Alex Trebek Fast Facts

Personal:
Birth date: July 22, 1940

Birth place: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Birth name: George Alexander Trebek (some sources say Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek)

Father: George Edward Trebek

Mother: Lucille (Lagace) Trebek

Marriages: Jean (Currivan) Trebek (1990-present), Elaine (Callei) Trebek (1974-1981, divorced)

Children: with Jean Trebek: Emily and Matthew

College: University of Ottawa, B.A. 1961

Facts:
Has hosted more than 7,000 episodes of "Jeopardy!"

Has won five Daytime Emmy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He has also received a Peabody Award.

Toured with the USO 13 times.

Has made guest appearances on numerous shows, including "How I Met Your Mother," "The X-Files" and "Beverly Hills, 90210."

His favorite animal is the musk ox.

Timeline:
1961 - Joins Canadian Broadcasting Company as a newscaster.

1966-1973 - Game show host for Canada's "Reach for the Top."

1973 - Becomes host of "The Wizard of Odds" on NBC, produced by Alan Thicke.

1984 - Is hired as the host of "Jeopardy!"

1987-1991 - Hosts "Classic Concentration."

1989 - Wins his first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for "Jeopardy!"

1989-2013 - Hosts the National Geographic Bee.

1990 - Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for "Jeopardy!"

1998 - Becomes a naturalized US citizen.

1999 - Receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2001 - Trebek shaves off his signature mustache.

2003 - Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for "Jeopardy!"

2006 - Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for "Jeopardy!"

December 2007 - Is hospitalized after having a mild heart attack.

2008 - Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for "Jeopardy!"

June 19, 2011 - Receives the Daytime Emmy Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award for his 27 years as the host of "Jeopardy!"

July 27, 2011 - Tears his Achilles tendon chasing after a burglar who had broken into his hotel room in San Francisco.

2012 - Trebek and "Jeopardy!" receive a Peabody Award for "encouraging, celebrating and rewarding knowledge."

June 23, 2012 - He is admitted to Cedars-Sinai following a mild heart attack.

2013 - Trebek is inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

June 13, 2014 - With his 6,829th appearance as the host of "Jeopardy!," Trebek breaks the Guinness World Record for hosting a game show.

September 2014 - After a 13-year hiatus, the Trebek mustache returns. "In 2001, I shaved my mustache on a whim," Trebek tells People magazine. "This year I had a two-and-a-half-month period where we were not taping a show, so I grew it back on another whim. I like to keep my life simple."

November 17, 2017 - Is made an officer of the Order of Canada.

January 4, 2018 - Trebek says he is taking a medical leave after undergoing surgery to remove blood clots from his brain. Trebek underwent surgery in mid-December after being diagnosed with a condition known as subdural hematoma, a complication from hitting his head in a bad fall in October. According to a post on the game show's website, Trebek is expected to make a full recovery and return for taping in mid-January.

October 1, 2018 - Trebek moderates a Pennsylvania gubernatorial debate between incumbent, Tom Wolf and his Republican challenger, Scott Wagner.

March 6, 2019 - Trebek announces that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

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