An earlier “Jeopardy!” Contestant, and one of Alex Trebek’s eventual champions, passed away last week at the age of 24, the show announced in a tweet.
“The JEOPARDY! Family is heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brayden Smith. He was kind, funny and absolutely brilliant. Our deepest condolences go out to the Brayden family. He will be missed,” the tweet said.
According to his obituary, Smith was a “Jeopardy!” champion who liked to play the saxophone and listened to musicians such as Duke Ellington and the Beach Boys. He was hailed on social media as “Alex’s Last Great Champion” and was looking forward to competing in the show’s Tournament of Champions.
Trebek died in November at the age of 80 after battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Smith, who will graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2020, planned to study law and work for the federal government, according to his obituary. He loved reading about political science, philosophy, economics, and history – topics that proved helpful in his rise to fame trivia.
“I’m really grateful for everything, for all the opportunities I had,” said Smith in a video the show posted to YouTube after Smith finished his five-game winning streak. “I’m just glad … I was able to show what I was capable of.”
In the video, Smith praised Trebek for continuing to appear on the show despite his declining health.
“Putting on a brave face and going out every day and encouraging America and the world well … was really a testament to how great he was,” said Smith.