Jay Leno has been the host of NBC's long-running late-night program The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009 and from 2010 until now. He plans to step down as host in 2014, when he will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon. Jay Leno first gained fame as a standup comedian with intense work habits: he reportedly toured 300 nights a year during the late 1980s. He eventually became a regular vacation standin for the legendary Johnny Carson, who hosted The Tonight Show for nearly 30 years. When Carson retired in 1992, Jay Leno got the job full-time. (The same job had been coveted by comedian David Letterman, whose own program had followed Carson's for years. Letterman then moved his program Late Night to CBS, beginning a long-running rivalry between his program and Leno's.) Jay Leno is known as a gentle and unthreatening comic with mass-market appeal, and he is often kidded about his sizable chin. (His book Leading With My Chin was published in 1998.) In 2004 he signed a contract extension to continue hosting The Tonight Show through 2009. NBC announced in 2008 that Leno would step down as the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, although it seemed clear that Leno didn't really want to go. Leno's last show was 29 May 2009, and he was replaced as host of The Tonight Show by Conan O'Brien on 1 June 2009. Leno then began hosting his own 10-11:00 talk show on NBC, but that experiment was a flop. NBC announced in January 2010 that Leno would return to his traditional 11:35 time slot in March with a half-hour show that would not be The Tonight Show. After O'Brien said he wasn't willing to have The Tonight Show vacate that time slot, NBC bought out O'Brien's contract for a reported $44 million. Leno then returned as host of The Tonight Show on 1 March 2010 for a fresh run. NBC and Leno announced in March of 2013 that he would leave The Tonight Show after the Winter Olympics of 2014. The show will move from Los Angeles to New York, where it will be hosted by former Saturday Night Live star Jimmy Fallon.

Jay Leno married his wife Mavis in 1980; they have no children... Jay Leno is a collector of vintage automobiles and motorcycles.