Look up source, sourceable, sourced, or sources in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Source may refer to:

Research[link]

• Source text, in research (especially in the humanities), a source of information referred to by citation
  • Primary source, firsthand written evidence of history made at the time of the event by someone who was present
  • Secondary source, written accounts of history based upon the evidence from primary sources
  • Tertiary source, compilations based upon primary and secondary sources
• Journalism sourcing, a person, publication or other record or document that gives information
  • Sources (website), directory of expert contacts and media spokespersons
• Source (International Information Support Centre), an international information support centre and digital library

Science[link]

• Source theory, in information theory, any process that generates successive messages can be considered a source of information
• Inflow (hydrology), the source of the water in a lake
• Source (hydrology), the original point from which a river or stream flows
• Source rocks, rocks that have generated, or are capable of generating hydrocarbons
• A point where the divergence of a vector field is positive
• Source of a representation in finite group theory

Technology[link]

• Communication source
• Current source, an electrical or electronic device that delivers or absorbs electric current
• Energy sources, substances or processes with high concentrations of energy
• Ion source, a device that produces ions for mass spectrometry
• Light source, an object emitting light
• Source file, a file containing code written in a programming language
• Open source, a philosophy of dissemination of intellectual products
• Point source, a natural or anthropogenic discharge location producing unwanted materials into the environment
• A SCSI endpoint
• Sound source, an object emitting sound
• Source code for software
• Source (game engine), a proprietary game engine developed by Valve Software for Half-Life 2
• Source, a terminal in a field-effect transistor
• The Source (online service), an online service provider founded in 1979
• Voltage source, any device or system that produces an electromotive force between its terminals
• source (command), a UNIX command to execute commands from a file

Art and entertainment[link]

• The Source, a religion in the Planescape universe
• The Source (sculpture), an electronic moving sculpture at the London Stock Exchange
• The Source (Ingres), a painting by Ingres

Literature[link]

• Source (comics), a sentient entity who provides advice to the New Gods in the DC Multiverse
• Source (magazine), a bi-monthly magazine published by the John Lewis Partnership
• Source (photography magazine), a quarterly photography magazine
• The Source (magazine), a magazine of hip-hop music and culture
• The Source (novel), a 1965 novel by James A. Michener
• Wikisource

Film, radio, and television[link]

• The Source (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation
• The Source (2002 film), a 2002 science fiction film, also known as The Secret Craft in the UK and The Surge for its American DVD release
• The Source (2011 film), a 2011 French film
• Highlander: The Source, the fifth film in the Highlander franchise
• The Source (network), a radio network operated in the 1970s and 1980s by NBC
• WVUR-FM, "The Source", Valparaiso University's student-run radio station
• The Source (Charmed), a fictional character on the WB television series Charmed
• The Source, a character in the 1978 US television sitcom Quark

Games[link]

• Counter-Strike: Source, a 2004 complete remake of Counter-Strike using Source (game engine).
• Source (game engine), a game engine developed by Valve Corporation

Music[link]

• The Source (Dizzy Gillespie album), a 1973 live album by Dizzy Gillespie
• The Source, a series of volumes by Graham Kendrick that are compilations of Christian church music
• The Source (Grandmaster Flash album), 1986
• The Source (Ali Farka Touré album), 1993
• Source (album), an album by The Duskfall
• The Source (musician), the production identity of UK electronic music record producer John Truelove
• "The Source", a song by Built to Spill from their 1994 album There's Nothing Wrong with Love

Law[link]

• Sources of international law, the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed
• Sources of law, the materials and processes out of which law is developed

Organizations[link]

• The Source (retailer), a Canadian electronics store
• Source (UNSW), a community service provider that used to operate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
• Source Family (1922–1975), a commune outside of 1970's Hollywood
• Source UK Services, provider of exchange-traded products in Europe

Other[link]

• Operation Source

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Source"
• All pages with titles containing "Source"
• Begin (disambiguation)
• Start (disambiguation)
• Origin (disambiguation)
• Mouth (disambiguation)
• Sauce (disambiguation)
• Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), a NASA-sponsored satellite mission

