Alex Trebek, the beloved host of the long-running game show Jeopardy! surprised his adoring viewers when he disclosed his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2019. Sadly, the legend died after a courageous battle on November 8, 2020.
Recently during the latest installment of theThis is Jeopardy! podcast, hosted by former contestant Buzzy Cohen, he and former producer Rocky Schmidt revisited the week when Trebek disclosed his cancer diagnosis and the challenging months that ensued.
Rocky Schmidt says Alex Trebek was in severe pain all through his battle with pancreatic cancer
Schmidt recounted the challenges Trebek faced executing his daily activities while battling the disease. He mentioned that he would regularly visit Trebek in between tapings, and on one occasion, he found the late host in his dressing room groaning in serious pain.
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The producer also stated that Trebek remained committed to the show despite the constant agony. “When he was sick and taking medication… the pain the man had… you could watch him, and it’s like, ‘he’s not going to make it to the conference room table,’” Schmidt reminisced. “He would go get made up and ready for the show… everybody would look at each other and go, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to be taping today.’ Somehow he rallied.”
Jeopardy!’s supervising producer Lisa Broffman says the legend remained strong in his battle with Pancreatic cancer
Also, during the podcast, supervising producer Lisa Broffman recounted the instance when Trebek told the show’s executives about his health struggles. She recalled being in the office alongside fellow producers Rocky Schmidt and Harry Friedman at that moment. “Alex called, and Rocky put him on speaker phone, and Alex told us that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” Broffman admitted amidst tears. “And I remember Harry had a stack of papers on his lap, and he picked them up, and threw them on the ground.”
Broffman also noted that the host stayed in high spirits from the time of his diagnosis until his passing.” Alex, from the very beginning, said, ‘This is not going to affect anything,'” she confessed. “‘I plan on fighting this. Let’s get back to work.'”