Memorial Grows at Alex Trebek's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Following 'Jeopardy!' Host's Death

Jeopardy! fans are continuing to mourn the loss of longtime host Alex Trebek following his death [...]

By Allison Schonter

Jeopardy! fans are continuing to mourn the loss of longtime host Alex Trebek following his death Sunday. As fans across the world took to social media to pay their respects, others took to his star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where a memorial erected shortly after his passing has only continued to grow throughout the night and into Monday morning.

Located at 6501 Hollywood Blvd., the star, which Trebek received in 1999, has been covered in flowers left by fans of the longtime game show host, who began hosting Jeopardy! back in 1984 after originally having hosted programs on CBC in 1963. Images from the site also show a shrine featuring an image of Trebek, 80, decorated with candles and more flowers.

Speaking to local outlet CBS Los Angeles, Lisa Andrade, who visited the star with her 9-year-old daughter Bridget, reflected on how Trebek integrated himself into the lives of families across the country as he appeared almost daily on the game show for decades. Andrade said that Trebek is "like my last link to my deceased grandma." Another visitor, Eddie Stephens, told the outlet, "I almost felt like if I got the right answer (on Jeopardy!) and he looked into the camera, I always felt like he was looking at me. That was the charisma he had on TV."

Born in Sudbury, Ontario on July 22, 1940, Trebek began his broadcasting career in Canada, hosting programs on CBC in 1963 before moving to the U.S., where he started with NBC's The Wizard of Odds, 10 years later. He would go on to host a number of other game shows – Double Dare, The $128,000 Question, and Pitfall – before taking on the role of host on Jeopardy! in 1984. By the time of his passing on Sunday, he had hosted more than 8,000 episodes and became a cultural icon around the world, with fans across the globe paying their respects, including in Toronto, where a similar memorial has been created at his star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

Trebek died Sunday following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Confirming his passing, the Jeopardy! Twitter account wrote that they were "saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends." The game show host had revealed in March of 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 80. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jean, and children Matthew, Emily, and Nicky.

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