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Linus Torvalds
Torvalds in 2002[1]
Born	Linus Benedict Torvalds (1969-12-28) December 28, 1969 (age 42) Helsinki, Finland
Residence	Portland, Oregon, United States
Nationality	Finnish American[2]
Ethnicity	Swedish-speaking Finn[3]
Alma mater	University of Helsinki
Occupation	Software engineer
Employer	Linux Foundation
Known for	Linux kernel, Git
Spouse	Tove Torvalds née Monni
Children	3
Parents	Nils Torvalds (father) Anna Torvalds (mother)[4]
Relatives	Ole Torvalds (grandfather)
Website
torvalds-family.blogspot.com www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/torvalds/(outdated)]

Linus Benedict Torvalds (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈliːn.ɵs ˈtuːr.valds] ( listen); born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish American^[2][5] software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator. He also created the revision control system Git. He was honored (shared with Dr Shinya Yamanaka) with the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize by the Technology Academy Finland "in recognition of his creation of a new open source operating system for computers leading to the widely used Linux kernel".^[6]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland. He is the son of journalists Anna and Nils Torvalds,^[7] and the grandson of poet Ole Torvalds. Both of his parents were campus radicals at the University of Helsinki in the 1960s. His family belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority (5.5% of Finland's population). Torvalds was named after Linus Pauling, the American Nobel Prize-winning chemist, although in the book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Torvalds is quoted as saying, "I think I was named equally for Linus the Peanuts cartoon character", noting that this makes him half "Nobel-prize-winning chemist" and half "blanket-carrying cartoon character".^[8]

Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki between 1988 and 1996, graduating with a master's degree in computer science from NODES research group.^[9] His academic career was interrupted after his first year of study when he joined the Finnish Army, selecting the 11-month officer training program to fulfill the mandatory military service of Finland. In the army he holds the rank of second lieutenant, with the role of a ballistic calculation officer.^[10] In 1990, he resumed his university studies, and was exposed to UNIX for the first time, in the form of a DEC MicroVAX running ULTRIX.^[11] His M.Sc. thesis was titled Linux: A Portable Operating System.^[12]

His interest in computers began with a Commodore VIC-20.^[13] After the VIC-20 he purchased a Sinclair QL, which he modified extensively, especially its operating system. He programmed an assembly language and a text editor for the QL, as well as a few games.^[14] He is known to have written a Pac-Man clone named Cool Man. On January 5, 1991^[15] he purchased an Intel 80386-based IBM PC^[16] before receiving his MINIX copy, which in turn enabled him to begin work on Linux.^[8][17]

Later years[link]

After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996,^[4] Torvalds accepted a position at the company in California, where he would work from February 1997 to June 2003. He then moved to the Open Source Development Labs, which has since merged with the Free Standards Group to become the Linux Foundation, under whose auspices he continues to work. In June 2004, Torvalds and his family moved to Portland, Oregon, to be closer to the OSDL's Beaverton, Oregon–based headquarters.

From 1997 to 1999, he was involved in 86open helping to choose the standard binary format for Linux and Unix. In 1999, he was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.^[18]

Red Hat and VA Linux, both leading developers of Linux-based software, presented Torvalds with stock options in gratitude for his creation.^[19] In 1999, both companies went public and Torvalds' share value temporarily shot up to roughly $20 million.^[20][21]

His personal mascot is a penguin nicknamed Tux,^[22] which has been widely adopted by the Linux community as the mascot of the Linux kernel.^[23]

Although Torvalds believes "open source is the only right way to do software", he also has said that he uses the "best tool for the job", even if that includes proprietary software.^[24] He was criticized for his use and alleged advocacy of the proprietary BitKeeper software for version control in the Linux kernel. However, Torvalds subsequently wrote a free-software replacement for BitKeeper called Git. Torvalds has commented on official GNOME developmental mailing lists that, in terms of desktop environments, he encourages users to switch to KDE.^[25][26] However, Torvalds thought KDE 4.0 was a "disaster" because of its lack of maturity, so he switched to GNOME.^[27] Dissatisfied with the loss of productivity, he switched to XFCE after the GNOME3 release, with another harsh post against GNOME.^[28]

The Linus/Linux connection[link]

Initially Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for downloading, named Torvalds' directory linux.

