LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Alex Trebek, the host of the long-running game show Jeopardy!, announced to his fans that he is suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer.
Trebek, who is 78, broke the news in a short video, and optimistically indicated that he plans to fight the disease and does not plan to retire, noting that his contract required him to host Jeopardy! for at least three more years.
Trebek, who has made a career as a television host, first signed on as the quizmaster for Jeopardy! in 1984 when the show was revived. With Trebek as the host, Jeopardy! has aired more than 7000 episodes, won a record 33 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award.
The 35th season of the quiz show debuted in September 2018.
According to TMZ, Trebek plans to start chemotherapy immediately, but the long-term prospects for people suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer is bleak. The disease often exhibits no early symptoms, resulting in late detection and the stage 4 categorization for Trebek indicates that it has spread to other organs, typically, the liver or the lungs.
Alex Trebek, the host of the long-running game show Jeopardy! announced to his fans that he is suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer.
Trebek, who is 78, broke the news in a short video, and optimistically indicated that he plans to fight the disease and does not plan to retire, jokingly noting that his contract required him to host Jeopardy! for at least three more years.
Trebek, who has made a career as a television host, first signed on as the quizmaster for Jeopardy! in 1984 when the show as revived after a hiatus of almost a decade. With Trebek as the host, Jeopardy! has aired more than 7000 episodes, won a record 33 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award.
The 35th season of the quiz show debuted in September 2018.
According to TMZ, Trebek plans to start chemotherapy immediately, but the long-term prospects for people afflicted with stage-4 pancreatic cancer are bleak. The disease often exhibits no early symptoms, resulting in late detection and the stage-4 categorization for Trebek indicates that it has spread to other organs, typically, the liver or the lungs.
Trebek, who hails from Ontario, is one of the few stars with a star on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Canadian Walk of Fame. In 2017, Alex was named an officer of the Order of Canada, our northern neighbor’s second-highest civilian honor.
Trebek lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jean. They have two adult children: Emily, a real estate developer in Los Angeles, and Matthew, the owner of OSO, a Mexican restaurant, and Lucille’s, a restaurant/bar, both in Harlem, New York.
