When you first meet Mavis and Jay Leno, it’s the electricity between them that gets you: their long-lasting marriage that makes them the anomaly. Two strongs can make one–they fit. Welcome to their 28-year love story.
Q: Jay, I’ve heard Mavis talk about you so many times and how much in love she is. She says, “He could never disappoint me.”
ML: No, because I truly know him, and he truly knows me. I met Jay in 1976. I’ve known him–
JL: Over 33 years.
Q: What was it about Jay?
ML: Well, I was insanely in love with him–but I had had a long relationship before and never for one minute thought about marrying that guy. My belief was that I was a voyager, that I was just going to spend some time on this island and sail along and spend some time on that island. But with Jay, I realized all this time I’d been sailing, he was the destination.
Q: Jay, what was it about Mavis?
JL: Well, probably the sense that you don’t want to be somewhere else when you’re together. I mean, I’m home every night after work. I don’t go out–no boys’ night, card night or any of that stuff. I don’t feel the need.
Q: My husband and I have been together 39 years. When I look back, I can see our relationship change. Do you find that in yours?
ML: When Jay got “The Tonight Show,” the first years were hard for me. All of a sudden, Jay had this day job, and every person on the planet was asking him for something. So I thought, I’m going to be the one who doesn’t ask for anything. Then it gave him relief at home, but that can also feel like distance. I don’t know if he was aware of it because he was so swamped by the job–just the time demands alone, and the pressure.
JL: It’s not really a high-pressure job. Do I look like I’m under pressure? Write joke, tell joke, get check. It couldn’t be simpler. You go to a place like Detroit, and you meet people with real jobs. Show business, let me tell you: The higher up you go, the more retarded people assume you are. They’ll say, “Jay drove here by himself! He drove to the studio alone–yes, he did! He came in his own car!”
Q: You’re in a business where people are so self-important, and yet you remain the same.
JL: I think that’s the key–not to take yourself too seriously. It’s not high pressure unless you make it that way. It’s not like doing CPR. I was always happy with whatever level I was at. If you’re always looking for the next level, you’re not going to be happy.
ML: At that time, for me, he was gone a lot, and it was not only a new situation for him, it was a situation I had never experienced. And I didn’t know anybody to ask, “Well, how did you handle this?” So it took a little while before I figured it out.
Q: Mavis, do you still go to the show after all these years?
ML: Off and on, but we watch The Tonight Show together every night at home.
JL: Look, I always tell people, you don’t fall in love with a hooker. That’s what show business is. You can enjoy show business…and then go home.