Authority and trademark[link]

As of 2006, approximately two percent of the Linux kernel was written by Torvalds himself.^[21] As thousands have contributed to the Linux kernel, this percentage is one of the largest contributions to it. Though, he stated in 2012, that his own personal contribution is mostly merging code written by others, with little programming.^[29] Torvalds remains the final authority on what new code is incorporated into the standard Linux kernel.^[30]

Torvalds owns the "Linux" trademark, and monitors^[31] use of it; chiefly through the Linux Mark Institute.

Personal life[link]

Linus in 2002

Linus Torvalds is married to Tove Torvalds (née Monni)—a six-time Finnish national karate champion—whom he first met in the autumn of 1993.^[32] Torvalds was running introductory computer laboratory exercises for students and instructed the course attendants to send him an e-mail as a test, to which Tove responded with an e-mail asking for a date.^[8] Tove and Linus were later married and have three daughters, Patricia Miranda (*5.12.1996), Daniela Yolanda (*16.4.1998), and Celeste Amanda (*20.11.2000),^[33] two of whom were born in the United States.^[5] The Linux kernel's reboot system call accepts their dates of birth (written in hexadecimal) as magic values.^[34][35]

Torvalds describes himself as "completely a-religious—atheist", adding that "I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts from both. It gives people the excuse to say, 'Oh, nature was just created,' and so the act of creation is seen to be something miraculous. I appreciate the fact that, 'Wow, it's incredible that something like this could have happened in the first place.'" He later added that while in Europe religion is mostly a personal issue, in America it has become very politicized.^[36] When discussing the issue of church and state separation, Linus also said, "Yeah, it's kind of ironic that in many European countries, there is actually a kind of legal binding between the state and the state religion."^[37]

In 2010, Torvalds became a United States citizen and registered to vote in the United States; he is unaffiliated with any U.S. political party, saying, "I have way too much personal pride to want to be associated with any of them, quite frankly."^[5]

Recognition[link]

Internet Hall of Fame

On April 23, 2012 at Internet Society's Global INET conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Torvalds was one of the inaugural inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame, one of ten in the Innovators category and thirty-three overall inductees.^[38]

Millennium Technology Prize

In April 20, 2012, Torvalds was declared one of two winners of that year's Millennium Technology Prize,^[39] together with Shinya Yamanaka^[40] for what is widely described as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the technology field.

Academics

In 1997, Torvalds received his Master degree (Laudatur Grade) from Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki. Two years later he received honorary doctor status at Stockholm University, and in 2000 he received the same honor from his alma mater.^[41]

In August 2005, Torvalds received the Vollum Award from Reed College.^[42]

Industry

In 1998 Torvalds received an EFF Pioneer Award.^[43] In 2000 he was awarded the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society.^[44] In 2001, he shared the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Well-Being with Richard Stallman and Ken Sakamura. In 2008, he was inducted into the Hall of Fellows of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.^[45][46] He was awarded the C&C Prize by the NEC Corporation in 2010 for "contributions to the advancement of the information technology industry, education, research, and the improvement of our lives".^[47]

Media

Time magazine has recognized Torvalds multiple times:

• In 2000, he was 17th in their Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century Poll.^[48]
• In 2004, he was named one of the most influential people in the world^[49]
• In 2006, the magazine's Europe edition named him one of the revolutionary heroes of the past 60 years.^[50]

InfoWorld presented him with the 2000 Award for Industry Achievement.^[51] In 2005 Torvalds appeared as one of "the best managers" in a survey by BusinessWeek.^[52] In 2006, Business 2.0 magazine named him one of "10 people who don't matter" because the growth of Linux has shrunk Torvalds' individual impact.^[53]

In summer 2004, viewers of YLE (the Finnish Broadcasting Company) placed Torvalds 16th in the network's 100 Greatest Finns. In 2010, as part of a series called The Britannica Guide to the World's Most Influential People, Torvalds was listed among The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time (ISBN 9781615300037).^[54]

Space

In 1996, an asteroid (9793 Torvalds) was named after him.

