| Alex Trebek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | George Alexander Trebek |
| Born: | July 22, 1940 |
| Birth Hometown: | Sudbury, Ontario |
| Died: | November 8, 2020 |
| Place of death: | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation: | Host, Producer |
| Years active: | 1963-2020 |
| Known for: | Hosting America's answer-and-question quiz show, Jeopardy! |
Alex Trebek (born George Alexander Trebek on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada; died November 8, 2020 in Los Angeles, California) was the host of Jeopardy!, in syndication from 1984 until his death in 2020.
Career[]
On television, Alex Trebek had either made guest appearances usually as himself or voiced himself (on The Simpsons episode “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” and the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "Total Jeopardy") or characters modeled after himself, such as Alex Lebek in the Arthur episode "Arthur and the Big Riddle"; in the Rugrats episode "Game Show Didi", he was named Alan Quebec. He even appeared as himself in the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Wii U versions of Jeopardy!, and Johnny Gilbert joined him, albeit by voice. Alex became a U.S. citizen in the late 1990s.
Personal Life[]
He lived in California with his wife, Jean, and their two children, Emily and Matthew. On March 6, 2019, Trebek was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He vowed to fight it off, but continued to struggle with cancer and died on November 8, 2020, aged 80. In his honor, Stage 10 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California was renamed "The Alex Trebek Stage" in his honor.
Books[]
In July 2020 (four months prior to his death), Trebek wrote a book about his own life titled The Answer Is... Reflections on My Life, which was published by Simon & Schuster and became a best seller.
Also in July 2020, a book about Trebek's lifetime written by Lisa Rogak titled Who Is Alex Trebek? was published by Thomas Dunne Books.
Commemorative Speech on the death of Alex Trebek[]
"I'm Mike Richards, the executive producer of Jeopardy!. Over the weekend, we lost our beloved host Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family, and for his millions of fans. He loved this show and everything it stood for. In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago. He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family. We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That's what he wanted. On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy!, thank you for everything, Alex. This is Jeopardy!." - Mike Richards, the executive producer for Jeopardy! (2020)
Shows hosted[]
- The Wizard of Odds (1973-74)
- (The New) High Rollers (1974-76, 1978-80)
- Double Dare (1976-77)
- The $128,000 Question (1977-78)
- Pitfall (1981-82)
- (The New) Battlestars (1981-82, 1983)
- Starcade (1982 pilots)
- Malcolm (1983, unsold pilot)
- Jeopardy! (1984-2020; also hosted the 1983 pilot, and served as producer for Seasons 1-3)
- M'ama Non M'ama [The original incarnation of Love Me, Love Me Not also shares its name with the original Italian version] (1984, unsold pilots)
- Lucky Numbers {remake of High Rollers} (1985, unsold pilots)
- Second Guess (1986, unsold pilot)
- Classic Concentration (1987-91)
- National Geographic Bee (1989-2013)
- Super Jeopardy! (1990)
- To Tell the Truth (1991; was the fourth different host of that version including the pilots)
- Classic Concentration II (1992, unsold run-through)
- Wheel of Fortune (4/1/1997; also filled in for Chuck Woolery for a week in 1980)
- Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time {a.k.a. G.O.A.T} (2020)
Shows appeared[]
- To Say the Least
- The Amazing Race Canada 3
- Card Sharks {Perry} (1980)
- To Tell the Truth {Anderson} (2018)
- Wheel of Fortune {Sajak & White} (November 2, 2000 as Osmond the Gnome)
Gallery[]
.png "Alex Trebek (Jeopardy 1984 Pilot).png (727 KB)")
Outside Jeopardy![]
.jpg "Alex t (1).jpg (23 KB)")
Remembering Alex[]
