Comcast Q3 Earnings - MSNBC Comcast quarterly profits rise 22% - Variety Comcast-NBC deal may pose regulatory questions - Chicago Tribune Explore All

• Jay Leno: 'I would have preferred' staying in late-night slot

  Chicago Tribune - Found Nov. 3, 2009 Jay Leno is perched in prime time, but he still says he would rather have stayed put at "The Tonight Show" -- and if NBC offered him that job again, Leno says he?d return to ?Tonight? if asked - MSNBC Mariah Carey keeps it classy - Detroit News Mariah Carey - Carey Laughs Off Embarrassing Slip Up - Contactmusic Leno Says He'd Return to 11:35 If Asked - Seattle Post Intelligencer Explore All

  My Eyewitness News

• Gibson a father for eighth time

  BBC - Found Nov. 3, 2009 "When it's all said and done, I did a pretty good hatchet job on my marriage myself," he told Jay Leno. "I'm to blame. Grigorieva's mum blasts press 'lies' - Hollywood Mel Gibson's Baby News Hits Moscow - People Gibson a father for eighth time - BBC CNN - Mel Gibson And Girlfriend Have A Daughter - CNN Explore All

  New Zealand Herald

Jay Leno extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Jay Leno
Jay Leno in 2006
Birth name	James Douglas Muir Leno
Born	April 28, 1950 (1950-04-28) (age 59)1 New Rochelle, New York, U.S.1
Medium	Television
Nationality	American
Years active	1973–present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, American culture
Influences	Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, Rodney Dangerfield
Influenced	Dennis Miller, Conan O'Brien
Spouse	Mavis Leno (1980–present)
Notable works and roles	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (host, 1992–2009) The Jay Leno Show (host, 2009–present)
Signature
Website	The Jay Leno Show
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 1995 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno (born April 28, 1950)¹ is an American stand-up comedian and television host. From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During his tenure, the show held the top ratings position in its time slot on nearly every weekday. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, UTC-5), also on NBC.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 The Tonight Show 2.1.1 Michael Jackson trial 2.1.2 Succession by Conan O'Brien 2.2 The Jay Leno Show 3 Personal life 3.1 Charity 3.2 Vehicle collection 4 References 5 External links

Early life

Jay Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, on April 28, 1950. His mother, Catherine (née Muir), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. Her schooling was limited and as a result she prized her children's successes. Leno's father, Angelo, who worked as an insurance salesman, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.² Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and although his high school guidance counselor recommended that he drop out of school, he later obtained a Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College, where he started a comedy club in 1973.³ Leno's siblings include his late older brother, Patrick, who was a Vietnam veteran⁴ and a lawyer.³ He was raised as a Catholic.

As Leno was growing up, he used to say that he would take over Johnny Carson's job,^{citation needed} which he eventually did. In the late 1970s, he was the warm-up act for Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones, and John Denver.

Career

The Tonight Show

He replaced Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, after having been a regular substitute host for Carson since 1987.⁵ Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.

In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension with NBC which would keep him as host of The Tonight Show until 2009.⁶ Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract with NBC under which O'Brien would become the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Leno at that time.⁷

During the 2007-2008 WGA Writers strike, Leno was accused of violating WGA guidelines by writing his own monologue for The Tonight Show. While NBC and Leno claim there were private meetings with the WGA where there was a secret agreement allowing this, the WGA denied such a meeting.⁸ Leno answered questions in front of the Writers Guild of America, West trial committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when the WGAW published its list of strike-breakers on 11 August 2009, Leno was not on the list.⁹¹⁰

Leno said in 2008 that he was saving all of his income from The Tonight Show and living solely off his income from stand-up comedy.¹¹

On April 23, 2009, Leno checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness.¹² He was released the following day and returned to work on Monday, April 27. The two subsequently cancelled Tonight Show episodes for April 23 and April 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host.¹³¹⁴ Initially, the illness that caused the absence was not disclosed, but later Leno told People magazine that the ailment was exhaustion.¹⁴¹⁵

Michael Jackson trial

In the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few whose testimony was actually needed). In his testimony regarding a call by the accuser, Leno testified he never called the police, no money was asked for, and there was no coaching - but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.¹⁶

As a result, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show's opening monologue in particular. But he and his show's writers used a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes about the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller among others.¹⁷

After NBC challenged the gag order, the judge permitted Leno to make jokes, as long as they were not related to his testimony. After the gag order was lifted, the next show featured a monologue entirely of Michael Jackson jokes.