Patents

As of March 2011, Linus has been granted 35 patents worldwide (application and granted patents).^[55]

See also[link]

• Linus' Law
• Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Linus Torvalds

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linus Torvalds

• Linus' blog at blogspot.com
• Linus Torvalds and His Five Entrepreneurial Lessons
• Young, Robert (March 1994). "Interview with Linus, the Author of Linux". Linux Journal (#1). http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2736. 
• Richardson, Marjorie (November 1999). "Interview: Linus Torvalds". Linux Journal (#67). http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3655. 
• Fresh Air radio interview – June 4, 2001
• Ten years of NODES
• Torvalds interview

v t e Linux Linux Adoption Adopters Criticism of desktop Linux History Kernel kernel names supported architectures Linus' Law Linux Foundation Linux-libre Tux vmlinux Distribution Distribution general comparison netbook-specific comparison Lightweight Linux distribution Live CD Live USB Package formats GNU Free Software Foundation GNU GNU GPL GNU/Linux naming controversy GNU packages GNU Project Window manager X Window Manager AfterStep Blackbox CTWM Enlightenment FVWM Hackedbox IceWM Metisse OLVWM PLWM PWM Sawfish vtwm wm2 wmx Xmonad User interface CLI GUI GNOME KDE Xfce LXDE Applications Desktop Devices Embedded Gaming LAMP Thin client People Jono Bacon Alan Cox Jon 'Mad Dog' Hall Benjamin Mako Hill Greg Kroah-Hartman David S. Miller Andrew Morton Ian Murdock Bruce Perens Daniel Robbins Mark Shuttleworth Richard Stallman Linus Torvalds Theodore Ts'o Patrick Volkerding Matt Zimmerman Media Free Software Magazine Linux.com Linux Format Linux For You Linux Gazette Linux Journal Linux-Magazin Linux Magazine Linux Outlaws LugRadio LWN.net O3 Magazine Phoronix Lists Distributions Distributions that run from RAM Live CDs Proprietary software for Linux System arrangement and features Startup process Kernel oops Console Framebuffer Kernel modules zRam Mobile Access Linux Platform Android Ångström bada LiMo Foundation LiMo Platform Linux Phone Standards Forum MeeGo Maemo Moblin Mobilinux Open Handset Alliance Openmoko OPhone webOS SHR Ubuntu Mobile Other topics Linux conference Linux Documentation Project Malware Linux Standard Base Linux User Group (LUG) Revolution OS SCO and Linux Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate The Code

Rebel Wilson
Wilson at the Sydney premiere of A Few Best Men in January 2012
Born	1983/1984 (age 28–29)[1] Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Actress, Writer, Comedienne
Years active	2002–

Rebel Wilson is an Australian actress, writer, and stand-up comedienne, known for her roles in the television series Pizza and Bogan Pride and the film Bridesmaids.

Early and personal life[link]

"Rebel" is her real given name. Wilson was born and raised in Sydney with her three siblings, Liberty, Ryot and Annachi.^[2][3] Liberty and Ryot were on the first season of The Amazing Race Australia.^[4] Her parents were professional dog showers.^[5] Throughout high school Wilson's first career choice was mathematics. Wilson told The Sydney Morning Herald, "I was very academic at high school and was always good with numbers."^[6] Wilson attended the University of New South Wales, where she studied Law and Arts (Theatre and Performance Studies).^[6] She is a former Rotary International Youth Ambassador for Australia and was based in South Africa for one year, where she contracted malaria.^[5][6] Wilson had hallucinations in which she saw herself as an actress who had won an Oscar.^[5] This then convinced her to pursue an acting career.^[5]

In July 2011, Wilson became a spokesperson for weight loss and nutrition company Jenny Craig in Australia.^[3][7] In January 2012, Wilson revealed to James Wigney and Elle Halliwell of The Daily Telegraph that she had lost 10kg since signing up to the program.^[1] She also revealed the producers of Pitch Perfect had refused to let her lose any more weight during filming, as her contract stated she must stay the same size.^[1] Wilson said once her film commitments were over, she would start her diet again to reach her target weight of 80kg.^[1]

Career[link]

