The Untold Truth Of Alex Trebek

Nov 08 2020

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After a public battle with pancreatic cancer, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek has passed away. The beloved on-air personality was a television fixture since 1984, and delighted game show fans around the world for more than 30 years. Let's look back on his accomplishments, and break down the life story of Alex Trebek. By the end of his television career, Trebek had earned six Daytime Emmy Awards, with his work on Jeopardy contributing to the show's receiving the esteemed Peabody Award. But before all of that, he started out as just a humble aspiring broadcaster from Canada. Following his graduation from the University of Ottawa, where he received his degree in Philosophy, Alex Trebek kicked off his career in 1961 working as a newscaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. But it wasn't long before he dropped that dream for something a little more entertaining. Just five years later, he got his first job as a game show host, working on the Canadian high school quiz show competition Reach for the Top. While he would find a regular gig in his new vocation with Jeopardy in 1984, Trebek worked up to it as the host of several other short-lived game shows. From 1973 to 1974, he hosted The Wizard of Odds, an American show which involved contestants answering esoteric questions about mathematical averages. He also led Double Dare from 1976 to 1977. Different from the later Nickelodeon yuck fest of the same name, the Trebek-led Double Dare locked contestants in soundproof booths and made them guess the names of famous people and locations. From 1981 to 1982, Trebek helped players on Pitfall determine the most popular answers to certain questions, with the game being a variation of the Family Feud formula. The game show Battlestars, which he also hosted during this time, felt more like a take on Hollywood Squares, with contestants answering questions from a panel of celebrities with Alex as the "man in command." No relation to the sci-fi series here, at least, not an official one. In 1983, Trebek hosted the unsold pilot episode of Malcolm, truly one of the weirdest game shows ever conceived. It forced Trebek to enthusiastically interact with his "friend" Malcolm, a cartoon character who helped contestants answer trivia questions. Watch this video for more of the untold truth of Alex Trebek. #AlexTrebek #RIPAlexTrebek Working his way up | 0:00 Fitting in | 2:30 No filter | 3:13 The small screen | 4:14 Setting the record | 5:35 Health in jeopardy | 6:10 His few regrets | 7:15