‘Jeopardy!:’ Who is Alex Trebek’s Ex-Wife?
Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek enjoys a full family life with wife Jean and three kids. He shares a son and daughter – Matthew and Emily – with Jean and adopted his daughter Nicky from his first marriage.
Wed to Elaine Callei Trebek Kares from 1974 to 1981, Trebek had already started on his television career when the two met.
Alex Trebek was already a famous face when he met Kares
Though Jeopardy! put Trebek on the Hollywood map, the quiz master started out on Canadian radio and television as a journalist. He made the switch to entertainment when he hosted the game show The Wizards of Odds and had some level of celebrity upon meeting Kares, according to Heavy.
Kares was already a single parent to her 6-year-old daughter Nicky from a previous marriage. The two married in 1974 and parted ways in 1981 before Trebek would take the helm on Jeopardy! three years later.
‘Jeopardy!’ star’s ex had her own television aspirations
Originally from Ohio, Kares attended The Ohio State University and graduated with a degree in journalism. She moved to Toronto with her first husband where she ran her own party planning business.
Heavy reports that Trebek wasn’t the only one in the family with host talent in their blood. Kares began hosting a television show entitled Call Callei, which was broadcast in Ontario. She was also a Playboy Bunny in the 1960s under the pseudonym Teddy Howard.
After her divorce from Trebek, Kares wed film producer Peter Kares and launched her own perfume and fragrance business named Scent Seal. Also an artist and owner of Gallery GO in Los Angeles, Kares clearly has her own path to success.
“Gallery GO is the newest addition to the La Cienega Design Quarter’s contemporary art scene offering a diverse collection of unique and ‘young’ contemporary art and photography, most often tied into musicians and super-stars,” the gallery’s website reads.
Alex Trebek remains close with Kares’ daughter
According to his memoir The Answer Is… Reflections on my Life, Trebek maintains a close bond with Nicky and considers himself her father. “My relationships with Elaine and Nicky remain strong,” Trebek wrote. “Though I never adopted Nicky—her biological father was alive at the time—I refer to her as my daughter by osmosis.”
Showbiz apparently rubbed off on Nicky, where she works with her dad as a production coordinator for Jeopardy! and has hosted several infomercials. Her credits include working as a professional model in consumer ads for Vogue, Cosmo, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Self and Allure magazines, according to IMDb. The Jeopardy! staffer is also pursuing a music career.
Trebek and Jean have been married since 1990. Their son Matthew is a restauranteur in New York City, building a culinary empire in Harlem. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else,” Matthew told People of his neighborhood. “I think there is something to be said about being a part of the community, rather than just being another restaurant among so many restaurants.”
Younger daughter Emily graduated Loyola Marymount University in 2015 and moved on to a career in real estate. She clearly inherited her father’s love for houses and building.
“I have always been interested in homes. When I was little, I wanted to be an architect,” Emily said, according to Jeopardy.com.
Trebek has taken to helping his daughter when it comes to repairs and handling new properties. “During open houses, dad came to every serious showing,” Emily revealed. “He would look in crawl spaces, in electricity panels, at water heaters. He was looking in all those places where a lot of hidden costs could be. So it was helpful for him to be there at every house.”
Between commanding the Jeopardy! board and being a hands-on husband and father, Trebek shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