Wilson studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People.^[8] In 2003, she moved to New York after she won a scholarship with The Second City Training Centre.^[9] Wilson is a writer, producer and stand-up comedian, and has appeared with the Sydney Theatre Company and performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.^[8] She first came to the public's attention with her stage musical The Westie Monologues which she wrote, starred in and produced in Sydney.^[10] Her follow-up stage productions which she wrote, produced and starred in include Spunks and Confessions of an Exchange Student.^[6][11]

In Australia, Wilson is most known for her roles as Toula on SBS comedy series Pizza and as various characters on the sketch comedy series The Wedge.^[5] Wilson played an Australian Idol mad schoolgirl in a series of Telstra advertisements shown during Australian Idol from 2004 to 2005.^[12] She also had roles in the feature films Fat Pizza and Ghost Rider.^[13] In 2008, Wilson created, wrote, produced and starred in the musical comedy series Bogan Pride on SBS One and also starred in the improvisational Nine Network series Monster House.^[5][13]

In 2009, Wilson won the Tropfest Best Actress award for her role in the film Bargain.^[14] She has made appearances on the improvisational comedy show Thank God You're Here and the comedy game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.^[8][15] She also performed stand-up on the television special The Breast Darn Show In Town.^[16] Wilson guest starred in the Seven Network drama City Homicide and performed improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.^[17][18]

Upon moving to the United States, Wilson signed to talent and literary agents William Morris Endeavor.^[19] Her next film role came in the Judd Apatow film Bridesmaids, where she played Brynn, the sister of Matt Lucas' character.^[19] Wilson then appeared in the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement and on the Comedy Central series, Workaholics.^[20] She co-hosted the 2010 ARIA Music Awards and performed at the inaugural Variety's Power of Comedy event in Los Angeles with Lucas and Russell Brand.^[20][21]

In early 2011, Wilson filmed A Few Best Men at Fox Studios Australia.^[22] She also filmed a role in Small Apartments.^[23] On 11 July 2011, it was announced Wilson had joined the ensemble comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting as Janice.^[23] She has also joined the upcoming Indie film, Struck By Lightning.^[24] Wilson was named one of Variety magazine's "Top Ten Comics To Watch for 2011."^[5]

On 19 August 2011, Kit Borys of The Hollywood Reporter reported Wilson had replaced Casey Wilson in the upcoming film Bachelorette.^[25] Borys also reported Wilson has become the first person to be cast in the romantic comedy Pitch Perfect and she would voice a character in Ice Age: Continental Drift.^[25] In January 2012, Michael Ausiello of TVLine announced Wilson would be writing and starring in Super Fun Night, a comedy which follows three friends on a quest to have fun every Friday night.^[26] The pilot was picked up by CBS and Conan O'Brien is one of the executive producers.^[26] On 27 March 2012, Adam B. Vary of Entertainment Weekly reported Wilson had joined the cast of Michael Bay's Pain & Gain as Ramona Eldridge.^[27]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rebel Wilson at the Internet Movie Database
• Rebel Wilson's channel on YouTube

Jay Leno
Leno in July 2008
Birth name	James Douglas Muir Leno
Born	(1950-04-28) April 28, 1950 (age 62)[1] New Rochelle, New York, U.S.[1]
Medium	Television, Film, Stand up
Nationality	American
Years active	1973–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Political satire
Subject(s)	American culture, Everyday life
Influences	Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, George Carlin,[2] Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, Rodney Dangerfield
Influenced	Dennis Miller[3]
Spouse	Mavis Leno (1980–present)
Notable works and roles	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (host, 1992–2009, 2010–) The Jay Leno Show (host, 2009–2010)
Signature
Website	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 1995 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno /ˈlɛnoʊ/ (born April 28, 1950)^[1] is an American stand-up comedian and television host.

From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, UTC-5), also on NBC. After The Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010.^[4]

Early life[link]

James "Jay" Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1950. His mother, Catherine (née Muir; 1911–1993), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. Leno's father, Angelo (1910–1994), who worked as an insurance salesman, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.^[5] Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and although his high school guidance counselor recommended that he drop out of school, he later obtained a Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College, where he started a comedy club in 1973.^[6] Leno's siblings include his late older brother, Patrick, who was a Vietnam veteran^[7] and a lawyer.^[6]

Career[link]

During the 1970s, Leno appeared in minor roles in several television series and films, first in the 1976 episode "J.J. in Trouble" of Good Times and the same year in the pilot of Holmes & Yo-Yo. After an uncredited appearance in the 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane, he played more prominent parts in 1978 in American Hot Wax and Silver Bears. Other films and television series from that period include Almost Heaven (1978), "Going Nowhere" (1979) from One Day at a Time, Americathon (1979), Polyester (1981), "The Wild One" (1981) from Alice, "Feminine Mistake" (1979) and "Do the Carmine" (1983) from Laverne & Shirley.

