American actor and comedian Jay Leno is a man of very diverse interests. If we look at his Facebook page, we will see completely different entries: announcements of his concerts, announcements of TV shows with his participation, records of helping sick people and messages from car exhibitions.
And all this takes place in Jay's life very harmoniously and whole. It would seem that a comedian is someone who always jokes and makes people laugh. As it turned out, this idea is absolutely wrong.
Despite the fact that he received an Emmy and other prestigious awards for his work on the acting path, he is not limited to television.
Biography
The future actor was born in 1950 in New York. At birth, the boy was given the name James Douglas Muir Leno. His father was an immigrant from Italy, in the USA he worked as an insurer, and his mother was a housewife. Jay grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Andover High School. His older brother Patrick was a Vietnam War veteran, and after demobilization he worked as a lawyer.
Leno earned a BA in speech therapy from Emerson College. There he not only received an education, but also founded a comedy club - this was in 1973. Even then it became clear that the guy would not work as a speech therapist, but would find himself an occupation related to stand-up.
Film career
Leno's first performance took place at The Evening Show in 1977, and was received very well by the audience. In this program, one of the producers noticed him and invited him to a small role in his picture. So Jay became a movie actor.
In the seventies, he played several supporting roles in television series and films: “J. J. in trouble”(1976),“Holmes and Yo-yo”(1977) and others.
After starring in the 1977 movie Fun with Dick and Jane, Leno began to be invited to more prominent roles. After that, he starred in the films American Hot Wax and Silver Bears.
Other films and television series from this period include Nearly Heaven (1978), Going Nowhere (1979), Amemphone (1979), and others.
In 1989, he had a chance to play the only major role in his life in the movie "Cool Couple", where the famous Pat Morita became his partner on the set.
Comedy shows
Since 1986, Leno regularly appeared on The Tonight Show - he was Carson's partner. In 1992, he replaced Carson as the host, but the famous comedian David Letterman began to criticize his manner of broadcasting and himself. It was a difficult time, and the actor could not recover from this scandal for a long time. Later, about this period in his life, he wrote a book and made a film.
He opened his show - the Jay Leno show, and it was very popular with viewers, had great ratings.
In 2009, a man who was joking, laughing and making people laugh all the time suddenly ended up in the hospital. Because of this, I even had to cancel two episodes of the program, but this was the first and last time in my life. The doctors never made a diagnosis, and the comedian himself later said that it was just severe fatigue from work, almost exhaustion.
During Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestation trial, Leno was one of the few celebrities to testify for the defense. At a time when other comedians on their shows allowed themselves to make jokes about Michael, Jay did not want to earn ratings on what was not proven.
In 2010, Jay Leno's show was canceled and he returned to The Tonight Show. In 2014, he hosted the last program, and in the same year he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
After that, he gave himself completely to his garage - a huge hangar, which houses a unique collection of cars and motorcycles. The journalists devote separate large articles with many photographs and extensive interviews with the owner of this unique garage-museum to this hobby of the actor.
Its peculiarity is that at any time you can leave any car and test it. But not to buy, but to enjoy its exceptional properties.
We can say that rare cars and motorcycles are Leno's second love after his profession. Now he appears on television as an invited guest, and quite often.
Charity
Leno assists many organizations that advocate for human rights. For example, in 2001, he donated $ 100,000 to the Feminist Majority Foundation campaign. This foundation fights gender inequality in Afghanistan and also educates the public about the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Jay's wife Mavis Leno is on the Feminist Council of America.
He also helps Salem State University and war veterans. In August 2012, Leno auctioned off his Fiat 500, and the proceeds went towards building housing for the veterans.
Personal life
In 1980, Jay met Mavis, his future wife. He was then thirty years old, and she was thirty-eight, but the age difference did not prevent the development of relations, and in the same year they got married. There are no children in the Leno family.
Together, the couple accompanied Jay's parents and his older brother on a long journey, who died one after another, with short intervals. And all this time Leno conducted his programs without interruption.
The comedian leads a healthy lifestyle, does not gamble. He sleeps only four to five hours a day, and this is enough for him to recover. Leno spends most of his free time in his garage and at various car exhibitions.
