“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, who educated and entertained millions on the beloved quiz show, has died following his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, the show said Sunday.
He was 80 years old.
“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 wrote in a statement.
Trebek, who hosted “Jeopardy!” for 36 years, announced he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2019.
“I’m going to fight this and I’m going to keep working and with the love and support from my family and friends and with the help of your prayers,” he vowed in a video released at the time. “I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease. Truth told, I have to because under the terms of my contract, I have to host ‘Jeopardy!’ for three more years, so help me. Keep the faith and we will win. We will get it done.”
Trebek powered through his diagnosis to host the iconic game show — most recently returning to set for the 2020-21 season.
George Alexander Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario in Canada to Lucille and George Trebek. His father was a chef at a hotel and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. He had one younger sister, Barbara, who passed away in 2007 after battling breast cancer.
“My dad got along with everybody,” Trebek said in an interview with the Television Academy in 2007. “He was everybody’s best friend. He also enjoyed drinking with everybody. Mom didn’t drink, doesn’t drink. Didn’t smoke, doesn’t smoke … she got along with people also and to a certain extent I guess I picked up on that from them. At least, I hope I did.”
Trebek moved to Ottawa when he was 12 years old for boarding school and then stayed there for college, attending University of Ottawa in the late 1950s, where he majored in philosophy.
He first got into broadcasting in college when he took a summer job to help him pay for school. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation then offered him a full-time position, which he took while finishing his education.
In 1963, Trebek moved to Toronto, where he hosted a live teen music show called “Music Hop,” and beginning in 1966, Trebek moved into the game show sphere when he hosted a Canadian academic quiz show called “Reach for the Top.”
Just like Will Ferrell’s now-famous “SNL” skit “Celebrity Jeopardy,” “Reach for the Top” sparked Second City’s sketch show “SCTV” to make a parody sketch in which Eugene Levy portrayed a quiz show host named “Alex Trebel.”
“Eugene Levy to this day did the best Alex Trebek ever,” Trebek said in a 2007 interview, adding, “Better than Will Ferrell.” When asked what he thinks of parodies of him he said, “I love them. It means you’ve arrived.”
In the 1970s, Trebek made his move to the United States where, with the help of Alan Thicke, he became the host of the short-lived NBC game show “The Wizard of Odds.”
His girlfriend at the time, Elaine Callei, came to the US with him and the pair tied the knot in 1974. They were married for seven years before divorcing in 1981. By 1998, Trebek became a naturalized US citizen.
Trebek hosted shows including “High Rollers,” CBS’ “Double Dare,” “$128,000 Question” and “Pitfall” before he landed the role that would define his legacy. In 1984, Trebek was tapped to host a reboot of Merv Griffin’s quiz show “Jeopardy!”
The original show aired on NBC from 1964-1975 and featured Art Fleming as its host. It was picked up again with Fleming from 1978-79 before the current version with Trebek premiered on Sept. 10, 1984.
Trebek has won five Daytime Emmy Awards for hosting “Jeopardy!” and in 2011, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
As of 2014, Trebek held a Guinness World Record for “the most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter.”
