Arguably the most famous person to come from Sudbury, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, has passed away at the age of 80 from pancreatic cancer. News reports say Trebek died peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends.
Trebek was born in Sudbury on July 22, 1940, the son of George Edward Trebek, a chef who had emigrated from Ukraine as a child, and Lucille Lagacé, a Franco-Ontarian.
Trebek's first job was when he was 13 as a bellhop at the hotel where his father worked as a chef.
He attended Sudbury High School (now known as Sudbury Secondary School) — Sudbury Sec actually issued him an honourary diploma in 2019 — and then the University of Ottawa, graduating with a degree in philosophy in 1961.
Trebek began his career at the CBC in 1961. He would go on to read the national news and cover a wide range of special events for CBC's radio and television divisions.
He hosted several TV shows for CBC, including the high school quiz show Reach for the Top.
In 1973, he moved to the United States and worked for NBC as host of the game show The Wizard of Odds, going on to host a number of different series.
He began hosting Jeopardy! in 1984, and would continue with the show for more than three-and-a-half decades.
In 2013, Trebek hosted fellow Sudburian (and former Northern Life staffer) Reem Fattouh on Jeopardy! as she tested her wits against the other contestants.
“He’s very nice,” Fattouh said at the time. “He told me that in the 30 years that he’s been hosting the show, I was the first contestant from Sudbury that he could recall.”
Trebek has been awarded six Outstanding Game Show Host Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by then Governor General David Johnston.
In March 2019, Trebek announced he has been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer.
Despite the bleak outlook for that type of cancer, he was in remission by the time Jeopardy! started recording new episodes in the summer.
But the cancer came back, Trebek revealed in September 2019, and a new round of chemotherapy followed.
He said in early 2020 the support from fans helped him to deal with his health crisis.
“People all over America and abroad have decided they want to let me know now, while I’m alive, about the impact that I’ve been having on their existence,” Trebek told ABC News.
“They have come out and they have told me, and my gosh, it makes me feel so good.”
Trebek is survived by his wife, Jean Currivan, and their three children.
– Sudbury.com