James Douglas Muir “Jay” Leno is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor, and television host. Jay Leno made his first appearance on The Tonight Show on March 2, 1977, performing a comedy routine. During the 1970s, Leno appeared in minor roles in several television series and films, first in the 1976 episode “J.J. in Trouble” of Good Times and the same year in the pilot of Holmes & Yo-Yo. After an uncredited appearance in the 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane, he played more prominent parts in 1978 in American Hot Wax and Silver Bears. Other films and television series from that period include Almost Heaven (1978), “Going Nowhere” (1979) from One Day at a Time, Americathon (1979), Polyester (1981), “The Wild One” (1981) from Alice, and both “Feminine Mistake” (1979) and “Do the Carmine” (1983) from Laverne & Shirley. Leno’s only starring film role was the 1989 direct-to-video Collision Course, opposite Pat Morita. He also appeared numerous times on Late Night with David Letterman. Jay Leno went on to replace Carson as host in 1992, beating out rival comedian David Letterman. The transition Leno went through in replacing Carson was very turbulent and was later turned into a book and a movie called “The Late Shift”.
He was the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009, Jay Leno started a prime time talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET, also on NBC.
After The Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010. He hosted his last episode of The Tonight Show on February 6, 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame