Celebrity Entertainers Codexery

Ken Jennings

The longest-winning Jeopardy! champion and current host.

Last updated

He is best known for winning 74 consecutive games on Jeopardy! in 2004, the longest streak in the show's history.[1] Since 2021, Kenneth Wayne Jennings III has been the host of the syndicated quiz show Jeopardy! and is also an author.[1] By 2025, Jennings had accumulated winnings from five different game shows, making him the second-highest-earning American game show contestant.[2]

Key facts and history

His streak began airing on June 2, 2004, and he taped 48 episodes before his first one aired.[3][4] Jennings lost his 75th game to challenger Nancy Zerg on November 30, 2004, after responding incorrectly to the Final Jeopardy! clue.[3][5] In 2020, Jennings won the Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament, earning the title and a $1,000,000 prize.[6] Jennings's birthplace is Edmonds, Washington, and his birthdate is May 23, 1974; his family relocated to South Korea when he entered first grade.[7]

After attending Seoul Foreign School, Jennings enrolled at Brigham Young University, where he completed a double major in English and computer science, graduating in 2000.[7][8] A five-consecutive-win limit for Jeopardy! contestants was in place prior to 2003, but that rule was eliminated at the beginning of the show's 20th season that year.[9] Jennings sat for the Jeopardy! contestant exam in 2003; to get ready for his taping, he practiced with a couch serving as a lectern and a child's toy used as a buzzer.[9][10] A tenth of the money Jennings won was given as a donation to the LDS Church.[11][12]

What the cited sources add

The same report notes that Jennings's average daily haul during his streak was $34,063.51.[12] An ABC News article from July 2004 quotes Jennings saying that mastery of the buzzer timing is key to success on the show.[4] The same profile states that Jennings partly credits his trivia talent to growing up abroad and studying American cultural artifacts.[13] A Guinness World Records entry confirms that Ian Lygo holds the record for most consecutive wins on a TV game show with 75 wins.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Leaderboard of Legends Jeopardy.com", www.jeopardy.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larner, "Trivia of Channel 5's most successful show.", Sunday Mercury, 11 July 1999; "Most opponents defeated on a TV game show (quiz show)", Guinness World Records (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Paquet, "Backstage with Ken Jennings", TriviaHallofFame.com, January 2005; Kennedy, "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Ken Jennings Loses", The New York Times, December 1, 2004; "J! Archive – Show #4657, aired 2004-11-30", J-archive.com, January 30, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "'Jeopardy' Champ Jennings Reveals Secret", ABC News, July 12, 2004. facts only, no text reused. abcnews.go.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kennedy, "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Ken Jennings Loses", The New York Times, December 1, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Aquilina, "It's official: Ken Jennings is the greatest Jeopardy! contestant of all time", January 14, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Winters, "Final Jeopardy", Brigham Young University, Winter 2005; "UPI Almanac for Saturday, May 23, 2020", United Press International, May 23, 2020; "About Ken", Ken Jennings official website; "Senate Resolution 8704", Washington State Legislature, March 2020; Lincoln, "Ken Jennings: The man who knew too much", theweek, April 6, 2013; "Our Attorneys", Colter Jennings [law firm], September 27, 2007; "Jeopardy! Champ Has Military Tie", DVIDS, June 17, 2024; Lincoln, "Ken Jennings: The man who knew too much", theweek, April 6, 2013; Lincoln, en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jennings, "If you give me things I will plug them", December 11, 2007; "About Ken", Ken Jennings official website; "CHG Healthcare Services Announces June 26 Ribbon Cutting: Honored Guests to include Utah Gov. Huntsman, Holladay Mayor Webb and Utah business leaders", CHG Healthcare Services (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "'Jeopardy!' Premieres Milestone 20th Anniversary Season September 8, 2003", King World, September 4, 2003; "'Jeopardy' Champ Jennings Reveals Secret", ABC News, July 12, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Paquet, "Backstage with Ken Jennings", TriviaHallofFame.com, January 2005; "Here Comes the Sun", CBS News Streaming Network, June 9, 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Ken Jennings" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kennedy, "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Ken Jennings Loses", The New York Times, December 1, 2004; "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Meets His Match", CBS News, December 29, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Meets His Match", CBS News, December 29, 2004. facts only, no text reused. cbsnews.com
  13. Lincoln, "Ken Jennings: The man who knew too much", theweek, April 6, 2013. facts only, no text reused. theweek.com
  14. "Most opponents defeated on a TV game show (quiz show)", Guinness World Records. facts only, no text reused. guinnessworldrecords.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ken Jennings (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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