The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘End of an era’: Contestants react to Alex Trebek’s passing
Stepping onto the massive “Jeopardy!” stage was the culmination of months of auditioning and prep that was over in a whirlwind.
And in the middle of it all was host Alex Trebek.
The long-running host of the popular TV game show died at his home in Los Angeles early Sunday morning, the show’s official Twitter account confirmed. He was 80 years old.
The Canadian-born host, who led the show for more than 8,200 episodes, revealed that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2019.
“I’m sad he’s gone, but I also know that was a really tough fight for him,” said Fran Fried, a former arts and entertainment editor for the New Haven Register who went on the show in 2017.
Trebek was a “class act” throughout, Fried recalled.
“He’s erudite, he’s very well learned ... classy, a natty dresser,” Fried recalled, catching herself speaking in the present tense.
Taping the episode took about 45 minutes.
“I was just kind of gobsmacked and shellshocked,” the Prospect resident said on the phone Sunday.
Katherine Fink, an associate professor at Pace University in New York, described a similar whirlwind experience when she went on the show in early 2018.
“The whole staff adored him,” Fink recalled. “You definitely felt when you were there that you were in this mythical place because Jeopardy is it — it’s the game show of game shows.”
She said she was not sure who could replace Trebek, describing his passing as “the end of an era.”
“I’m sad he’s gone, but I also know that was a really tough fight for him.” Fran Fried, of Prospect
After news of Trebek’s passing broke Sunday, eulogies came pouring out from the community of one-time and recurring contestants.
Many shared their “Alex and me” photos from their time on the show, a tradition among contestants taken during the first commercial break, Fried said.
Amanda Farrish, a West Hartford resident who went on the show in 2013, recalled Trebek telling jokes to a group of school children who were in the audience.
“It’s kind of hard to articulate being in person with somone you’d watched on TV your whole life,” said Farrish, but recalled Trebek as “exactly the same” in person as he appeared to viewers — warm and friendly.
Farrish’s father had also been a contestant on the show back in the 1990s. Like her, he lost, but performed better than she did— something he’s never let her live down, she said.
It was the game’s buzzer that tripped her up. “I just didn’t get the timing down,” Farrish recalled.
Jeopardy! premiered on NBC in 1964 with then-host Art Fleming, according to the Associated Press.
Trebek became host of a revived version of the show in 1984.
He taped his daily “Jeopardy!” shows at a frenetic pace, recording as many as 10 episodes (two weeks’ worth) in just two days. After what was described as a mild heart attack in 2007, he was back at work in just a month.
He posted a video in January 2018 announcing he’d undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he’d taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.
“The fact that he stuck with it up until a few days ago is really amazing,” said Fink, the 2018 contestant. She noted family members have had pancreatic cancer
“I can’t imagine working as hard as he did for as long as he did,” she said.
Trebek became a U.S. citizen in 1997. Trebek’s first marriage, to Elaine Callei, ended in divorce. In 1990, he married Jean Currivan, and they had two children, Emily and Matthew.
Trebek is survived by his wife, their two children and his stepdaughter, Nicky.