Succession by Conan O'Brien

Because Leno's show continued to lead all late-night programming in the Nielsen ratings, the pending expiration of Leno's contract led to speculation about whether he would become a late-night host for another network after his commitment to NBC expired.¹⁸ Leno's last Tonight Show was on Friday May 29, 2009.¹⁹²⁰

The Jay Leno Show

On December 8, 2008, it was reported that Leno would remain on NBC and move to a new hour-long show at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. central time) five nights a week.²¹ This show is a similar format to The Tonight Show, tapes at the same lot, and retains many of Leno's most popular bits. Late Night host Conan O'Brien was his successor on The Tonight Show itself.²²

Jay Leno's new show, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009.^{dated info} It was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it will feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and keep the popular "Headlines" and "Jaywalking" segments, which will now air near the end of the show. It will also include a new segment called the "Green Car Challenge" in which celebrities will race around a track for the title of the fastest green celebrity. First guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite), and a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.²³

Personal life

Leno is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism.²⁴ He has stated that he is aware of surgery that could reset his mandible, but does not wish to endure a prolonged healing period with his jaws wired shut.^{citation needed}

Leno is dyslexic.³ He has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children.²⁵

Charity

Along with his wife, he donated $100,000 in 2001 to the Feminist Majority's campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan, to educate the public regarding the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Mavis Leno is on the board of the Feminist Majority.²⁶²⁷

In 2001, he auctioned off a Harley-Davidson motorcycle signed by his celebrity guests in an effort to help victims of the September 11 attacks. The bike sold for about $360,000. In 2005, he repeated the gesture twice: first, to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, with a bike sold for $810,000, and then again to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina; that bike sold for $1,550,100.

Vehicle collection

Leno is widely known as a car and motorcycle aficionado. He has a large antique car and motorcycle collection of various international marques spanning from the early 1900s to modern vehicles.

Leno's column in the American magazine Popular Mechanics showcases his car collection and gives advice about various automotive topics, including restoration and unique models, such as his jet-powered motorcycle and solar-powered hybrid. Leno also writes occasional "Motormouth" articles for The Sunday Times (London),²⁸ reviewing high end sports cars and giving his humorous take on automotive matters. He also writes a monthly column for Octane Magazine.

The collection also includes several Duesenbergs, eight steam-powered cars including an original 1912 Stanley Steamer (which, with Leno behind the wheel, became the oldest car to ever receive a speeding ticket^{citation needed}) and a rare 1913 Mercer Raceabout, a 1918 Stutz Bearcat and a 1964 Studebaker Avanti.

Along with his collection of classic cars, he has several high-performance cars. These include a 1994 McLaren F1, Porsche Carrera GT, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Lamborghini Miura, Ariel Atom, Dodge Viper GTS, Ford GT, Audi R8 and a custom Corvette C6RS (a modified Z06 built by Pratt & Miller). This Corvette can run on either E-85 Ethanol or gasoline. His EcoJet car runs on bio-diesel fuel. Its engine is a 650 horsepower (480 kW) Honeywell LT-101 turbine. The shell is carbon-fiber over Kevlar.

Leno's Blastolene Special is a 21-foot (6.4 m)-long aluminum-bodied roadster powered by a V12 engine from an M47 Patton tank Leno bought from Blastolene Brothers.²⁹ It was featured in the 2005 racing game Gran Turismo 4, and Monster Garage.

Leno's passion for classic cars led him to an affiliation with the Automobile Restoration Department at McPherson College, in McPherson, Kansas. Today he serves on the National Advisory Board for the college's automotive restoration program and helps fund the Fred Duesenberg Memorial Scholarship.

Leno also has an Internet site, called "Jay Leno's Garage," which contains video clips and photos of his automobiles in detail. It also allows viewers to post photos and descriptions of their cars. ³⁰

Since 2006 Leno has had his garage work on a biodiesel turbine-powered car in collaboration with GM: the EcoJet concept car.

On August 2, 2009, he made an appearance on BBC motor show Top Gear, in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment. His lap time was 1:48.8. In the interview, he told presenter Jeremy Clarkson that Top Gear was his favourite show.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jay Leno

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jay Leno

• Official Jay Leno Show web site
• Jay Leno's Car Collection
• Jay Leno's Columns at Octane magazine
• New York Times on Leno's affiliation with McPherson College
• Live performance videos from the Tonight Show
• Jay Leno at the Internet Movie Database

Media offices
Preceded by Johnny Carson	Host of The Tonight Show May 25, 1992–May 29, 2009	Succeeded by Conan O'Brien

v • d • e The Tonight Show The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson • The Tonight Show with Jay Leno • The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien Hosts Steve Allen • Jack Paar • Johnny Carson • Jay Leno • Conan O'Brien Announcers/Sidekicks Gene Rayburn • Hugh Downs • Ed McMahon • Edd Hall • John Melendez • Andy Richter Music Skitch Henderson • José Melis • Milton DeLugg • Doc Severinsen • Branford Marsalis • Kevin Eubanks • Max Weinberg Taping Locations Hudson Theatre • NBC Studios New York • NBC Studios Burbank • Universal Studios Hollywood

Persondata
NAME	Leno, Jay
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Leno-Muir, James Douglas; Leno, James Douglas Muir
SHORT DESCRIPTION	TV Personality
DATE OF BIRTH	April 28, 1950 (1950-04-28) (age 59)
PLACE OF BIRTH	New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH