For 35 years, Alex Trebek has been the purveyor of obscure facts from the archeologist who opened King Tut's tomb in 1922 (Who is Howard Carter?) to the device Alexander Graham Bell tested out on Civil War vets still riddled with bullets (What is a metal detector?).
But yesterday the longtime Jeopardy! host educated his followers on something infinitely more important and far more personal.
"Just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer," he shared in a video message that has been viewed by upwards of three million people since it was posted to YouTube Wednesday afternoon. "Now normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this, and I'm going to keep working."
His admission, that he made "in keeping with my longtime policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base," was crushing. And not just because it's hard to hear that anyonehas been diagnosed with a disease as terrifying as cancer, particularly a form with discouraging odds that has already claimed such beloved Hollywood icons as Patrick Swayze, Alan Rickmanand Aretha Franklin.
His only request, he said, is to go out on his own terms.
"I will tell the director, 'Time the show so that I have 30 seconds at the end.' Because when Ken Jennings lost after 74 wins in a row, I had a tear in my eye and no time for a good-bye. So all I want on my last show is 30 seconds, and I'll do what Johnny Carson did: 'Hey, folks, thank you. Been a good run and all good things must come to an end.' Then I'll move on."
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