[edit] The Tonight Show

Leno in 1993, shortly after becoming host of The Tonight Show

Starting in 1987, Leno was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In 1992, he replaced Carson as host^[8] amid controversy with David Letterman, who had been hosting Late Night with David Letterman since 1982 (aired after The Tonight Show), who many had expected to be Carson's successor. The story of this turbulent transition was later turned into a book and a movie. Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.

In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension with NBC which would keep him as host of The Tonight Show until 2009.^[9] Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract with NBC under which O'Brien would become the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Leno at that time.^[10]

During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Leno was accused of violating WGA guidelines by writing his own monologue for The Tonight Show. While NBC and Leno claim there were private meetings with the WGA where there was a secret agreement allowing this, the WGA denied such a meeting.^[11] Leno answered questions in front of the Writers Guild of America, West trial committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when the WGAW published its list of strike-breakers on 11 August 2009, Leno was not on the list.^[12][13]

In 1998, Leno competed in a tag-team match at the WCW's "Road Wild" pay-per-view . In 2001, he voiced The Crimson Chin, a superhero in the Nickelodeon animated series The Fairly OddParents and continues to do so today.

Leno said in 2008 that he was saving all of his income from The Tonight Show and living solely off his income from stand-up comedy.^[14]

On April 23, 2009, Leno checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness.^[15] He was released the following day and returned to work on Monday, April 27. The two subsequently cancelled Tonight Show episodes for April 23 and April 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host.^[16][17] Initially, the illness that caused the absence was not disclosed, but later Leno told People magazine that the ailment was exhaustion.^[17][18]

Michael Jackson trial[link]

In the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few whose testimony was actually needed). In his testimony regarding a call by the accuser, Leno testified that he never called the police, that no money was asked for, and there was no coaching — but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.^[19]

Leno in 2006.

As a result, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show's opening monologue in particular. But he and his show's writers used a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes about the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller among others.^[20]

[edit] Succession by Conan O'Brien and The Jay Leno Show

Because Leno's show continued to lead all late-night programming in the Nielsen ratings, the pending expiration of Leno's contract led to speculation about whether he would become a late-night host for another network after his commitment to NBC expired.^[21] Leno left The Tonight Show on Friday May 29, 2009,^[22][23] and Conan O'Brien took over on June 1, 2009.

On December 8, 2008, it was reported that Leno would remain on NBC and move to a new hour-long show at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. Central Time) five nights a week.^[24] This show follows a similar format to The Tonight Show, tapes at the same lot, and retains many of Leno's most popular segments. Late Night host Conan O'Brien was his successor on The Tonight Show.^[25]

Jay Leno's new show, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009. It was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it would feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and keep the popular "Headlines" segments, which would air near the end of the show. First guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite), and a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.^[26]

[edit] Timeslot conflict and return to The Tonight Show

Wikinews has related news: US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot

In their new roles, neither O'Brien nor Leno succeeded in delivering the viewing audiences the network anticipated. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10pm weeknight time slot to 11:35pm, due to a combination of pressure from local affiliates whose newscasts were suffering, and both Leno's and O'Brien's poor ratings.^[27][28] Leno's show would be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. All NBC late night programming would be preempted by the 2010 Winter Olympics between February 15 and February 26. This would move The Tonight Show to 12:05am, a post-midnight timeslot for the first time in its history. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty (a clause put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions).^[29]

On January 10, NBC confirmed that they would move Jay Leno out of primetime as of February 12 and intended to move him to late night as soon as possible.^[30][31] TMZ reported that O'Brien was given no advance notice of this change, and that NBC offered him two choices: an hour-long 12:05am time slot, or the option to leave the network.^[32] On January 12, O'Brien issued a press release that stated he would not continue with Tonight if it moved to a 12:05am time slot,^[33] saying, "I believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t The Tonight Show."

