Jay Leno Biography

Comedian / Talk Show Host

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Jay Leno hosted NBC's long-running late-night program The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2009, and agreed to begin hosting it again in 2010. Leno got his start 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 Johnny Carson, who hosted The Tonight Show for nearly 30 years. When Carson retired in 1992, 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.) 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.