CLEARWATER — Comedian Jay Leno will take the stage on Friday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m., at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater.
Also appearing will be special guest Arsenio Hall. Tickets start at $50. Call 727-791-7400 or visit www.rutheckerdhall.com.
Leno is known for many endeavors: acclaimed TV late night show host, admired stand-up comedian, best-selling children’s book author, much-in-demand corporate speaker, TV and movie voice-over artist, pioneering car builder and mechanic, and philanthropist. He is widely characterized as “the hardest working man in show business.”
Leno’s late night television ratings domination included two decades as the host of the No. 1-rated “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” — after the first two years Jay Leno never lost a single ratings year in which he served as host.
More recently, Leno produced and hosted “Jay Leno’s Garage” for CNBC. The series continues on Leno’s YouTube channel.
When he’s not on TV, Leno performs more than 100 stand-up shows annually across the country and internationally; participates in numerous charity and corporate events, does voice-overs for animated series, pens children’s books, and writes a monthly column in various automotive magazines. And in his “spare” time, he enjoys working on his collection of classic cars and motorcycles.
Leno is the recipient of many honors, including Emmy, People’s Choice, and TV Guide awards. He is a Harris Poll selection as most popular star on television and a recipient of the Hasty Pudding Award at Harvard University. He also won the Mark Twain Prize, and the Patriot Award given by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Arsenio Hall became a household name with the success of his Emmy Award-winning late-night talk show “The Arsenio Hall Show.”
The versatile actor, comedian and producer first became involved in the arts at The Cleveland Playhouse and continued to hone his craft through his Kent State University years. In 1979, Hall moved from Ohio to Chicago, Illinois, where he tried his hand at stand-up comedy and was discovered by Jazz singer Nancy Wilson. In the following few years Arsenio toured, opening for 20 major headliners including Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder.
Hall attempted to diversify his career by making numerous appearances on television shows such as “Solid Gold” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and doing his first film cameo in “Amazon Women on the Moon.” In 1987, Hall was asked to replace Joan Rivers on the Fox Network series “The Late Show.” On the strength of his work as interim host, he was signed to a film and television deal with Paramount Pictures, which subsequently led to the opportunity to co-write and co-star in the hit comedy “Coming to America.”