The Legendary TV Career Of Alex Trebek

By Brent Furdyk. 8 Nov 2020 3:19 PM

The world is mourning the loss of Alex Trebek, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8 at age 80. A familiar face on Canadian television before heading to Hollywood, Trebek served as host of hit game show “Jeopardy!” for more than 35 years, becoming a television icon and pop-culture touchstone in the process. We celebrate the life of this legendary broadcaster with a look back at his amazing TV career.

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Early Years In Canada
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Born in Sudbury, ON in 1940, Alex Trebek was attending the University of Ottawa when he was hired by the CBC.

In addition to anchoring newscasts, he was also tapped to host everything from sports shows to variety shows. Among his many CBC series was "Music Hop", a Canadian version of "American Bandstand" that aired in the mid-1960s, along with "Sports-a-Plenty".

He then came to the genre that would dominate the rest of his career when he hosted his first game show, CBC's "Reach for the Top".

"I went to school in the mornings and worked at nights," Trebek said of his years with Canada's public broadcaster. "I did everything, at one time replacing every announcer in every possible job."
'SCTV' Homage
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The earliest TV spoof of Trebek came on "SCTV", with Eugene Levy as "Alex Trebel" in "Half Wits", a parody of "Reach for the Top" that featured the host becoming increasingly exasperated by the contestants' stupidity.

"Eugene Levy to this day I maintain did the best Alex Trebek ever," said Trebek of the "SCTV" sketches. "He looked more the part, too. He had the dark hair and he had the black moustache."
'The Wizard of Odds'
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In the early 1970s, Trebek left Canada to pursue a career on American television.

His first U.S. television job was hosting the short-lived game show "The Wizard of Odds", which ran from 1973 until being cancelled the following year.
TV's Game Show King
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While "The Wizard of Odds" may not have caught on with viewers, the same could not be said for its host. Following that show, Trebek continued to be hired as a game show host.

In fact, the next 10 years would see Trebek become ubiquitous on American television as host of a staggering number of game shows, including "High Rollers" (pictured), "Celebrity Sweepstakes",
"The $128,000 Question", "Double Dare",
"Card Sharks", "The New Battlestars" and others.
'Jeopardy!'
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In 1984, TV producer Merv Griffin planned to revive "Jeopardy!", which had previously enjoyed a successful run from 1964 until 19745, with Art Fleming as host.

Griffin tapped Trebek to host, and the rest is history.

As Trebek wrote in his 2020 memoir, The Answer Is ... Reflections on My Life, Griffin maintained a hands-off approach to "Jeopardy!".

"The few times I spent with Merv were very special, but we didn’t have much of a relationship. He left 'Jeopardy!' alone completely," Trebek wrote. “His show, his baby, was 'Wheel of Fortune'. He took a great deal of pleasure in coming up with the word puzzles for Wheel. But he had no interest whatsoever in 'Jeopardy!'.“
The Host With The Most
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The characteristically humble Trebek had always insisted the success of "Jeopardy!" had to do with the show's format, not him.

"My success to a great extent has depended on the success of the game," he said during a 2019 appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour. "There are some individuals who could have been named hosts of 'Jeopardy!' and, if the show had lasted 36 years, they would have enjoyed the same kind of favourable reviews and adulation that I have enjoyed in recent years."
A Pop Culture Touchstone
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Somewhere along the way, "Jeopardy!" became not just a game show but a television institution, leading Trebek to appear as himself on various TV series, ranging from "The Golden Girls" to "Blossom".

Arguably the most memorable of these was the episode of "Cheers" in which trivia-obsessed mail carrier Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) competes on "Jeopardy!" and freezes like a deer in the headlights.

“It was one of the first times that I had been asked to do a cameo on a popular sitcom,” Trebek recalled of his cameo. “We read through that script and then went home and shortly afterwards, a few hours later, a script arrived with a number of changes that were added lines for me. They had discovered that I could handle lines, and so each day they added a few lines. And they were so friendly. Ted Danson and the whole cast were so friendly, so kind.”
Parodied By 'SNL'

Twenty years after being spoofed by "SCTV", Trebek was once again parodied, this time by "Saturday Night Live". The premise of what wound up being a number of recurring sketches featured Will Ferrell as Trebek hosting "Celebrity Jeopardy!", becoming increasingly annoyed by the celebrities' inability to answer the simplest of questions correctly. Each sketch featured Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, who took perverse delight in torturing and insulting Trebek.

Trebek loved the bits, and even appeared alongside Ferrell in the "SNL" 40th anniversary celebration. "It means you've arrived. If you do a take-off of somebody, it is a sign that you believe your audience will immediately recognize who you're poking fun at. And if that's the case, that means there must be a lot of people who have watched your show over the years or are watching now. So, they know immediately what the reference is. You're popular not only because of your own show, but the take-offs and mentions on other shows," Trebek said.
Walk Of Fame
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In 1999, Trebek received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, Trebek was praised by fellow Canadian Alan Thicke, who joked about the "Jeopardy!" host in his speech. "Alex is a gifted man," Thicke told the crowd. "Gifted because he works four hours a week and makes $11 million a year."

A few years later, in 2006, Trebek was also inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Guinness World Record
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In 2014, Trebek was awarded a Guinness World Record for “most gameshow episodes hosted by the same presenter.” As of that day, he’d hosted a whopping 6,829 episodes of "Jeopardy!"

During the course of hosting the show, Trebek won seven Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show Host, and was nominated 31 times — more than anyone else in Emmy history.
Personal Life
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Trebek and first wife Elaine Callei divorced in 1981 after seven years of marriage.

In 1990, he married Jean Currivan, remaining happily married until his death 30 years later. He's also survived by their two children, Emily and Matthew.

“But my wife Jean and I have been together almost 29 years," Trebek said in 2019, "and I was thinking about President Bush when he died, and all the comments about his life about what a nice guy he is, and how he and his wife had been together 73 years. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, if I’d just met Jean in my 20s we could have had a longer life together.’ I guess if I’d met her when I was in my 20s she wouldn’t have been born yet. But hey, 29 years is pretty good!”
The Order of Canada
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In 2017, Trebek was presented with the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, honoured for "his iconic achievements in television and for his promotion of learning, notably as a champion for geographical literacy."
A Canadian Through And Through
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Trebek may have become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998, but he never let anyone forget about his Canadian roots.

In fact, he was on hand alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the official opening of Canada's Centre for Geography and Exploration, the new headquarters of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Trebek served as the society's honourary president.
Going Public With His Diagnosis
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In February 2019, Trebek was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He later shared the news with the public.

Throughout what would be the final months of his life, Trebek continued to share updates on his health, and remained upbeat about his prognosis.

In September 2020, Trebek said his doctor was optimistic he'd be here to mark the two-year anniversary of his diagnosis in February 2021. "I expect to be around ’cause he said I will be around," said Trebek.

Sadly that never came to pass; he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8, 2020.

The Legendary TV Career Of Alex Trebek

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