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The late 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek has been honored with a U.S. postage stamp

<em>Jeopardy!</em> host Alex Trebek is seen during a 2012 rehearsal. Next month, the U.S. Postal Service is releasing a Forever Stamp honoring Trebek, who died in 2020.
Kris Connor
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Getty Images South America
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek is seen during a 2012 rehearsal. Next month, the U.S. Postal Service is releasing a Forever Stamp honoring Trebek, who died in 2020.

Updated July 25, 2024 at 03:49 AM ET

The U.S. Postal Service for 73 cents, please.

A new Forever Stamp was released by the agency on Monday paying tribute to longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who died in 2020.

The stamp resembles the blue-and-white clue panel on the iconic trivia show, with the following prompt: “This naturalized U.S. citizen hosted the quiz show ‘Jeopardy!’ for 37 seasons.”

Underneath and upside down is the answer written in the show’s signature interrogative format: “Who is Alex Trebek?” (Trebek was born in Ontario, Canada.)

The stamps are being sold as a set of 20 that resembles the TV program’s game board, with categories including “entertainment” and “famous Alexes,” alongside a photo of Trebek himself.

“Millions of Americans invited Alex Trebek into their living rooms each weeknight,” Michael Elston, the secretary of the USPS Board of Governors, said in a statement Monday. “After thousands of shows over 37 seasons, he was someone we trusted and felt like we knew. And with his intelligence and wit, he made it cool to be smart.”

Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in 2020.

He began hosting Jeopardy! in 1984. The program has won 44 Emmys and a 2011 Peabody Award, according to the Jeopardy! site.

Trebek won eight Emmys and a National Academy of Television Arts & Science Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 for his work on the show, according to the show.

USPS in their statement also lauded Trebek for his philanthropic work, saying he had made several trips to Asia, Africa and South America to help fight child hunger, had donated land for habitat preservation and created a facility for unhoused people in Hollywood.

“My family and I were completely surprised about Alex being honored by the U.S. Postal Service,” said Trebek’s wife, Jean, in the USPS statement. “It is a (sic) such an extraordinary honor and a wonderful way to recognize what Alex meant to so many people. Alex would be over the moon about this distinctive honor and he'd feel very humbled.”

A sheet of 20 costs $14.60. Forever Stamps jumped in price from 68 cents to 73 cents in July.

Copyright 2024 NPR

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