Trivia

Met his wife while performing at a comedy club in Los Angeles, California. Mavis was in the audience, and she laughed at all his jokes at the right time.

Under the teacher's comments of Jay's 5th-grade report card read, "If Jay spent as much time studying as he does trying to be a comedian, he would be a big star.".

On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), Jay developed a tradition for his Thanksgiving day shows. Each year on Thanksgiving Day, the entire audience is made up of men and women of the Armed Forces. He was usually the only late-night host to tape a new show on Thanksgiving Day.

Doesn't drink coffee, soup or any hot beverages. If it doesn't have ice in it, he's generally not interested.

In November 2006, on his show, he ate a vegetable for the first time in 37 years.

On an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), he claimed that he got in his first auto accident a mere 81 hours after getting his driver's license.

Owns over 170 classic cars and over 150 motorcycles. His very first automobile was a 1934 Ford V-8 truck, which he restored himself at age 14.

Is famous for his collection of motorcycles, two of which were featured in the movie Batman & Robin (1997).

Confessed to guest Scarlett Johansson on his show (May 4, 2010) that he is an obsessive hoarder who still has every car magazine purchased since 8th grade. Also revealed that he kept a Soupy Sub Sandwich at the studio sent to him by a lady from Rhode Island in 1993. Johansson was astounded when Leno produced the antique sandwich along with a bottle of 'brown' tomato ketchup.

During the Michael Jackson trial in February 2005, Jay Leno had been subpoenaed to testify at the trial. Judge Rodney S. Melville issued a "gag order" barring anyone involved in the case from discussing it outside court, and the comedian feared that the order would apply to his monologues on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). He was allowed to write the jokes but not tell them. To get around this order, Leno called on his fellow comedians to tell the jokes he wrote for him. Some of these people included Brad Garrett, Scott 'Carrot Top' Thompson, Roseanne Barr, Dennis Miller and Drew Carey. They came out and told the jokes while Leno stood beside them on stage. On March 11, 2005, the judge had the gag order lifted. In a statement, he explained, "I am not attempting to prevent anybody from making a living in the normal way that they make their living," adding that Leno may not talk about the specific things to which he is a witness.

He and his wife of many years have no children due to an mutual agreement.

Was a writer on the 1970s comedy series Good Times (1974), as was his late night talk show competitor David Letterman.

Had guests sign one of his Harley Davidsons (the first being Arnold Schwarzenegger), after which the bike was auctioned off with the money going to help victims of the September 11th attacks.

As of 2019, Jay still performs around 200 stand-up gigs a year at various comedy venues through the United States.

Son of Catherine (Muir) and Angelo Leno. Jay's paternal grandparents were Italian. His mother was Scottish (born in Greenock, Scotland).

Is one of the few owners of the McLaren F1 supercar.

Is a "seasoned" Monopoly player; likes to play with real money and the "race car" is his favorite playing piece.

His wife, Mavis, is active in the Feminist Majority Foundation which helps raise funds to combat the strict Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime that requires women to wear head-to-toe shrouds. Her first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) was March 2, 1977.

Claims that after having seen his idol Elvis Presley perform "Teddy Bear" in the movie Amour frénétique (1957), made him determined, at the tender age of seven, to pursue a career in show business.

Wrote jokes for Jimmie 'JJ' Walker's stand-up act and his series Good Times (1974).

When he was a child, he fell down the stairs. As a result of the accident, his spleen was ripped and had to be removed.

Barack Obama's appearance on Episode #17.50 (2009) marked the first television talk show appearance by a sitting President.

Although Leno's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) predecessor Johnny Carson appeared on rival late night talk show Late Show with David Letterman (1993) twice (in a walk-on stage appearance soon after Letterman's show debuted, and later in a filmed segment), Carson never once appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) with his successor. Many, including Leno, took this as a sign that "Johnny likes Dave more" and would have preferred David Letterman to have been his "Tonight Show" replacement.

Received his Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts (1972). He later received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the college (2014).

He owns three Shelby Cars.

Inducted into the Sturgis [South Dakota] Motorcycle Hall of Fame (2002).

Prefers to wear denim jeans and denim shirts as his casual clothing.

The Mike Douglas Show (1961) was the first talk show appearance for Jay Leno, which aired on October 19, 1977. Danny Thomas and Teddy Pendergrass were also guests.

Auctioned his Fiat 500, that sold for $385,000 with the proceeds going to a charity that helps wounded war veterans recover by providing them with temporary housing. (August 2012)

Billy Crystal was his very first guest on Monday May 25, 1992. when Jay took over the late night throne vacated by Johnny Carson on Friday May 22, 1992.

Is a die-hard fan of Elvis Presley, Patrick Rondat and Johnny Cash.

Winner of the 2014 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

One of the many acts he opened for early in his stand-up career featured Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

Shared his very first screen kiss with Fran Drescher in American Hot Wax (1978).

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6780 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 27, 2000. Coincidentally, this is where Jay was twice picked up for vagrancy as a fledgling comedian.

The final guest on his run of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) was successor Conan O'Brien and the musical guest was James Taylor.

Even though his Beverly Hills home in Los Angeles, California has a swimming pool, Jay never uses this himself.

Maintaining classic cars and motorcycles is one of Jay's hobbies.

Attended Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dropped out after only one semester.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year to be $32 million.

He stepped down as host of the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) in 2009. His replacement was NBC Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993) host Conan O'Brien.

In May 2003, he hosted NBC's morning talk show Today (1952). In a May sweeps promotion, "Today" show host Katie Couric, in turn, hosted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992).

He and his wife were contestants on the couples game show Tattletales (1982) in the early 1980s.

Driver of Pace Car at 83rd Indianapolis 500; May 30, 1999.

The first guest on The Jay Leno Show (2009) was Jerry Seinfeld and the musical segment comprised of an ensemble performance by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Ye. (West also sat down for a brief unscheduled interview following his controversial 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident which occurred the day before).

Continued doing stand-up even after landing The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) because it enabled him to bank most of his television salary and use his comedy gig income to cover day-to-day domestic expenses.

His comedic influences include Rodney Dangerfield, Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Mort Sahl, Alan King, Bob Newhart, David Brenner, George Carlin and Robert Klein.

Received Hasty Pudding's Man of the Year award at Harvard University on February 4, 2011.

Roomed with Freddie Prinze when both were fledgling entertainers, during with time he taught Prince how to drive an automobile and worked the Playboy Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

Steve Martin was the one who first introduced Johnny Carson to Jay at one of Leno's stand-up gigs.