Late ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Alex Trebek to Be Honored With His Own USPS Forever Stamp

Alex Trebek speaks during a rehearsal before a taping of Jeopardy! Power Players Week at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington on April 21, 2012. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)

Late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek will be featured on a new U.S. Postal Service Forever Stamp to pay tribute to his legacy on the program.

The June 21 announcement honored Trebek, who died in 2020 after battling pancreatic cancer. Current “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings revealed that USPS will issue the stamp as part of the 60th Diamond Celebration launched earlier this year to “celebrate the remarkable legacy of America’s Favorite Quiz Show.”

Each stamp displays a design mirroring the familiar blue-and-white game panels on the show. The sheet, resembling a complete game board, will have 20 identical stamps alongside an image of Trebek.

The prompt on every stamp reads, “This naturalized U.S. citizen hosted the quiz show ‘Jeopardy’ for 37 seasons.” Below the prompt, when turned upside down, lies the response: “Who is Alex Trebek?” resembling the trivia show’s distinctive format in which contestants are given an “answer” and must respond in the form of a question.

Categories such as “Entertainment,” “Famous Alexes,” and “Game Show Hosts” are seen at the top of each sheet, further simulating the game board used in the show.

While the stamps are now available for pre-sale, Jennings said they will officially be issued on July 22, on what would have been Trebek’s 84th birthday, at 4 p.m. Pacific time.

A first-day launch event, free and open to the public, will be held at John Calley Park, Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Attendees must register beforehand to receive access to the Sony Studios Lot that day.

Appearances are scheduled by Michael Elston, the secretary of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, current “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings, and Jean Trebek, Alex’s wife.

USPS art director Antonio Alcalá used photography provided by Sony Pictures Entertainment and hand lettering by Marti Davila to design the stamps, as stated in the announcement. Due to being labeled Forever Stamps, they will have an equivalent value to the current one-ounce First Class Mail price.

The postal service plans to increase the Forever Stamp price by 5 cents in July 2024 from $0.68 to $0.73.

The ‘Jeopardy!’ Icon

Alex Trebek launched his broadcasting career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation while attending the University of Ottawa. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Trebek began working full-time as a staff announcer at the CBC in Ottawa before transferring to Toronto to work as a national staff announcer.

Trebek went on to host various programs and special events, including “Music Hop” and the nation’s first live teen music show, “Reach for the Top,” a quiz show that tested adolescent students on their knowledge of geography, politics, and history.

After arriving in the United States in 1973, Trebek hosted several game shows, including NBC’s short-lived “Wizard of Odds,” CBS’s “Double Dare” and “The $128,000 Question,” and NBC’s “The New High Rollers”.

In 1984, Trebek became the new host of the syndicated version of “Jeopardy!”, a trivia game show established in 1964. For his first three seasons, Trebek was also producer of the program. During his time on the show, he hosted a record of nearly 37 seasons and over 8200 episodes.

For his performance, Trebek received eight Outstanding Game Show Host Emmy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a Guinness World Record for “the most gameshow episodes hosted by the same presenter” regarding his 6,829 episodes of “Jeopardy!” at the time.

In March 2019, the “Jeopardy!” star announced on the show’s YouTube page that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He told his audience that he planned to persevere through the illness and continue as host of the show for the next three years.

“Now, normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging. But I’m going to fight this and I’m going to keep working,” Trebek said.

“And with the love and support of my family and friends, and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease. Truth told, I have to, because under the terms of my contract, I have to host ‘Jeopardy!’ for three more years,” he continued. “So help me! Keep the faith, and we’ll win. We’ll get it done. Thank you.”

Trebek died on November 8, 2020, at 80 years old, in Los Angeles, California. “Jeopardy!” made an official announcement on X saying, “‘Jeopardy!’ is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex.”