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 James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno (April 28, 1950) is an Emmy Award-winning American comedian and television host, who succeeded Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, and as of 2007 has served as host for roughly half the amount of time that Carson served.
Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York. His mother, Catherine (n�e Muir), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland and came to the United States as an eleven year-old. His father, Angelo Leno, who worked in the insurance business, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and received his Bachelor's degree in Speech therapy from Emerson College in 1973. Leno has siblings including a brother who is a veteran.
Early in his career he did commercial for Doritos brand tortilla chips. In the late 1970s, he was the warm-up act for Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones and John Denver. He replaced Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992. He has planned to retire from the show in 2009, to be replaced by Conan O'Brien. During an August 1, 2007 interview with CNN journalist Anderson Cooper on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno confirmed that he is dyslexic. Jay Leno presented Microsoft Windows 95 on Grand Opening of Microsoft Windows 95 on August 24, 1995. |