Jay Leno began his comedy career appearing in nightclubs and on tour.  He tried his luck at acting on a few films; however after several repeat appearances on late-night TV, he had found his niche. 

Jay, who was an occasional replacement for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show", soon became the show's permanent guest host in 1988.  In 1992, he was chosen to be Carson's successor.

On Jay Leno's few days off he usually performs stand up in clubs and concert halls.  He also appeared as himself in many feature films over the years.  These films include the popular blockbuster hits, "Dave", "Mad City", "Space Cowboys", "Juwanna Man" and "Mr. 3000".

Jay also put his well recognized voice to work in a few animated movies.  He had a small voice role in "Robots" and also gave voice to Fast Tony, a con artist armadillo, in "Ice Age: The Meltdown".  Also appearing in this film, giving their voices to animated characters, were John Leguizamo, Ray Romano, Denis Leary and Chris Wedge.

Jay plans to retire from the "The Tonight Show" and pass down his hosting duties to NBC late night host Conan O'Brien in 2009.