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George Alexander Trebek (born as '''Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek''' Profile on tvguide.com on July 22 , 1940 ) is an Emmy Award -winning Canadian-American Television Personality and Game Show Host , best known as the host of the Game Show '' Jeopardy! '' since September 10 , 1984 . He has hosted numerous game/quiz shows and has appeared in television series, usually as himself. Though a native of Canada , he became a Naturalized United States Citizen in 1998 . EARLY LIFE Alex Trebek was born in Sudbury , Ontario , Canada , to George Edward Trebek, a Ukrainian immigrant father and Lucille LagacĂ©, a Franco-Ontarian mother. He was educated by the Jesuits before graduating from Toronto 's Malvern Collegiate Institute in 1958, and later the University Of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy . Interested in a career in broadcast news, he began his broadcasting career working for the CBC as a Newscaster . Specializing in national news and covering a wide range of special events for the CBC's radio and television divisions, Trebek earned a reputation as a broadcaster who maintained his poise and composure in the most difficult settings. Trebek once attended the former Royal Roads Military College , in Victoria BC , Canada , but did not complete first year. Rise in television In 1964 he started hosting the high school Quiz Show '' Reach For The Top ''. In 1970 he hosted "Jackpot!". In 1973 , he moved to the United States and worked for NBC as host of a new game show, '' The Wizard Of Odds ''. A year later, Trebek hosted the popular Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley game show '' High Rollers '', which had two incarnations on NBC (1974-76 and 1978-80). In 1982 , Trebek was given the chance to host a pilot episode of '' Starcade '' (he was eventually replaced by Mark Richards ). He also hosted game shows such as '' Battlestars '' and '' Pitfall '' before he was chosen to host the revived version of the game show ''Jeopardy!'' in 1984 . ( Art Fleming , the man whom Trebek was replacing, had retired from television.) He has been its host ever since, for the past 23 years. After three years of syndicated success with ''Jeopardy'', he was hired by Mark Goodson to host the NBC daytime game show '' Classic Concentration '', which he continued with, and which also proved a success. In 1991 , he became the only host in United States TV history to helm three ''daily'' national game shows at once — '' Jeopardy! '', '' Classic Concentration '' and '' To Tell The Truth ''. He is one of four hosts to emcee a game show in the United States and a game show in Canada at the same time. The other three are Jim Perry (who hosted '' Card Sharks '' and '' Sale Of The Century '' as well as several Canadian shows, including '' Definition ''), Geoff Edwards (who pulled off the feat in 1989 by hosting '' Jackpot '' and USA's '' Chain Reaction '', which taped in Canada), and Howie Mandel (who hosts both the U.S. and Canadian versions of '' Deal Or No Deal ''). Trebek and Perry are the only two known hosts in the industry to host three different game shows at once in North American television. Having been divorced from his first wife, Elaine Callei, he has been married to his second wife, Jean Currivan-Trebek, a real estate businesswoman and the mother of his two children, since April 30 , 1990 . Trebek was also a celebrity guest at the World Wrestling Entertainment 's annual event '' WrestleMania VII '', on March 24 , 1991 , where he served as a special guest announcer, interviewing wrestlers. Most memorable was when he interviewed Jake "The Snake" Roberts and was scared away by Jake's snake, Damien. HONORS AND AWARDS Having skillfully guided the series to years of unprecedented success, Alex Trebek has been personally honored with four Outstanding Game Show Host Emmy Award s and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard, near those for Ann-Margret and Vincent Price ). Trebek is active with a number of educational organizations and charities, donates a great deal of his free time to touring overseas with the USO , and serves as a spokesman for World Vision . A favorite role of his is to host the annual '' National Geographic Bee '' in the U.S. and '' The Great Canadian Geography Challenge '' in Canada. He is on the boards of the National Geographic Society Education Foundation and the National Advisory Council for the Literary Volunteers Of America . Active with the World Vision charitable organization, he has traveled to many Third World countries with World Vision projects, taping reports on the group's efforts on behalf of children around the world. In March of 2006, it was announced that he would receive a star on Canada's Walk Of Fame . He is the second game show host to be inducted (the first being Monty Hall ). He is also one of the few inductees to have stars on both Canada's and Hollywood's walks. PARODIES Trebek parodies generally emphasize his stoic nature and his attempts at native pronunciation of foreign terms.
EVENTS Trebek became a Naturalized Citizen of the United States in 1998. He now lives in Studio City , California with his wife (Jean) and two children (Matthew and Emily). He owns and manages Creston Farms , a 700 acre (2.8 km&2) ranch near Paso Robles in Creston , California which Breed s, trains and provides state-of-the-art care for Thoroughbred Race Horse s and until recently he also owned a winery called Creston Vineyards . In an interview with a talk show host, Trebek complained that "I had only been a citizen for two weeks when I received a summons to appear for Jury Duty !" After tinting his graying hair for several years, Trebek stopped tinting his hair in the late 1980s after fellow game show host Bob Barker renounced hair-dye in 1987. Monty Hall would also follow suit. Trebek hosted the 1996 & 1998 Pillsbury Bake-Off. In the 1996 Bake-Off (held in Dallas, Texas), Trebek witnessed history in the making, when Kurt Wait became the first man ever to win a Pillsbury Bake-Off. His creation was a fudge macadamia torte. Pillsbury raised the grand prize from $50,000 to $1,000,000 starting in 1996. In late 2001, during ''Jeopardy!'''s 18th season, Trebek shaved his famous mustache that he had had for over 30 years. A screen saver from the official Web site gives a clue based on this fact. In 1995, During Operation Joint Endeavour, Trebek was included in the USO tour giving troops mock ''Jeopardy!'' rounds, and allowing them to take the Pre-test for getting on the show. Trebek is avid antique collector, including of what some consider the best examples of vintage American automobile hubcaps; a set of which are on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. On Friday, January 30 , 2004 , Trebek escaped major injury after falling asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck while driving alone on a rural road in the Central Coast town of Templeton , California , returning from a family home in Lake Nacimiento . The truck sideswiped a string of mailboxes, flew 45 feet1 over an embankment, and came to rest against a utility pole in a ditch. Trebek was not cited for the accident and returned to work taping ''Jeopardy!'' the following Tuesday.23 Trebek appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2005. He came in second place in his qualifying game, losing to Cheryl Hines . In 1996, Trebek ran the Olympic Torch in Jacksonville, Florida, through a leg of its journey to Atlanta. TV AND FILM APPEARANCES Shows hosted
Cameos
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