I’ll take Ottawa sites linked to Alex Trebek for $200, Alex

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If you’re a fan of the game show Jeopardy!, you were likely among the very many people saddened to hear of Alex Trebek’s passing last week. As well as being probably the most famous Canadian game show host ever (sorry, Monty Hall and Howie Mandel), he was also a genuinely nice person. I had the good fortune to meet him twice (more on that later), and both times he was charming and gracious.

Trebek attended high school in Ottawa, went to the University of Ottawa and got his start in broadcasting here. He also came back to the city many times after achieving fame and fortune elsewhere, giving generously of both his time and his money. Here are just some of the many sites in the city with a tie to the Jeopardy! host.

The University of Ottawa

Trebek was born in Sudbury in 1940 to George Trebek, a Ukrainian-Canadian hotel chef, and his wife Louise (née Lagace), and he was raised in both English and French.

After his parents separated, the younger Trebek arrived in Ottawa in the mid-1950s to attend the University of Ottawa High School as a boarder. He later enrolled in the University of Ottawa, graduating with a degree in philosophy.

As his fame and wealth grew, he didn’t forget his alma mater, returning often to make donations that eventually totalled $10 million. The money went toward the Alex Trebek Innovation and Challenge Fund, a lecture series, and the Alex Trebek Alumni Hall at 157 Séraphin-Marion Private, which houses a reception hall and a shop selling U of O souvenirs. The renovation of the heritage building garnered an architectural award of merit from the City of Ottawa.

Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel

While still a student, Trebek snagged a job at CBC Radio, working out of their former studios in the Château Laurier. According to his recent memoir, The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life, he began as a summer student but later had the brilliant idea of suggesting that he fill in for all the other hosts during the Christmas holidays. The bosses agreed and got him a room at the hotel so he could sign on at 6am, work all day and sign off at midnight, grabbing a few hours’ sleep before doing it all again the next day.

Impressed with his dedication, they offered him a full-time gig, which he took on the condition that he could arrange his schedule so that he could complete his degree at U of O. The CBC brass agreed, and he graduated with a philosophy degree—albeit a bit late, because the job’s hours took a bite out of his study time.

He worked with the Ceeb in Ottawa for two years before moving to Toronto to host a CBC-TV show called Music Hop. But his work still brought him back here occasionally; in the video above, he is co-hosting the 1966 Dominion Day broadcast from Parliament Hill.

Royal Canadian Geographical Society headquarters

Trivia fans of a certain age will remember that Alex Trebek’s association with knowledge games goes back to his days hosting Reach for the Top on Toronto’s CBC station. However, many may not know that, for many years, he returned to Canada annually to host national finals of the Canadian Geographic Challenge, a coast-to-coast competition testing how well elementary and high school students know their geography. He has also hosted the National Geographic World Championship, for similar teams from around the globe.

For these and for many other efforts to foster geographic literacy, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society named Trebek its honorary president in 2016, a post he held until his death. In 2019, he attended a festive gala at the Society’s headquarters at 50 Sussex Drive to mark the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Geographic Challenge, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview him that day for this story on Canadian Geographic‘s website. He generously gave me a few quotes for the piece after his presentation, even though he was clearly exhausted (he had been undergoing cancer treatment for many months at that point).

The building at 50 Sussex is striking and, with its stunning location right next to Rideau Falls, is a popular venue for weddings and other events. From late spring through early fall, the NCC operates a casual outdoor restaurant on the site called Tavern on the Falls, overlooking the cataract and the Ottawa River.

Rideau Hall

In November 2017, Governor-General Julie Payette invested Trebek as an officer of the Order of Canada at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, not far from 50 Sussex. Tours of Rideau Hall are currently suspended due to COVID-19, but the leafy grounds are open to the public for strolling.

TD Place

A one-time University of Ottawa athlete (he played basketball for the Gee-Gees), Trebek has been known to attend various U of O matches over the years. In 2019, he dropped in on the annual Panda Game between U of O and Carleton University, held at the TD Place stadium at Lansdowne Park. You can read more about that day, which Trebek enjoyed with his fellow U of O alum turned movie producer Doug Falconer, in this Ottawa Citizen story.

Large-scale games and concerts currently aren’t possible at the stadium, but you can still check out the array of shops and restaurants at Lansdowne Park, as well as the year-round Ottawa Farmers’ Market (Sundays, 9am to 3pm).

Countless homes across Ottawa

Then, of course, there are the many homes of Jeopardy! fans across the city, where evenings won’t ever be quite the same after Alex’s last show airs on Christmas Day 2020. I know of at least a few of those homes where there are people fortunate enough to have been on the show and enjoyed their 15 seconds of fame bantering with Alex.

I’m one of them.

I appeared on the show in 2004. My funny story involved the fact that my birth announcement appeared in the classified section of my hometown newspaper not under “Births,” but under “Livestock for Sale.” I was gratified to get a smile from Alex before he moved on to interview the next contestant.

He did thousands of those mini-interviews over the course of his 36-year association with Jeopardy!, setting a Guinness World Record in 2014 when he hosted his 6,829th episode. (In the end, he would helm almost 8,000 shows.)

I’m sure all of those interviews ran together in his head after all those years. But for me—as for most contestants, I suspect—it was a moment I’ll never forget.

Here’s a story I wrote for Ottawa Magazine about my appearance on the show. I came in third (hey—somebody has to). Disappointing? A bit—I dreamed of using my vast winnings to replace the windows in our drafty old house—but I wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world.

Parliament Hill

The last word (or note) in this post goes to Dr. Andrea McCrady, the Dominion Carillonneur. She’s the talented musician who plays the bells of the carillon inside the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. And on November 9, the day after Alex passed away, the famous notes of the Final Jeopardy theme music rang out over Parliament Hill. The sound quality on the video above isn’t great, but if you turn up your speaker, you can hear the music very faintly. Hang in there for the last three notes. You might just find there’s something in your eye.

Rest in peace, Alex. And thanks.

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