Last Updated on December 7, 2022 by

Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek is the host of a game show. His game show Jeopardy has been running since 1984. Previous to this, he hosted a variety of games shows, including Pitfall and High Rollers. Several of his television appearances have been as himself. His popular game show Jeopardy featured general knowledge questions.

During its run from 1984 to 2020, he hosted the show for 37 consecutive seasons. His native Canada has turned into a citizen of the United States since 1998.

In Sudbury, Ontario, he was born to Lucille, a Franco-Ontarian, and George Edward Trebek, an immigrant from Ukraine.

Family of Alex Trebek

Lucille Marie Lagacé (April 14, 1921-2016), a Franco-Ontarian, and George Edward Trebek (born Terebeychuk) emigrated from Ukraine as children.

A little further from Renfrew is Mount St. Patrick, where Trebek’s maternal grandparents were born, which is where her roots stem from Renfrew County, Ontario. Having grown up bilingually in both English and French, he learned it quickly.

Education of Alex Trebek

A Jesuit school prepared him for Malvern Collegiate Institute in Toronto before he graduated with a degree in philosophy from the University of Ottawa in 1958. The English Debating Society was his organization of choice when he was a student at the University of New Hampshire.

The CBC hired him to broadcast news and sports for the start of his broadcasting career. During his career at the CBC, Trebek was a special correspondent for national news and a radio and television correspondent for various special events, including horse racing and curling.

During a six-day stint in Saint-Jean-sir-Richelieu, Québec, Canada, Trebek attended College Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean. As part of an Esquire interview published in 2003, Trebek briefly recalled his military school experiences.

The Career of Alex Trebek

· CBC   

The Canadian Broadcast Corporation was where Trebek began his career before completing his degree in 1961. A wide range of sports events from curling to horse racing were covered by CBC radio and CBC television throughout his career. The first show Trebek hosted was Music Hop, a Canadian music program.

He hosted Reach for the Top, a high school quiz show, in 1966. While at the CBC, he called on Glenn Gould to perform several times between 1967 and 1970.There was also a weekly skating program he hosted for a few seasons. As part of his television and radio careers, Trebek hosted the weekly early afternoon game show Strategy and the local morning radio show I’m Here Till 9.

Ward Cornell retired from hosting Hockey Night in Canada, and Trebek was among the candidates considered. According to Ralph Mellanby, the executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada, Dave Hodge was eventually chosen to replace Trebek despite his initial preference for Trebek in 2020.  His boss liked someone without a mustache as the host.

· A Career in game shows       

The Wizard of Odds was his first show for NBC when he moved to the United States in 1973. His next show was Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley’s High Rollers a year later. While Trebek also hosted Nickelodeon’s High Rollers, which was not to be confused with the CBS game show Double Dare.

His only television work for CBS was the first season of Double Dare (he subsequently hosted the Pillsbury Bake-Off until 1998) and the 2012 season of the $128,000 Question, which was filmed in Toronto.

While both episodes of the $128,000 Question aired and taped, High Rollers’ second edition premiered, and Trebek joined Jim Perry. A day after High Rollers’ second season, the latter also aired definition and headline hunters in Canada and card sharks in the United States. 

The francophone side of Trebek was first highlighted in 1978 when reach for the Top and Génies en herb, its Radio-Canada equivalent, were produced in bilingual editions. While her show was in French, Trebek effortlessly alternated between the two.

Personal life of Alex Trebek

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After marrying Elaine Callie in 1974, he became a television presenter. After Nicky and Trebek never had children, Trebek divorced her. His wife Jean Currivan married him in 1990, after working in real estate in New York. Both children are now grown and living on their own.  As part of the Olympic torch’s 1996 journey to Atlanta, Trebek ran the torch in Jacksonville, Florida. The naturalization process for him occurred in 1998. 

Trebek was driving a pickup truck alone on a country road when he fell asleep behind the wheel, escaping serious injury. He was returning from his family home in Lake Nacimiento while driving alone on a Central Coast road. It hit a utility pole and landed against mailboxes after flying 45 feet over a barrier. As a result of the accident, Trebek did not receive a citation and returned to work taping Jeopardy! Shortly afterward. 

As the owner and manager of Creston Farms, an 800-acre (580 ha) ranch near Palos Robles in Creston, California, Trebek bred and trained thoroughbred racehorses. Slew o’ Gold’s stakes-winning colt Reba’s Gold is by him. Windfall Farms is a venue for events owned by Trebek, who sold the farm in 2008. 

Trebek stated in a 2018 interview with Vulture that he’s moderate and independent from both sides of the political spectrum, with a libertarian-leaning. As a Christian, Trebek affirmed his belief in God. His primary religion in childhood and adolescence was Catholic, according to his comments during a 2018 gubernatorial debate.

Alex Trebek Net Worth

Celebrity net worth estimated that Trebek was worth $75 million when he died. He was a philanthropist, giving millions of dollars and property to universities and conservancies. While his net worth is substantial, it certainly would have increased if he hadn’t been a philanthropist.

The Health and Death 

As scheduled in January 2008, Trebek returned to work following a minor heart attack on December 11, 2007. The burglar who had entered his hotel room in San Francisco in July 2011 injured his Achilles tendon and required six weeks of rest. In June 2012, Trebek suffered a mild heart attack, but it did not prevent him from returning to work the following month. 

Trebek was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer on March 6, according to the Associated Press. Before the diagnosis, he experienced a persistent stomachache but did not recognize it as a disease symptom.

The Jeopardy host acknowledged that the prognosis was poor for Trebek but announced that he would aggressively battle cancer and continue hosting the game show. The executive said he would continue to work for three more years as long as he was able.

As a result of the cancer treatment, Trebek underwent surgery in October. The show’s host returned to the set two weeks after his surgery but could not handle his full workload due to pain, so he split his long taping session over two days; these were his last five episodes.

The final episode of his show will be taped on October 29, 2020. Trebek, who was 80 years old, succumbed to pancreatic cancer at his home in Los Angeles on November 8, 2020. Cremation was performed to honor his remains.

Alex Trebek hosted both Jeopardy and focus at the very same time, right?

He managed three episodes of the NBC game program Classic Concentration and three seasons of Jeopardy! (1988–1990), and in 1991, when he handled the second part of the final season of NBC’s To Tell the Truth, he became the first person to manage three American game shows simultaneously. In 1998, Trebek formally became a citizen of the US.