Alex Trebek
George Alexander Trebek (born as Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek [1] on July 22, 1940) is a Canadian-American television personality, best known as the host of the game show Jeopardy! for the past 22 years. He has hosted numerous game/quiz shows and has appeared in over 70 movies and television series, usually as himself. Though a native of Canada, he is now a naturalized US citizen.
Early life
Alex Trebek was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, to George Edward Trebek, a Ukrainian immigrant father and Lucille Lagacé, a Franco-Ontarian mother. He was educated by the Jesuits before graduating from Toronto's Malvern Collegiate Institute in 1958, and later the University of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy. Interested in a career in broadcast news, he began his broadcasting career working for the CBC as a newscaster. Specializing in national news and covering a wide range of special events for the CBC's radio and television divisions, Trebek earned a reputation as a broadcaster who maintained his poise and composure in the most difficult settings.
Rise in television
In 1966 he started hosting the high school quiz show Reach for the Top. In 1970 he hosted "Jackpot!". In 1973, he moved to the United States and worked for NBC as host of a new game show, The Wizard of Odds. A year later, Trebek hosted the popular Merrill Heatter–Bob Quigley game show High Rollers, which had two incarnations on NBC (1974–76 and 1978–80). In 1984 he was chosen to host the revived version of the trivia game show Jeopardy! (replacing Art Fleming who had retired), and has been its host ever since. He was also the host of Classic Concentration and the Canadian game show Pitfall. During this golden age, his wardrobe was furnished by Botany 500 and Mr. Guy of Beverly Hills.
In 1991, he became the only host in United States TV history to helm three daily national game shows at once — Jeopardy!, Classic Concentration and To Tell the Truth. He is one of three hosts to emcee a game show in the United States and a game show in Canada at the same time (Jim Perry and Geoff Edwards, both of whom were U.S.-born, are the other two). Trebek and Perry are the only two known hosts in the industry to host three different game shows at once in North American television.
Trebek has sported an iconic moustache during various phases of his career.
He is divorced from his first wife, Elaine Callei. He has been married to his second wife, Jean Currivan-Trebek, a real estate businesswoman and the mother of his two children, since April 30, 1990.
Trebek was also a celebrity guest at WWF's (now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) annual event Wrestlemania VII, on March 24, 1991, where he served as a special guest announcer, interviewing wrestlers. Most memorable was when he interviewed Jake "The Snake" Roberts and was scared away by Jake's snake, Damien.
Honors and Awards
Having skillfully guided the series to years of unprecedented success, Alex Trebek has been personally honored with four Emmy Awards (best television host) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard, near those for Ann-Margret and Vincent Price).
Trebek is active with a number of educational organizations and charities, donates a great deal of his free time to touring overseas with the USO, and serves as a spokesman for World Vision. A favorite role of his is to host the annual National Geographic Bee in the U.S. and Canada. He is on the boards of the National Geographic Society Education Foundation and the National Advisory Council for the Literary Volunteers of America. Active with the World Vision charitable organization, he has traveled to many Third World countries with World Vision projects, taping reports on the group's efforts on behalf of children around the world.
In March of 2006, it was announced that he would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. He is the second game show host to be inducted (the first being Monty Hall). He is also one of the few inductees to have stars on both Canada's and Hollywood's walks.
Trebek Hall
Around 1999, a new dormitory was constructed at the University of Ottawa, Trebek's alma matter. Rumor has it that the administration had planned to name it "Trebek Hall," but Trebek told them, "Not until I'm dead." To this day the residence is still named simply "New Residence." Interestingly, all of the other residences, including one that is newer than New Residence, have a proper names. This has led many students to joke that the university's administration is waiting for Trebek to change his mind or die.
Just kidding
In 1997, the producers of Wheel of Fortune (the same ones who also produce Jeopardy!) were so impressed by Trebek's hosting skills that they let him switch positions with Wheel's Pat Sajak for an April Fool's edition of both shows. While Sajak took over the hosting duties on Jeopardy!, Trebek had Sajak and his cohost Vanna White as contestants on Wheel. Sajak's wife was in charge of revealing the letters on the letterboard (a duty normally handled by White). Trebek also presided as a sub host for Wheel on a few occasions before the 1997 joke. In August 1980, about one month after NBC had canceled High Rollers, Trebek sub hosted Wheel of Fortune for a sick Chuck Woolery.
Parodies
- On Second City Television, Eugene Levy portrayed a game show host named Alex Trebel who hosted a parody version of College Bowl.
- Will Ferrell created a skit on Saturday Night Live entitled Celebrity Jeopardy! in which he portrayed Alex Trebek asking humorously simplified versions of Jeopardy! questions to SNL cast members portraying over-the-top versions of real-life celebrities. Ferrell's Trebek was the straight man in the skits, often making snarky and sarcastic comments about the stupidity of the celebrities.
- On Ferrell's last episode of the program as a cast member in 2002, Trebek himself appeared alongside his counterpart to congratulate his work on the program's Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches.
