Five-time “Jeopardy!” Champion Brayden Smith passed away unexpectedly, his mother said in a tweet Friday.
Smith, 24, was praised online as ‘Alex’s Last Great Champion’ and was one of the last contestants to previously appear on the show with host Alex Trebek. he died of pancreatic cancer in November.
“He was friendly, funny and absolutely brilliant,” the program said on Twitter on Friday. “Our deepest condolences to Brayden’s family. He will be missed.”
In a video published by “Jeopardy!” earlier this year, Smith reflect on his five-day series with the show. “I just wanted to stay there as long as possible. It’s really a great feeling to be on the set, to be with smart, hot, hot people and to be with Alex who has been a mainstay in my life, he said. .
Smith, a 2020 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, worked as an intern at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, where he investigated the reform of criminal justice issues, according to an obituary at the Las Vegas Review Journal. “He was a voracious reader and self-taught, lover of knowledge and a proponent of justice. His room was full of books on political science, philosophy, economics and history,” the obituary said.
In his obituary it is said that he played the saxophone and enjoyed musicians like Duke Ellington and Steely Dan, and that he was a fan of classic and not so classic films. “He could explain the symbolism in Citizen Kane at some point and the comic timing in Dumb and Dumber the next moment,” the obituary said.
Smith was expected to take part in the upcoming tournament for champions. He said in a video published by the program: ” Jeopardy! ‘is so much better than anything I could even imagine. Every moment since I was last in the studio, it was a moment I wanted to go on there again. ‘
“I’m really grateful for everything, all the opportunities I’ve had,” he said. “I’m just glad we were able to do it, and I’m glad I was able to show what I was capable of.”
His mother, Debbie Smith, said on Twitter on Friday that she was grateful that her son was able to live out his dream on Jeopardy. “The outpouring of love for Brayden is overwhelming. We can not express how much your beautiful remarks comfort us during this painfully sad time,” she said.