Longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek passed away on Sunday, November 8, 2020, the show announced on Twitter. “Jeopardy! Is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex,” the show tweeted. Trebek announced he was battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer back in March 2019.
Trebek began hosting game shows in his native country of Canada, moving to the United States in the ’70s to emcee The Wizard of Odds and High Rollers for NBC, as well as Double Dare and Pillsbury Bake-Off for CBS. He joined Jeopardy! in 1984, but emceed shows such as The National Geographic Bee from 1989-2013 and To Tell the Truth from 1990-91.
In 2011, Trebek earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys, and also won seven Emmys for Outstanding Game Show host. In 2014, Guinness World Records announced that Trebek had broken the record for the most game show episodes (6,829) hosted by the same person on the same program. He served as host of “Jeopardy!” for nearly 40 years.
Trebek is survived by his wife Jean Currivan and their two children, Matthew and Emily as well as another daughter Nicky, who he adopted with his first wife Elaine.
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