- In an episode of TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, a fake Alex Trebek fan club, calling themselves "Trebekkies", invited him to one of their gatherings. Alex graciously accepted, and observed the bizarre proceedings for some time before the joke was revealed to him.
- In the Family Guy episode "I Take Thee Quagmire", while competing on Jeopardy!, Mayor Adam West writes "Kebert Xela" as the answer to a question. When Trebek reads his, he instantly vanishes in a burst of light, after which West declares, "Only saying his name backwards can send him back to the 5th dimension where he belongs". This is a reference to the character Mister Mxyzptlk from DC Comics' Superman comic book series.
Other notable events
Trebek became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1998. He now lives in Studio City, California with his wife (Jean) and two children (Matthew and Emily). He owns and manages Creston Farms, a 700 acre (2.8 km²) ranch near Paso Robles in Creston, California which breeds, trains and provides state-of-the-art care for thoroughbred race horses and until recently he also owned a winery called Creston Vineyards.
In an interview with a talk show host, Trebek complained that "I had only been a citizen for two weeks when I received a summons to appear for jury duty!"
On January 30, 2004, Trebek escaped injury after falling asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck. He bumped into a string of mailboxes and ended up in a ditch. At that time, Trebek was driving by himself on a rural road. [1]
In the 2000-2001 season, he shaved his famous mustache that he had had for over 30 years.
Trebek appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2005. He came in second place in his qualifying game, losing to Cheryl Hines.
Trebek hosted the 1996 & 1998 Pillsbury Bake-Off. In the 1996 Bake-Off (held in Dallas, Texas), Trebek witnessed history in the making, when Kurt Wait became the first man (of 10 men in the contest) to win The 37th Pillsbury Bake-Off. His creation, fudge macadamian torte cake.
TV and film appearances
Cameos
- X-Files: In the tongue-in-cheek X-Files episode entitled "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", Trebek appeared as himself in a character's flashback sequence. In that brief scene he appeared to lead a double life as a man in black in a government conspiracy to intimidate and ridicule UFO witnesses. Any UFO witness who claimed to have been intimidated from testifying by Alex Trebek, "the game show host?!" would appear to be hallucinating.
- The Simpsons: In the Christmas episode Miracle on Evergreen Terrace, Bart burns down his family's Christmas tree and presents, and the whole town chips in to give them a worthwhile Christmas. The town soon finds out that Bart lied, and thinks that the family had supported this, so they demand their money back. The family had already spent all of the money on a new car, but it gets destroyed by the snow. To get the town's money back, Marge decides to go onto Jeopardy! but finishes well in the negative. Trebek meets up with Marge backstage after the filming and says to her, "I asked you before the game if you knew the rules and you said you did," implying Marge owed as much money as she was in the hole (not true on the real show), and sends two burly "judges" after Lisa and her.
- Family Guy: In an episode 423 I Take Thee Quagmire, Alex Trebek was sent "back to the fifth dimension" by Mayor Adam West tricking him into reading his name backwards: "Kebert Xela". This is also a reference to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk who can only be sent back to his own dimension after tricking him into saying his name backwards .
- White Men Can't Jump: Alex appears as himself hosting Jeopardy in this basketball-themed film, when the character Gloria goes on the programme, under somewhat shady circumstances.
- Cheers: In the episode "What is...Cliff Clavin?" Cliff Clavin appears on Jeopardy! and Trebek appears as host.
Shows Alex Trebek has hosted:
- Music Hop (1952–1972), Trebek hosted from 1963-1964
- Vacation Time (1964), co-host
- Reach for the Top (1966–1973), Quizmaster
- The Wizard of Odds (1973)
- Double Dare (1976–1977)
- The $128,000 Question (1977–1978)
- Battlestars (1981–1983)
- Pitfall (1981–1982)
- Jeopardy! (1984–present)
- Classic Concentration (1987–1991)
- To Tell the Truth (1990–1991), host for February to May 1991
- Wheel of Fortune - Host for one episode in 1997, also a substitute host in 1979
- Barris & Company - Co-Host/Announcer
- High Rollers - Host (NBC, 1974–1976, 1978–1980)
- Outside/Inside - Host
- Pick and Choose - Host
- Stars on Ice - Host
- Strategy - Host (1971)
- Super Jeopardy! - Host (1990)
- T.G.I.F. - Announcer
- Live from the Hollywood Bowl - Host of annual live broadcasts.
- The Red Badge of Courage / Heart of Courage - Canadian-produced show highlighting brave individuals
External links
- Alex Trebek at IMDb
- Alex Trebek at the Notable Names Database
- 1940 births
- American television personalities
- Canada's Walk of Fame
- Canadian television personalities
- Daytime Emmy Award winners
- Canadian game show hosts
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Jeopardy!
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Ottawans
- Sudburians
- Ukrainian Canadians
- Franco-Ontarians
- Canadian Americans
- Cheers actors
- Family Guy actors
- Roman Catholic entertainers