Biography
George Alexander Trebek OC (born July 22, 1940), known professionally as Alex Trebek, is a Canadian television host and personality. He began his career in 1963.
He took over as host of the Canadian game show Reach for the Top in the mid-1960s. He made his American television debut in 1973 as host of the unsuccessful game show The Wizard of Odds.
Alex Trebek began his long-running hosting career on Jeopardy! in 1984. He revealed in 2019 that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and died of the disease in November 2020.
Here is more information about this Canadian character.
Canadian-American landlord
Alex Trebek |
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 Shokoya: History • Biography • Photos |
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| Wiki Events & About Data | |
| Full name: | George Alexander Trebek OC |
| Stage name: | Alex Trebek |
| Born: | July 22, 1940 (age 80) |
| Place of birth: | Greater Sudbury, Canada |
| Deceased: | November 8, 2020, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nationality: | USA, Canada |
| Height: | 1.73 meters |
| Parents: | Lucille Lagacé, George Edward Trebek |
| Siblings: | Barbara Trebek |
| Wife • Husband/wife: | Jean Currivan Trebek (m. 1990–2020), Elaine Callei Trebek (m. 1974–1981) |
| Girlfriend • Partner: | Do not have |
| The children: | Matthew Trebek, Emily Trebek, Nicky Trebek |
| Job: | Journalist • Television Personality |
| Net worth: | 75 million US dollars |
Early life and education
Born to Lucille Lagacé and George Edward Trebek, Alex Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. His father was a Ukrainian immigrant who worked as a chef at a nearby hotel, and his mother was French-Canadian. He has an older sister named Barbara Trebek.
He attended Jesuit school as a boy and earned a degree from Lisgar Collegiate Institute in 1957. Alex Trebek enrolled at the University of Ottawa to study philosophy, graduating in 1961. He joined the English Debating Society as a student at the school.
Alex Trebek considered pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. He decided to pursue a career in communications after graduating in 1961.
Career
In 1963, Alex Trebek became the host of the Canadian music show Music Hop. His CBS game show “Double Dare” became his only game show with the CBS network.
He began his journalism career as a news and sports anchor for CBC. His area of expertise was national news, and he quickly developed a reputation as a clear-thinking and reliable journalist. He covered a number of notable events for his stations’ radio and television divisions.
Though popular as a news anchor, Alex Trebek changed direction in 1966 and took the helm of the Canadian quiz show Reach for the Top, which pitted teams of high school students against each other.
To advance his career, he moved to the United States in 1973. He was hired there to host a brand new game show called The Wizard of Odds on NBC. The show only had one season; therefore, it did not last long.
In 1974, Alex Trebek began hosting the game show High Rollers. He appeared on the show during both of its seasons—1974–1976 and 1978–1980—as well as the show’s general run in 1975–1976.
He hosted The $128,000 Question for its second season in 1977–1978. Each contestant was tested on a topic related to their area of expertise. The second season of the show ended due to poor viewership.
Alex Trebek was asked to appear as a guest or player on many other shows after hosting many game shows. These additional shows included NBC’s Card Sharks and The Magnificent Marble Machine. He became famous as a host after hosting many game shows.
In 1975, Alex Trebek appeared as a celebrity teammate on the NBC game show The Magnificent Marble Machine. In 1978, he also participated in the word game To Say the Least hosted by Tom Kennedy.
He then became the host of Battlestars on NBC. The series premiered in October 1981 and ended in April 1982. Trebek began hosting the Canadian game show Pitfall in September 1981.
As host of NBC’s Classic Concentration, his second show for Mark Goodson, he returned to daytime television. Alex Trebek made his first appearance on CBS since hosting Double Dare to host Pillsbury Bake-Off, a show he did until 1998.
Contestants on the game show Jeopardy! receive clues in the form of correct answers. Contestants then have to formulate their solutions in the form of questions. The show is widely watched and has received multiple Daytime Emmy Awards.
In 1991, he made radio history by becoming the first person to host three game shows at the same time.
In 2005, Alex Trebek also appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown. He lost to Cheryl Hines in the qualifying round and finished in second place.
Alex Trebek returned June 24 as a panelist for ABC’s reboot of To Tell the Truth.
Major works
Alex Trebek is best known in the United States as the host of the award-winning television game show Jeopardy!. He has hosted the syndicated version of the game show since 1984.
Although he planned to retire in 2016, he renewed his contract and will continue to host the show until 2022.
Awards & Achievements
Alex Trebek is the host of the television game show Jeopardy! and has won five Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host.
For his contributions to geographic education and the general study of geography, he was awarded the “Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society” in 2010.
In 2011, he was awarded the Peabody Award for Alex Trebek and the show “Jeopardy!”.
For his contributions to the entertainment industry, he was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2011.
Trebek set a “Guinness World Record” for hosting the most game show episodes on June 13, 2014. At that time, he had hosted 6,829 episodes of “Jeopardy!”
In recognition of his “iconic achievements on television and for promoting learning, particularly as a champion of geographical knowledge”, then-Governor General David Johnston awarded him the Officer of the Order of Canada on June 30, 2017.
The “Daughters of the American Revolution” presented Alex Trebek with the 2019 “Americanism Award” on June 28.
Personal life
In 1974, Alex Trebek married Elaine Callei Trebek; their marriage lasted seven years before ending in divorce in 1981 and had one child named Nicky Trebek.
He remarried in 1990 to Jean Currivan Trebek and had two children: Matthew Trebek and Emily Trebek.
Net worth
Canadian-born American game show host Alex Trebek had a net worth of US$75 million at the time of his death.
Social media
