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For Jay Leno, laughter has been the best medicine in coping with wife Mavis’ ongoing battle with dementia.
“I still make her laugh every day, and that’s always fun,” Leno, 74, told The Post.
In fact, the couple — who have been married for 45 years — share some laughs rewatching some of his funny moments from hosting “The Tonight Show.”
Jay Leno and his wife Mavis attended the premiere of Netflix’s “Unfrosted” last April. Getty Images for Netflix
“We go back on YouTube — they have all the ‘Headlines’ [segments] that we did over the years. And my wife enjoys those, and it’s like she forgets that she just saw it, so she laughs again at the same jokes. So for a comedian, that’s great.”
Last year, Leno revealed that Mavis, 78, suffers from advanced dementia and was granted conservatorship over his wife. While court documents disclosed that she sometimes does not recognize him, the comedian said that “it’s OK.”
“She’s not in any pain. Anybody that’s dealt with this knows that,” he said. “You know, I enjoy her company. I would still rather be with her than not be with her … But is it ideal? No.”
Despite the challenges they now face, the spouses still maintain some of their special rituals.
“When ‘The Tonight Show’ finished, I would just come home every night and work on the monologue and be with my wife, and we’d watch a movie or watch TV,” said Leno. “And it’s pretty much like that now, same thing, except now I just kind of go, ‘You know, honey, you know what this movie is about?’ You just have to explain.”
“I would still rather be with her than not be with her,” said Jay Leno of coping with wife Mavis’ ongoing dementia battle. Getty Images
Jay Leno was joined by wife Mavis during his long run as host of “The Tonight Show” in 2001. Getty Images
After hosting “The Tonight Show” from 1992 to 2009 and then again from 2010 to 2014, Leno currently plays Ed Sullivan in “Midas Man,” the new biopic of Beatles manager Brian Epstein streaming on Olyn.
“I just got a phone call one day from England,” said Leno of getting the role of the TV legend who gave The Beatles their US TV debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
“I enjoyed it. It was fun. I did this maybe three years ago, and I wondered, ‘What happened to that movie that just disappeared?’ It went through a couple of different directors, and then all of a sudden one day it popped up.
Jay Leno plays Ed Sullivan in “Midas Man,” the new biopic of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
“It’s a pleasant movie,” he continued. “It really does hark back to that era of optimism.”
And as a comedian, Leno is still booked and busy.
“I’m trying to get out of stuff, so I’m fine,” he said with a laugh. “I enjoy being a comedian. I enjoy going on the road. I’m not a Netflix special guy. I don’t want to do my act once and get a huge check. I’d rather do it hundreds of times for small checks.”
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