The Legacy of Alex Trebek

Alex+Trebek

Variety

Alex Trebek

Cole Terry and Joe Perry, Journalists

 

Alex Trebek was one of the world’s best game show hosts and an icon to so many people around the world.

Alex Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Canada, a large city in Northern Ontario.  He grew up alongside his sister Barbra Trebek. Barbra  was only a year younger than him. Trebek went to a Jesuit school and graduated from Toronto’s Malvern Collegiate Institute in 1958.  Later, he attended the University of Ottawa and graduated with a degree in philosophy. During his times at the University of Ottawa he was a member of the English debating society. While he was in college he was able to balance a job as a fill-in reporter and newscaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC TV.  For only a short amount of time he attended College Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean, a military school in Quebec. 

Alex Trebek made the move to  the US in  1973 and began working for NBC as the host of The Wizard of Odds, a new television game show. The show sadly aired for a year but it ended up being a very good thing for Alex. On September 10th, 1984, the first episode of jeopardy aired. The show would later take off and skyrocket through the U.S. . The people in the show were not the only ones competing but also the people at home. Daniel Parro an active viewer of Jeopardy says, “I used to watch it all the time with my mother and we used to compete against each other to see who would win¨. A student at IHS, Alexander ¨Flexi¨ Yanakakis, says that ¨My family and I watch jeopardy almost every night and all five of us have a very competitive side when it comes to Jeopardy.”  Flexi also states that ¨ I am the one that usually takes the win during Jeopardy. The show was loved across the nation and especially to families that would compete when they watched.  Daniel Parro states  “I was heartbroken when I heard the news he died. Even though I knew he was sick, it still hit me hard. The memories I had with my family watching and competing with each other were the best¨. 

Alec Trebek had many accomplishments in life other than a legendary game show. In June 2020, Trebek won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, bringing his total to seven. Trebeck also has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Trebek set the Guinness world record for most episodes at an astounding over 8,000 episodes.  Lastly trebek has an Academy Icon award.

Alex Trebek´s legacy will forever impact a large generation of people. The game show that he delivered to the U.S. will also forever be remembered. The game show brought fun interesting episodes that would make you and your families compete to see who could win jeopardy. Fans of the show like Daniel Parro and Alexander Yanakakis will make memories that they will never forget with their families.