Jay Leno and Wife Mavis Enjoy Night Out at Comedy Show amid Her Dementia Struggles

Jay, who has been married to Mavis since 1980, filed for a conservatorship over his wife in January

Former 'Tonight Show' host and comedian, Jay Leno, was spotted taking his wife, Mavis, with him to one of his stand up shows at the Improv in West Hollywood
Jay Leno and wife Mavis at the Improv in West Hollywood on April 3. Photo:

JAST / BACKGRID

Jay Leno and his wife, Mavis Leno, are having a night out on the town. 

On April 3, the former Tonight Show host, 73, brought Mavis, 77, to his stand-up show at the Hollywood Improv comedy club in WeHo. The public appearance comes three months after Jay filed for a conservatorship over Mavis following her diagnosis with “advanced dementia,” according to documents obtained by PEOPLE in January.

Last week, Mavis’ court-appointed counsel, Ronald Ostrin, filed a new report related to the comedian’s conservatorship petition. The health update revealed that Mavis “sometimes does not know her husband, Jay, nor her date of birth,” read a filing obtained by PEOPLE. 

The report also detailed how Mavis “has a lot of disorientation, will ruminate about her parents who have both passed and her mother who died about 20 years ago.”

Ostrin formally recommended the approval of the conservatorship, citing Mavis’ consent and the couple’s “long-term, loving and supportive” relationship.

Jay’s initial filing stated that the conservatorship intends to set up a trust for Mavis to provide her with “managed assets” for care if he died. Jay said that Mavis neither contests establishing a conservatorship nor prefers a different individual to manage her estate.  

Former 'Tonight Show' host and comedian, Jay Leno, was spotted taking his wife, Mavis, with him to one of his stand up shows at the Improv in West Hollywood
Jay Leno took his wife Mavis to the Hollywood Improv comedy club on April 3.

JAST / BACKGRID

If the conservatorship is granted, Jay “will likely name himself as her beneficiary due to their 40-plus-year marriage,” California probate attorney David A. Esquibias previously told PEOPLE

David DuFault, principal attorney at Sodoma Law, explained to PEOPLE, “Given her age, given the idea that there is or appears to be a dementia diagnosis, it could be a very broadly-crafted order that says that the petitioner has authority to make all kinds of decisions for her, which could be dealing with financial assets, selling real property, making decisions about beneficiary designations."

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The pair, who wed in 1980, began their romance at a Los Angeles comedy club in the ‘70s. 

Mavis recalled their meet-cute to the L.A. Times in a 2014 interview. "I needed to go to the ladies' room. What I didn't know was in the Comedy Store back then, that area was the only place for the comedians to hang out," she said. "So when I came out of the bathroom, he said, 'Are you that girl in front?' And I said, 'Yes, that was me.'”

In 2019, Jay shared on PeopleTV: “I always tell guys when they meet a woman, 'Marry your conscience. Marry someone who's the person you wish you could be and it works out okay.'”

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