Jay Leno has a star on Hollywood Boulevard and a place in the Television Academy Hall of Fame, but according to him, neither is his greatest achievement.
That would be marrying Mavis Leno.
“I'm part of her legacy and that's what I'm most proud of,” she said this week at the Feminist Majority Foundation's 16th Annual Global Women's Rights Awards Gala.
The couple presented the inaugural Mavis Leno Award for Global Women's Rights, dedicated to the philanthropist. Work nominated for the Nobel Prize as chair of the nonprofit's Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls.
“I couldn't be more proud of her,” Leno, 74, told gala attendees Tuesday.
In January, Leno filed a petition, since granted, to become guardian of his wife's person, including her medical decisions, following her diagnosis of advanced dementia and a mood disorder. It's unclear when Mavis, 77, was diagnosed, but Jay Leno's petition said she had been “progressively losing ability and orientation in space and time for several years.”
However, the couple has recently made several public appearances, including at the April 30 premiere of the Netflix film “Unfrosted.” At the event, Mavis said “ET” “I feel great.”
During his speech on Tuesday, Jay choked back tears as he recalled meeting Mavis for the first time. Marrying her was “the smartest thing I've ever done in my life,” he said.
Now, they are approaching 45 years together.
“We had a lot of fun,” Leno said. “People say marriage is difficult. I don't understand. I enjoy your company. I enjoy taking care of her.”
Especially with his faith and the support of his family, Leno told Fox News on the red carpet that night: “It gets easier. “It doesn’t get any harder.”
Sahra Mani, the inaugural winner of the Mavis Leno Award for Global Women's Rights, is the director of “Bread and Roses,” a documentary detailing Afghan women's resistance against the Taliban. EM. reported. The film is produced by Jennifer Lawrence's production company, Excellent Cadaver, and begins streaming June 21 on Apple TV+.
