Alex Trebek, the quick-witted and debonair television host who won over generations of fans at the helm of the popular quiz show Jeopardy!, has died after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
Trebek died early Sunday morning at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement released by Jeopardy! officials.
“This is an enormous loss for the JEOPARDY! staff, crew and all of Alex’s millions of fans. He was a legend of the industry that we were all lucky to watch night after night for 37 years, Mike Richards, the show's executive producer, said in a statement. Working beside him for the past year and a half as he heroically continued to host JEOPARDY! was an incredible honor. His belief in the importance of the show and his willingness to push himself to perform at the highest level was the most inspiring demonstration of courage I have ever seen. His constant desire to learn, his kindness, and his professionalism will be with all of us forever.
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Telegenic and handsome, the beloved Trebek first became familiar to American audiences as host of more than a dozen daytime game shows stretching back to 1966, including High Rollers, Double Dare and The $128, 000 Question.
But it was Jeopardy! -- a unique quiz show that challenged contestants on topics from history to literature to pop culture -- that made Trebek a pop culture icon. Over his three decades with the show, he has hosted nearly 8, 200 episodes -- a Guinness World Record.
Today we lost a legend and a beloved member of the Sony Pictures family, Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in a statement. For 37 amazing years, Alex, was that comforting voice, that moment of escape and entertainment at the end of a long, hard day for millions of people around the world. He was the heart and soul of JEOPARDY! and he will be deeply missed by everyone who made him part of their lives.
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Trebek was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2019 but he continued to host Jeopardy! for the next 18 months. His last day in the studio was on Oct. 29, according to the statement from the show.
What you see on air really is what I am, Trebek said at the time. And I'm a reasonably nice guy. And I'd like you to view me that way. I don't go out of my way to malign anybody. I want to be considered as helpful and generous, generous and kind.
My current numbers are very good, but we will have to be patient with this new immunotherapy program that I am on. But, if it were to stop being successful, I would return to my previous chemo treatment -- NOT stop, Trebek said in his statement.
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The original version of Jeopardy! ran from 1964 to 1975. Trebek took over a reboot of the show in 1984 as part of NBC's attempt to inject fresh faces into its then-aging game show lineup. After a slow start, fans gravitated toward him, making the show and its host inseparable in most viewers' imaginations.
Jeopardy!, in which contestants are provided with answers and must reply by asking a question, has won 35 Emmy Awards with Trebek as host, and in 2011 took home a Peabody Award.
George Alexander Trebek was born in the Canadian town of Sudbury, Ontario, in 1940. After earning a degree in philosophy at the University of Ottawa, in 1961, he embarked on a broadcasting career that included radio and TV stints with CBC News in Canada.
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After forays into hosting game shows in Canada, Trebek landed a similar job at NBC, hosting The Wizard of Odds. The show fell flat with audiences, as did several others Trebek hosted over the following decade.
By the time Trebek was offered Jeopardy! in 1984, his ubiquity on daytime television had been firmly ensconced by hosting shows that included Battlestars, Pitfall and The Magnificent Marble Machine.
He so skillfully and so stylishly hosted the show, he became a pop culture icon, garnering a Saturday Night Live portrayal by Will Ferrell, who, as Trebek, played the straight man to a collection of seemingly dim-witted celebrities that included Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds and Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery.
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Trebek's mustache became almost as famous as the man himself. When he shaved it in 2001 -- and remained clean shaven for more than a decade -- fans legitimately were stunned.
Trebek has won seven Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show Host and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was also elected into the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame two years later.
Alex Trebek accepts the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host onstage during the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, Calif., May 05, 2019.
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He has stars on both the Hollywood and Canadian walks of fame and was named an officer of the Order of Canada -- the nation's second-highest civilian honor.
We have lost an icon. Almost every night for more than three decades, Alex Trebek entertained and educated millions around the world, instilling in so many of us a love for trivia. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and all who are mourning this tremendous loss, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Trebek was a longtime supporter of the nonprofit World Vision and spent more than two decades traveling the globe for the Christian charity, which helps those in poverty and suffering from oppression.
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He was also involved with the USO, going on tour 13 times to give support to the troops and was a major supporter of his alma mater, the University of Ottowa. There he created the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue and endowed it with a $5 million gift.
I don’t think life would be as rewarding if I weren’t helping my fellow man out whenever I get the chance, he said, according to his official bio on the Jeopardy! website.
Ken Jennings, the most successful contestant in the history of Jeopardy! who won 74 consecutive games in 2004, took to Twitter on Sunday to express his condolences.
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James Holzhauer, another record-setting contestant who in 2019 won 32 consecutive games, also took to Twitter on Sunday, writing, It was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with this courageous man while he fought the battle of his life. You will never be replaced in our hearts, Alex.In an interview with “GMA, ” Trebek told ABC News' T.J. Holmes that his doctors have decided to have him undergo chemo again after he lost a large amount of weight and his numbers sky rocketed right after finishing his first round of treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“I was doing so well. And my numbers went down to the equivalent of a normal human being who does not have pancreatic cancer. So we were all very optimistic. And they said, 'Good, we're gonna stop chemo, we'll start you on immunotherapy, ' he said before, I lost about 12 pounds in a week. And my numbers went sky high, much higher than they were when I was first diagnosed. So, the doctors have decided that I have to undergo chemo again and that's what I'm doing.
The game show host also revealed his battle with depression that started when he was first diagnosed saying that sometimes he feels a “surge of sadness” and “depression.”
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“When it happened early on I was down on myself, ” he told “GMA.” “I didn’t realize how fallible each of us is in his or her own way … I talk to the audience sometimes and I get teary eyed for no reason. I don’t even bother to explain it anymore, I just experience it. I know it's a part of who I am and I just keep going.”
Alex Trebek, winner of the Outstanding Game Show Host award, poses at the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Center, May 5, 2019, in Pasadena, Calif.
In March, Trebek announced in a YouTube video that he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Despite the news, he remained optimistic ending the video with classic wit and humor saying, “I have to host ‘Jeopardy!’ for three more years! So help me. Keep the faith and we’ll win. We’ll get it done.”
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Since being diagnosed, Trebek has received an outpouring of support from many around the globe and told “GMA” about how he’s been given prayer shawls, scapulars and even holy water from places of worship around the world. He said he keeps these materials backstage on display.
When asked if he started to think differently about life, the “Jeopardy!” host said the thought of passing on doesn't frighten him.
I realize that there is an end in sight for me, just as there is for everyone else. One line that I have used with our staff in recent weeks and months is that when I do pass on, one
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