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Former New England Resident Jay Leno Falls Down 60-Foot Hill, Hits Head On Rock

Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is again making headlines for an accident that left him bruised and battered, according to reports. 

Jay Leno.

Jay Leno.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Jay Leno

Leno, age 74, a native New Yorker who grew up in Massachusetts, is recovering from injuries sustained from falling down a 60-foot hill and hitting a rock while trying to make his way to a restaurant in Pennsylvania, the comedian told TMZ in an interview on Tuesday, Nov. 19. 

In his interview with the outlet, Leno, seen with an eyepatch and bruised face, explained that he had been trying to take a shortcut to the restaurant from his hotel about 30 miles outside Pittsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 16. 

"To get to it, I didn’t have a car, so you had to walk about a mile and a half around. I said, ‘Well, the hill doesn’t look that steep. It’s about 60 or 70 feet. Let me see if I can go down the hill,’" Leno said, continuing, "I fell down. Boom, boom, boom. I rolled down the hill, hit my head on a rock, knocked me in the eye," TMZ reported. 

Leno then went on to perform a comedy show over the weekend at the Yaamava' Resort & Casino in Highland, California before seeking medical attention once he was back in LA, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

When asked about the incident by TMZ, Leno made light of his tumble: "The great thing about this age, you don’t learn by your mistakes, you just keep doing the same stupid thing," he said. 

Leno may have been referencing earlier events that also left him injured: in January 2023, he broke several bones when he was thrown from his vintage 1940 Indian motorcycle after being clotheslined by a wire he hadn't seen while pulling over. 

This crash came only months after the comedian was hospitalized for 10 days for severe third-degree burns sustained in a garage fire in November 2022.

Click here to watch Leno's full interview with TMZ. 

Fans of Leno, who was born in New Rochelle in Westchester County and grew up near Boston in Andover, Massachusetts, have more to look forward to from the comedian than more crashes, burns, and falls — he will be appearing on CBS's revival of "Hollywood Squares" which will premiere on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m., according to Entertainment Weekly. 

The new revival will be co-hosted by Drew Barrymore and Nate Burleson of "CBS Mornings" and will also feature other stars like Tyra Banks, Yvette Nicole Brown, Justin Long, RuPaul, and more. 

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