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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alex Trebek, who presided over the beloved quiz present “Jeopardy!” for greater than 30 years with dapper appeal and a contact of schoolmaster strictness, died Sunday. He was 80.
Trebek, who introduced in 2019 that he had superior pancreatic most cancers, died at his Los Angeles house, surrounded by household and associates, “Jeopardy!” studio Sony stated.
The Canadian-born host, who made a degree of informing followers about his well being immediately, spoke in a relaxed, even tone as he revealed his sickness and hope for a treatment in a video posted March 6, 2019.
Within the video, Trebek stated he was becoming a member of the 50,000 different Individuals who obtain such a prognosis annually and that he acknowledged that the prognosis was not encouraging.
However Trebek stated he meant to combat it and hold working, even joking that he wanted to beat the illness as a result of his “Jeopardy!” contract ran for 3 extra years. Lower than every week later, he opened the present with a message acknowledging the outpouring of type phrases and prayers he’d acquired.
“Because of the — imagine it or not — a whole lot of 1000’s of people that have despatched in tweets, texts, emails, playing cards and letters wishing me properly,” Trebek stated. “I’m a fortunate man.”
Messages of grief and respect from former contestants, celebrities and the broader public rapidly adopted information of his loss.
“Alex wasn’t simply the very best ever at what he did. He was additionally a beautiful and deeply first rate man, and I’m grateful for each minute I acquired to spend with him,” tweeted “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings. “Pondering at present about his household and his Jeopardy! household — which, in a manner, included thousands and thousands of us.”
“It was one of many nice privileges of my life to spend time with this brave man whereas he fought the battle of his life. You’ll by no means get replaced in our hearts, Alex,” James Holzhauer, one other “Jeopardy!” star, posted on Twitter.
John Legend tweeted that he was “obsessive about Jeopardy as a nerdy child rising up in Ohio. I’ve beloved and revered Alex Trebek since I can keep in mind. What an iconic profession.”
“Jeopardy!” payments itself as “America’s favourite quiz present” and captivated the general public with a novel format through which contestants had been instructed the solutions and had to supply the questions on a wide range of topics, together with films, politics, historical past and common tradition.
They’d reply by saying “What’s … ?” or “Who’s …. ?”
Trebek, who turned its host in 1984, was a grasp of the format, partaking in pleasant banter with contestants, showing genuinely happy once they answered appropriately and, on the identical time, transferring the sport alongside in a brisk no-nonsense vogue at any time when folks struggled for solutions.
He by no means pretended to know the solutions himself if he actually didn’t, deferring to the present’s specialists to determine whether or not a considerably obscure reply had come shut sufficient to be counted as appropriate.
“I strive to not take myself too significantly,” he instructed an interviewer in 2004. “I don’t wish to come off as a pompous ass and point out that I do know every part once I don’t.”
The present was the brainstorm of Julann Griffin, spouse of the late speak present host-entrepreneur Merv Griffin, who stated she urged to him sooner or later that he create a recreation present the place folks got the solutions.
“Jeopardy!” debuted on NBC in 1964 with Artwork Fleming as emcee and was an instantaneous hit. It lasted till 1975, then was revived in syndication with Trebek.
Lengthy recognized by a full head of hair and trim mustache (although in 2001 he startled viewers by shaving his mustache, “utterly on a whim”), Trebek was greater than certified for the job, having began his recreation present profession on “Attain for the High” in his native nation.
Shifting to the U.S. in 1973, he appeared on “The Wizard of Odds,” “Excessive Rollers,” “The $128,000 Query” and “Double Dare.” Even throughout his run on “Jeopardy!”, Trebek labored on different exhibits. Within the early 1990s, he was the host of three — “Jeopardy!”, “To Inform the Fact” and “Traditional Focus.”
“Jeopardy!” made him well-known. He received 5 Emmys as its host, together with one final June, and acquired stars on each the Hollywood and Canadian walks of fame. In 2012, the present received a prestigious Peabody Award.
He taped his every day “Jeopardy!” exhibits at a frenetic tempo, recording as many as 10 episodes (two weeks’ price) in simply two days. After what was described as a gentle coronary heart assault in 2007, he was again at work in only a month.
He posted a video in January 2018 saying he’d undergone surgical procedure for blood clots on the mind that adopted a fall he’d taken. The present was on hiatus throughout his restoration.
It had but to usher in a substitute host for Trebek — save as soon as, when he and “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak swapped their TV jobs as an April’s Idiot prank.
In 2012, Trebek acknowledged that he was contemplating retirement, however had been urged by associates to remain on so he may attain 30 years on the present. He nonetheless beloved the job, he declared: “What’s to not love? You will have the safety of a well-known setting, a well-known format, however you’ve gotten the thrill of latest clues and new contestants on each program. You’ll be able to’t beat that!”
Though many viewers thought-about him one of many key causes for the present’s success, Trebek himself insisted he was solely there to maintain issues transferring.
“I’m launched because the host of ‘Jeopardy!’, not the star,” he stated in a 2012 interview. “My job is to supply the ambiance and help to the contestants to get them to carry out at their best possible,” he defined. “And if I’m profitable doing that, I will likely be perceived as a pleasant man and the viewers will consider me as being a little bit of a star.”
“However not if I attempt to steal the limelight! The celebs of `Jeopardy!′ are the fabric and the contestants,” he stated.
In a January 2019 interview with The Related Press, Trebek mentioned his determination to maintain going with “Jeopardy!”
“It’s not as if I’m overworked — we tape 46 days a 12 months,” he stated. However he acknowledged he would retire sometime, if he misplaced his edge or the job was not enjoyable, including: “And it’s nonetheless enjoyable.”
Born July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Trebek was despatched off to boarding faculty by his Ukrainian father and French-Canadian mom when he was barely in his teenagers.
After graduating highschool, he spent a summer time in Cincinnati to be near a girlfriend, then returned to Canada to attend school. After incomes a philosophy diploma from the College of Ottawa, he went to work for the Canadian Broadcasting Co., beginning as a workers announcer and ultimately changing into a radio and TV reporter.
He turned a U.S. citizen in 1997. Trebek’s first marriage, to Elaine Callei, led to divorce. In 1990, he married Jean Currivan, and so they had two youngsters, Emily and Matthew. Trebek lived together with his household in Los Angeles’ Studio Metropolis part, not removed from Hollywood.
Trebek is survived by his spouse, their two youngsters and his stepdaughter, Nicky.
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This story has been corrected to point out Merv Griffin’s spouse’s title is Julann Griffin, not Juann.
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The late AP leisure correspondent Bob Thomas contributed to this report.
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