Here is a look at the life of Alex Trebek, longtime host of the game show “Jeopardy!”
Personal:
Birth date: July 22, 1940
Birth place: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Birth name: George Alexander Trebek (some sources say Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek)
Father: George Edward Trebek
Mother: Lucille (Lagace) Trebek
Marriages: Jean (Currivan) Trebek (1990-present), Elaine (Callei) Trebek (1974-1981, divorced)
Children: with Jean Trebek: Emily and Matthew
College: University of Ottawa, B.A. 1961
Facts:
Has hosted more than 7,000 episodes of “Jeopardy!”
Has won six Daytime Emmy Awards, including five competitive and the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also received one Peabody Award.
While reciting clues from musical categories such as “It’s a Rap,” Trebek has been known to spit rap lyrics.
Has toured with the USO 13 times.
Has made guest appearances on numerous shows, including “How I Met Your Mother,” “The X-Files” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
His favorite animal is the musk ox.
Timeline:
1961 – Joins Canadian Broadcasting Company as a newscaster.
1966-1973 – Game show host for Canada’s “Reach for the Top.”
1973 – Becomes host of “The Wizard of Odds” on NBC, produced by Alan Thicke.
1984 – Is hired as the host of “Jeopardy!”
1987-1991 – Hosts “Classic Concentration.”
1989 – Wins his first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for “Jeopardy!”
1989-2013 – Hosts the National Geographic Bee.
1990 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his role on “Jeopardy!”
1998 – Becomes a naturalized US citizen.
1999 – Receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2001 – Trebek shaves off his signature mustache.
2003 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his role on “Jeopardy!”
2006 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his role on “Jeopardy!”
December 2007 – Is hospitalized after having a mild heart attack.
2008 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his role on “Jeopardy!”
June 19, 2011 – Receives the Daytime Emmy Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award for his 27 years as host of “Jeopardy!”
July 27, 2011 – Tears his Achilles tendon chasing after a burglar who had broken into his hotel room in San Francisco.
2012 – Trebek and “Jeopardy!” receive a Peabody Award for “encouraging, celebrating and rewarding knowledge.”
June 23, 2012 – He is admitted to Cedars-Sinai following a mild heart attack.
2013 – Trebek is inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.
June 13, 2014 – With his 6,829th appearance as the host of “Jeopardy!,” Trebek breaks the Guinness World Record for hosting a game show.
September 2014 – After a 13-year hiatus, the Trebek mustache makes a triumphant return. “In 2001, I shaved my mustache on a whim,” Trebek tells People magazine. “This year I had a two-and-a-half-month period where we were not taping a show, so I grew it back on another whim. I like to keep my life simple.”
November 17, 2017 – Is made an officer of the Order of Canada.
January 4, 2018 – Trebek says he is taking a medical leave after undergoing surgery to remove blood clots from his brain. Trebek underwent surgery in mid-December after being diagnosed with a condition known as subdural hematoma, a complication from hitting his head in a bad fall in October. According to a post on the game show’s website, Trebek is expected to make a full recovery and return for taping in mid-January.
