Mavis Leno Biography, Age, Family, Husband, Children, Career

Mavis Leno Biography

Mavis Leno (Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson) is an American philanthropist, feminist and wife of Jay Leno, the former host of The Tonight Show.

She is a leading feminist in California, as well as in the United States and internationally. She keeps low profile in comparison to her husband, choosing instead to work behind the scenes of the non-profit, politically charged groups she supports and runs.

Mavis Leno Age

Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson was born on 5 September, 1946 in San Francisco, California, United States. She is 72 years old as of 2018.

Mavis Leno Family

Mavis’ father was an actor who appeared in the 1967 film,”In Cold Blood”.

Mavis Leno Jay Leno | Mavis Leno Husband

Mavis met Leno at a Los Angeles comedy club where Leno was performing. The two were romantically involved 0for some time and finally tied the knot on 30 November 1980. Mavis is four years older than her husband.

Leno is famous for hosting “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” for many years before he retired from late night television hosting. The coupe tied the knot in 1980 but Mavis was given a formal diamond ring in 2004. The Leno’s got married on the same exact date that Jay’s parents were married.

Mavis Leno Children

Although the couple has been married for decades they have no children yet. Mavis stated in an interview that after watching a movie called “The Honeymooners’, her opinion of marriage and starting a family changed drastically. Since then, Mavis knew that she did not want to be ‘trapped’ by having children.

Mavis Leno Net worth

Mavis’ net worth is not yet revealed, his husband’s net worth is estimated to be $100 million.

Mavis Leno Career

Mavis has been the chair of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan since 1997. Mavis and her husband donated $100,000 to the organization, to further the cause of educating the public about the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban in 1999.

Feminist Majority Foundation successfully protested the construction of an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, which could potentially have brought in billions of dollars to the Taliban. According to author Melissa Rossi, Mavis was a driving force in changing the opinion of U.S. President Bill Clinton and also the executives of the now defunct oil company Unocal Corporation concerning the Taliban, after Leno had shed light on the group’s treatment of women.

Mavis Leno Talks about Marriage and Career with her Husband Jay Leno

Interviewer: Jay, I ve heard Mavis talk about you so many times and how much in love she is. I guess I always felt you should share that story. Even just having your pictures taken a few moments ago, I could feel how happy you are being next to each other. You’re best friends, aren’t you?
Mavis and Jay Leno: [In unison.] Oh yeah.
Jay Leno: I had this discussion with Drew Barrymore on The Tonight Show. She was asking about being married, and I said, “You should always marry your conscience.” By that I mean, in show business—it happens in sports and politics, too—you go through the usual avarice, and you need someone who will go, “What are you doing? You don’t act like this.” If you wind up with someone who enjoys those things, you go to hell pretty much together. I spent half of my life trying not to disappoint my mother and the other half trying not to disappoint my wife. I mean, you have to respect the standard. You need to be able to look in the mirror.

Interviewer: Mavis says, from the bottom of her heart, “He could never disappoint me.”
Mavis Leno: No, because I truly know him, and he truly knows me. I met Jay in 1976. I’ve known him—
Jay Leno: Over 33 years.
Mavis Leno: It was in January—I don’t remember the day. But at the time I thought, Holy s–t! That comedian is gorgeous! I had gone to the Comedy Store with my girlfriend because I was writing comedy with some partners. Friends kept saying, “You have to hang out at the Comedy Store and the Improv—you’ll meet people who can give you jobs.” The first time I went, they sat us front row center—that means you’re this far from the comic. And there was Jay.

Interviewer: Was that at the very beginning of your career, Jay?
Jay Leno: Yeah, pretty much. But the interesting thing is, I’ve probably lived with five women—and every one of them was born on the same day. I can look at a woman and go, “September 5.” I don’t know why that is. I don’t look for a woman born on September 5, I just wind up attracted to them.
Mavis Leno: Just casually, he asked what my birthday was, and I said, “September 5.” He started laughing. I remember it so clearly. I said, “What?” And he said, “Aw, nothing.”
Jay Leno: I remember I had Cathy Guisewite [of the “Cathy” comic strip] on, and I said, “I’m happily married…don’t take this wrong…I am attracted to you but in an odd way. Were you born on or around September 5?” And she said, “Yes, on September 5.” I said, “Sorry, I’m not flirting,” and then I explained. It made me laugh.
Mavis Leno: When he finished his act the night we met, I needed to go to the ladies’ room. What I didn’t know was in the Comedy Store back then, that area was the only place for the comedians to hang out. So when I came out of the bathroom, he said, “Are you that girl in front?” and I said, “Yes, that was me.”

Interviewer: Did you really notice her?
Jay Leno: Yeah!
Mavis Leno: My friends spent most of their time at the Improv, so that’s where I started going. It just gradually evolved, you know? I had made up my mind when I was little that I would never get married or have children, so I had no agenda.
Jay Leno: Then I started to work. Her family were like church mice—they didn’t have two cents. I mean nothing—not even, like, taxes.
Mavis Leno: My father was an actor. Enough said.
Jay Leno: But you know, I had this insurance policy, and I thought if something happened to me, my girlfriend wouldn’t be covered, but if we’re married, we’re covered, so…we might as well get married. Not the most romantic. Mavis didn’t even get an engagement ring until—
Mavis Leno: He was going to get me one, but we had just bought a house, so why would I do that? I’m not that kind of person. So this is what he bought me 10 years ago. [Laughs and looks at the large diamond on her finger.]

Interviewer: Mavis, your parents were happily married…why didn’t you want to marry?
Mavis Leno: Maybe because my parents were not the typical American couple of that time. They had a very egalitarian relationship—actually, most of the traits I have that people consider feminine, I got from my dad, and the common sense, self-control and practicality is from my mother. When I was little, we would watch The Honeymooners. Here’s a very attractive woman, and whenever her husband is with Norton, what are they talking about? “How can we get away from the wives?” “If only it wasn’t for the wives.” Meanwhile, this woman has nothing to do, lives in this tiny place, cooks his dinner and listens to him talk. As a feminist even then, it was difficult to watch.

Interviewer: You’re mad about it now.
Mavis Leno: I am! I would see Lucy and other shows—if they wanted money, they had to ask for it, like they were a kid. That was not my plan for myself.
Jay Leno: My mother was from Scotland, had a horrible childhood—came to the country by herself when she was 11. My grandmother had run off with a younger guy, and my grandfather was stuck with six kids.
Mavis Leno: His mom was the youngest.
Jay Leno: But he could only afford to take care of five, so they took her around the neighborhood as a servant girl to try to see if people would keep her for a few weeks.
Mavis Leno: Jay, how are you telling this story? Her father took her there but not as a servant!
Jay Leno: But it gets to the comedy angle. My mother was not a depressed person, but I always sensed a sadness. Every time I could get my mother to laugh, it was like a huge gift. My dad was Italian and very outgoing. He would say, “Show people you’re Angelo’s boy.” My mother would say, “Whatever you do, don’t call attention to yourself.” So it was hilarious to be stuck in the middle. When I made it sort of big, I bought my dad a Cadillac, and of course, he had to get the white Cadillac d’Elegance with the red velour interior. My mother was mortified. They would drive down the street, and she would sit below seat level, and people would say, “I saw your father driving and yelling at somebody.” Sometimes if she saw people looking, she would roll down the window and go, “We’re not Cadillac people. My son got us this.” My father would yell, “Of course we’re Cadillac people! We’ve got a goddamn Cadillac! We’re driving the goddamn thing. It’s paid for!”