On January 21, it was announced that NBC had struck a deal with O'Brien. It was decided that O'Brien would leave The Tonight Show. The deal was made that O'Brien would receive a $33 million payout and that his staff of almost 200 would receive $12 million in the departure. O'Brien's final episode aired on Friday, January 22.^[34][35][36] Leno returned as host of The Tonight Show following the 2010 Winter Olympics on March 1, 2010.

On July 1, 2010, Variety reported that total viewership for Jay Leno's Tonight Show had dropped from 5 million to 4 million for the second quarter of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009. Although this represented the lowest second-quarter ratings for the show since 1992, Tonight was still the most-watched late night program, ahead of ABC's Nightline (3.7 million) and David Letterman's Late Show (3.3 million).^[37] Ratings over the following summer, when compared to the same period in 2009 with O'Brien hosting The Tonight Show (including O'Brien's highly rated debut), showed that while total viewership was 12% higher for Leno, viewership in the important "adults aged 18–49" demographic was 23% lower.^[38] NBC ratings specialist Tom Bierbaum commented that due to the host being out of late night television for a period of time and the subsequent 2010 Tonight Show conflict, Leno's ratings fall was "not a surprise at all".^[39]

Public image[link]

Criticism of Leno[link]

Leno on The Tonight Show in 2005

Leno has faced heated criticism and some negative publicity for his perceived role in the 2010 Tonight Show timeslot conflict.^[40][41] Critics have pointed to a 2004 Tonight Show clip, wherein Leno claimed he would allow O'Brien to take over without incident.^[41][42] At the time, Leno stated he didn't want O'Brien to leave for a competing network, adding, "I'll be 59 when [the switch occurs], that's five years from now. There's really only one person who could have done this into his 60s, and that was Johnny Carson; I think it's fair to say I'm no Johnny Carson."^[42] Leno also described The Tonight Show as a dynasty, saying "you hold it and hand it off to the next person. And I don't want to see all the fighting..." At the end of the segment, he said, "Conan, it's yours! See you in five years, buddy!"^[43]

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt was among the first celebrities to openly voice disappointment with Leno, saying, "Comedians who don't like Jay Leno now, and I'm one of them, we're not like, 'Jay Leno sucks;' it's that we're so hurt and disappointed that one of the best comedians of our generation... willfully has shut the switch off."^[44] Rosie O'Donnell has been among O'Brien's most vocal and vehement supporters,^[45][46] calling Leno a "bully" and his recent actions "classless and kind of career-defining."^[47]

Bill Zehme, the co-author of Leno's autobiography Leading with My Chin, told the Los Angeles Times: "The thing Leno should do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by going back. People will look at him differently. He'll be viewed as the bad guy."^[48]

Support for Leno[link]

NBC Sports head executive and former Saturday Night Live producer Dick Ebersol spoke out against all who had recently mocked Leno, calling them "chicken-hearted and gutless."^[49]

Jeff Gaspin also defended Leno: "This has definitely crossed the line. Jay Leno is the consummate professional and one of the hardest-working people in television. It's a shame that he's being pulled into this."^[48]

Paul Reiser and Jerry Seinfeld are two of the number of celebrities to have voiced support for Leno.^[50][51]

Responding to the mounting criticism, Leno claimed that NBC had assured him that O'Brien was willing to accept the proposed arrangement and then would not let either host out of his contract.^[52] Leno also said that the situation was "all business."^[52] He appeared on the January 28 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an attempt to repair some of the damage done to his public image.^[53][54]

Personal life[link]

Leno with President Barack Obama in March 2009

Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children.^[55]

He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism.^[56] In the book Leading with My Chin he stated that he is aware of surgery that could reset his mandible, but does not wish to endure a prolonged healing period with his jaws wired shut.

Leno is dyslexic.^[6] He claims to sleep only four to five hours each night.^[57] Leno does not drink or smoke, nor does he gamble.^[58] He spends most of his free time visiting car collections or working in his private garage.^[58]