Jay Leno Reflects on Finding the Funny Despite His Wife’s Dementia Diagnosis
Late-night comedy legend Jay Leno is no stranger to finding humor in life in the face of tragedy — after all, just look at his face.
In the last couple of years, the longtime Tonight Show host has found himself in the news due to bizarre health setbacks far too frequently for a man of his age. At 74, Leno’s recent string of disastrous injuries ranging from a garage fire to a suspicious fall outside a Hampton Inn in Greensburg, Pennsylvania has fans worried about his well-being. But as the comedy legend recently discussed, it’s not his health that requires the most attention nowadays.
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Early in 2024, Los Angeles County Superior Court granted Leno conservatorship over his wife of 45 years, Mavis Leno, as she continues to struggle with dementia. Leno opened up on caring for his wife in a recent conversation with PEOPLE, saying that the key to dealing with such a serious situation is to find “moments where you can have a laugh and have fun."
“You try to find the humor in this situation,” Leno said of his current relationship with Mavis, a prominent philanthropist who has advocated for feminist causes in conflict zones for decades. “I took my wife shopping, I can see she’s a little down, (so I said), ‘Come on, we’ll go to the mall.’ So we go to Nordstrom’s and I said, ‘You see anything you like?’ ‘No, no.’ So we look at the shoes, and (she says), ‘Oh, I like these sneakers.’”
Mavis settled on “these bright blue sneakers,” but her husband urged her to splurge on a second pair. When the couple got to the checkout line, “I got two pairs of sneakers, and (the cashier says), ‘That's $24. And the other pair, that’s $847.'” An incredulous Leno continued, “I go, ‘No, I only had two pairs of sneakers. I thought these were $24.’ (The cashier) goes, ‘Yeah, these are $24. But the other ones were (designer sneakers). It looked like the guy took a pair of the same sneakers and used a bedazzler on them, and they were $800.”
“I look at my wife and said, ‘You like these?’ I go, ‘Honey, you look great.’” While not exactly Leno’s strongest punchline ever, this small moment of confusion still makes him smile, as he explained, “It’s fine, I’m glad I can afford this, and it made my wife happy. It just made me laugh. Just typical.”
“I thought the $24 pair looked better than those, but that’s okay,” Leno concluded. “It just made me laugh, and I think when you’re dealing with this kind of thing, you find your moments where you can have a laugh and have fun, and my wife really likes them and felt good about it.”
Even in their current battle, the Lenos still “have a lot of fun,” explained the comedy giant, who opined, “People say marriage is difficult. I don’t get it. I enjoy her company. I enjoy taking care of her. We have fun. She’s the most independent woman I ever knew. Again, I just couldn’t be prouder of her.”
