Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has passed away at the age of 80 after a short battle with cancer.

The Sudbury-born quizmaster announced last March that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Although the survival rate for this particular form of cancer is low, Alex stayed positive throughout, vowing to “beat the statistics for this disease. While he ultimately succumbed to the brutal disease, he fought it with grace and poise.

Trebek, an aspiring broadcaster, worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation while attending the University of Ottawa. While at the CBC, Trebek covered news, sports, and hosted the music program, Music Hop.

 

His game show career began in 1973 on NBC’s The Wizard of Odds.

He began hosting the quiz show Jeopardy! in 1984. During his nearly four-decade tenure, Trebek won six Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show Host, as well as a lifetime achievement award in 2011.

(ca. 1985), 1984-, © Columbia TriStar Pictures / Courtesy: Everett Collection

 

Alex Trebek set a Guinness World Record back in 2014 for “the most game show episodes by the same presenter,” hosting 6,829 episodes. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame. Trebek was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017.

EPA/WARREN TODA

 

In a recent interview, Trebek said “I’ve lived a good life, a full life, and I’m nearing the end of that life.” To his fans across the world, as well as here in Canada and his hometown Sudbury, Ontario, we’d tend to agree.

Here’s what people are saying about the late gameshow host:

https://twitter.com/ThatEricAlper/status/1325506980048490501

 

 

 

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