Who is Jay Leno's wife, Mavis?

Posted by Lorie Orum on Saturday, March 23, 2024

COMEDIAN Jay Leno famously hosted NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009.

When Jay is not taking care of his car collection or traveling the world, he can be found at home with his wife, Mavis.

Who is Jay Leno's wife, Mavis?

Since 1980, Jay has been married to Mavis Leno.

Mavis was born on September 5, 1946, in San Francisco, California, and is known for her career as a philanthropist.

She first joined the Board of Directors of the Feminist Majority Foundation in 1997 and is now a leader in the effort to make the restoration of women’s rights a non-negotiable element of a post-Taliban Afghanistan, according to her biography.

Her work with the foundation has been recognized worldwide and it was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

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Do Jay and Mavis have children?

Over the past four decades, the Lenos have enjoyed a comfortable life with no children.

In 2014, Mavis spoke with The Washington Post, where she explained why she doesn't have children, referencing the 1950s sitcom, The Honeymooners.

“I would see a young woman who was very attractive and a thousand times smarter, and she’s living in this little tenement hovel with her husband, Ralph, and then this Ed Norton, who has an even hotter wife,” Mavis explained.

“These men spend all their time talking about what a drag the wives are and asking how can they get away from them. It’s perfectly obvious the women are the ones trapped.”

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“I remember telling my mother when I was 7 or 8 that I was never going to get married or have children,” she continued.

“To me, this is the way women get caught.”

While she might not have wanted kids or a wedding, her views on marriage changed when she met Jay in the 1970s.

When was Jay Leno involved in a car fire?

Jay was scheduled to appear at The Financial Brand conference on November 13, 2022, but had to cancel after suffering a "very serious medical emergency."

It was later revealed that Jay was admitted to the Grossman Burn Center after one of his cars erupted into flames without warning, according to TMZ.

Sources with direct knowledge told the outlet that the accident burned the left side of his face but did not penetrate his eye or ear.

The former Tonight Show host suffered third-degree burns but was in good spirits weeks after the incident.

“The pain is a reminder that I’m an idiot!” he said in an interview with PEOPLE magazine.

After the accident, Jay had to undergo two skin-grafting surgeries- one with human cadaver skin and one with pig intestine.

Since then, Jay has been on the road to recovery, but less than two months later was involved in another incident that left him with a broken collarbone, ribs, and cracked kneecaps.

The incident occurred on January 17, 2023, while he was driving a vintage motorcycle in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“So I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot, and unbeknownst to me, some guy had a wire strung across the parking lot but with no flag hanging from it,” Jay explained to the outlet.

“So, you know, I didn’t see it until it was too late. It just clothesline me and, boom, knocked me off the bike.

“You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free,” he later joked.

“After that, you’re Harrison Ford, crashing airplanes. You just want to keep your head down.”

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Despite several broken bones, Jay insisted he was alright.

“But I’m OK!” he told the outlet. “I’m OK, I’m working. I’m working this weekend.”

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