ANSWER: Who is the nicest man on Jeopardy!
| The Colonnade, Toronto |
On a summer day in 1970-ish, a colleague invited me to a unique lunch at a downtown Toronto restaurant.
It was an office/apartment/retail store building with a restaurant on the 3rd floor overlooking Toronto's busiest, toniest street.
The restaurant featured a different, live entertainment performance every weekday while having lunch. There were book readings, Shakespearean mini-play performances, and lots of music.
The master of ceremonies for these performances which only attracted a maximum of about 50 people was Alex Trebek.
Ya, that guy.
At the time, he was a semi-popular CBC TV newsreader CBC Radio announcer, and teen programming host.
It didn't seem to be out of character for him to be hosting these luncheons. He hadn't become his Alex Trebek TV persona yet.
A chicken salad sandwich, Chopin, and Trebek at noon on a muggy, summer's day in downtown Toronto.
Somehow, it all worked.
About humble beginnings ... I just read sportscaster, John Saunders's biography, "Playing Hurt". John and I played hockey together in 1980 before he became a millionaire as one of the biggest names in sports reporting and covered every major event on ESPN and ABC and hosted ESPN's super popular, The Sports Reporters, and ABC College Football.
But, he started at a radio station in Espanola Ontario for $46. a week and later moved on to a station in Sudbury, Ontario for $9000. a year.
The town of Espanola must be small. I've lived my whole life in Ontario and I've never heard of Espanola.
Who knew that American TV was watching Alex Trebek and they'd steal the Canadian-born, bilingual frontman to do his thing with a number of US game shows throughout the 1970s before he landed the motherlode ...Merv Griffin's JEOPARDY.
Jeopardy fans have been inviting him into their living rooms since the program debuted in 1984 ... more than 8,000 episodes.
 |
| Anderson Cooper ZIP * Cheech Marin $14,200 |
Incidentally, my personal all-time favourite Jeopardy episode was 9 years ago ... Cheech Marin (half of the weed-smoking duo of Cheech & Chong) beating news wizard, Anderson Cooper.
Anyways, 40 years after my Trebek Colonnade lunch, in September 2010, I was standing directly in front of that building waiting for a friend to pick me up.
It was during the annual Toronto International Film Festival week, TIFF.
But most celebrities just want to kill time waiting for the evening showing off their film and the party sponsored by one of the booze companies.
It's the second-largest film festival in the world and attracts hundreds of Hollywood and internationally famous actors for a week of red-carpet parties and celebrity nonsense. It's common to see celebrities walking the streets of downtown during weekday afternoons. They often load up on disguises to maintain their privacy. On one such occasion, Hollywood actor, Nick Nolte misfired on his disguise when police found him wandering the trendy Yorkville area of downtown only wearing his hotel-issue bathrobe while smoking a "rocket".
But most celebrities just want to kill time waiting for the evening showing off their film and the party sponsored by one of the booze companies.
I was thinking about those long-ago Colonnade lunchtime performances -- and Alex Trebek and how successful and popular he'd become.
Just then, I looked to my right, and walking towards me was Alex Trebek.
You know the feeling when you see someone you know, but they don't know you ... it's sort of a visual hiccup. I collected myself and smiled at him. He must have had the same hiccup ... he stopped beside me and said, "Do we know each other"?
You know the feeling when you see someone you know, but they don't know you ... it's sort of a visual hiccup. I collected myself and smiled at him. He must have had the same hiccup ... he stopped beside me and said, "Do we know each other"?
I said no and "Actually, the last time I saw you, besides TV, was there, across the street, in that Colonnade restaurant, 40 years ago".
He looked to where I was pointing and howled with laughter ... so unbecoming for the TV guy with the know-it-all/all-business demeanour. He was so friendly and engaged in reminiscing with me that he said: "Let's have a coffee in the Starbucks across the street".
Just then my ride pulled up in front of us and I had to decline his offer - I wish it hadn't.
Alex Trebek was born in a small northern Ontario mining town. He and former CBC TV colleague and fully bilingual Canuck, William Shatner, who was born in Montreal, lived the American Dream.
How did Trebek ever become one of the most recognizable faces on North American television?
How did Shatner ever get to command "The Enterprise"?
Canadians; Matthew Perry, Jason Priestly, Michael J Fox, Ryan Reynolds and Keanu Reeves and Martin Short and Sandra Oh and Jim Carrey and Mike Myers and John Candy and Seth Rogen and Russell Peters and dozens of others owe Alex Trebek a huge thank you for leading the way.
Sadly, American TV icon, Alex Trebek, passed away in 2021.
He was 80 years old.
I resent your "small Northern Ontario mining town" reference. Especially in light of the fact that more than hookers and hockey players come from Sudbury. I'm from Sudbury, and remember passing by the Espanola turnoff on my way to the Soo. Memorable because of the smell! Espanola had a pulp and paper mill, which I expect a man who made a career in the magazine industry would know. I look forward to adding to your knowledge of Northern Ontario soon, as we are moving back to Mississauga in Dec., unless you're in Florida. Take care, Mike. Byron
ReplyDeleteI have notified the Mississauga constabulary regarding your pending return to the city. Contact me at your earliest convenience so we can decipher your comment regarding Sudbury's hookers and hockey players so you can clarify into which category you fall.
ReplyDeleteAll you guys and girls stay safe back there. Alex’s’ parents also had a restaurant in my hometown when he was much younger.
ReplyDelete