Jeopardy! Host & Pop Culture Icon Alex Trebek Passes Away

The world has lost one of the most beloved game show icons of all-time in Alex Trebek, who passed away on Sunday morning. A spokesperson for Jeopardy! confirmed to TMZ that Trebek passed away following his lengthy battle with stage four pancreatic cancer.

The statement from the show read, “Jeopardy is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends.”

Trebek announced back in March of 2019 that he had been diagnosed with the disease and immediately started treatment. He continued hosting the show and taped episodes up through October 29th. The episodes he taped will air through Christmas Day, according to the show.

Trebek is of course known primarily for his run on Jeopardy!, for which he set the Guiness World Record for the most episodes hosting a game show. He actually began his career wanting to do broadcast news and worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation starting in 1961 after graduating from the University of Ottawa. He began hosting shows for the CBC including Music Hop, Reach for the Top and an afternoon game show Strategy.

Trebek’s game show hosting career in the US kicked off in 1973 with the NBC show The Wizard of Odds, followed by High Rollers. He also hosted CBS’ Double Dare (no relation to the Nickelodeon show), the second season of The $128,000 Question, Battlestars and its revival The New Battlestars before he joined the revival of Jeopardy! in 1984 after original host Art Fleming declined to return due to creative differences.

Jeopardy! became an international household name, as did Trebek. He proceeded to host Jeopardy! largely non-stop until he had to take some time away due to his cancer diagnosis. In addition to the show, he would host other shows like Classic Concentration for ABC, The Pillsbury Bake-Off for CBS, and appearing as a panelist on To Tell the Truth in 2018.

Trebek’s style of hosting and the format of Jeopardy! became touchstones of pop culture during his run on the show, and it led to other appearances for him: cameos in shows from The X-Files to How I Met Your Mother, a host of awards and honors and more. Wrestling fans will recall that Trebek was a guest at WrestleMania 7 where he served as ring announcer for the Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter main event and conducted backstage interviews during the show.

He will appear in the upcoming Ryan Reynolds film Free Guy in a cameo role, which outside of the remaining Jeopardy! episodes will be his final appearance on screen.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and world of fans or Mr. Trebek’s. He will most certainly be missed.

Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex. pic.twitter.com/Yk2a90CHIM

— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 8, 2020