One of Sudbury's favourite, and most famous, sons turns 76 today.
Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was born in Sudbury on July 22, 1940 to George Edward Trebek and Lucille Lagacé.
Before he became the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Trebek earned a philosophy degree from the university of Ottawa in 1961, and went on to work for the CBC as a newscaster and sportscaster.
In 1973, he moved to the United States and hosted a game show on NBC called the Wizard of Odds. He went on to host a number of different game shows in the US before landing a job as the host of the revived Jeopardy! in the mid-1980s.
While Trebek became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1998, he has maintained his Canadian roots and paid a visit to his hometown last summer for a special guest appearance in the Amazing Race Canada.
He also used his Sudbury visit to attend a family reunion.
Trebek has shown no signs of slowing down as the host of Jeopardy!, and in 2014 he overtook Bob Barker as the Guinness World Record holder for the “the most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter (same program).”
