Alex Trebek, who hosted one of the longest-running and most popular game shows in history, has died following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
“Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex,” the show tweeted Sunday morning.
Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex. pic.twitter.com/Yk2a90CHIM
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 8, 2020
After reportedly dropping out of military college, the Sudbury, Ontario born Trebek earned a philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa. He went on to work for CBC, working as a presenter covering national news and other events. Trebek also hosted the first season of “Music Hop” — essentially a Canadian version of “American Bandstand.”
Trebek first appeared on U.S. television screens as host of the NBC game show “Wizard of Odds” in 1973 followed by “High Rollers.” Other game shows he tried his hand at included “The $128,000 question,” “Double Dare,” “Pitfall,” “Starcade,” and “The New Battlestars.” Some of them never made it past the pilot stage.
It was in 1984 that Trebek was put at the helm for the revival of “Jeopardy!” The show originally aired from 1964-1975 with Art Fleming as host. When Fleming declined to return for the reboot, Trebek landed the job.
For more than 35 years, Trebek became a nightly mainstay in living rooms across the country. Proof that Trebek and the show were ingrained in America’s psyche was easily demonstrated by its inclusion into pop culture. He made cameos on “Beverly Hills 90210,” “How I Met Your Mother and “Cheers,” to name a few.
Comedic actor Will Ferrell parodied Trebek multiple times on “Saturday Night Live,” in a “Celebrity Jeopardy!” skit that had him often sparring with Darrell Hammond’s rude and crude Sean Connery.
in March 2019, Trebek stunned everyone when he announced he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working,” Trebek said. He added in his trademark humor by joking that he planned to beat pancreatic cancer’s low survival rate because he was under contract to host for three more years.
Promoting his memoir “The Answer Is … Reflections On My Life,” Trebek told “Good Morning America” on July 21 that he intended to mark his two-year survival in February 2021. But in a separate interview with The New York Times, Trebek admitted that if the cancer treatment he was undergoing at the time failed, he would not continue it.
Trebek has stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Canadian Walk of Fame. He was also named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 — that country’s second-highest civilian honor.
(Associated Press)
