Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek dies at 80
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Alex Trebek, the longtime host of the successful trivia series Jeopardy!, died Sunday morning, the show confirmed in a tweet. He was 80. Trebek had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for at least over a year, having publicly revealed the diagnosis for the first time in March 2019. He was reportedly surrounded by family and friends when he passed away "peacefully."
Trebek hosted Jeopardy! for 35 years, beginning in 1984. During his time at the helm, BuzzFeed News notes, he "became a beloved pop culture figure" and went on to win six Daytime Emmys.
As the news broke, Trebek began to receive an outpouring of support from his legion of admirers online. Tim O'Donnell
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
