Jeopardy! champion Brayden Smith has died at the age of 24. The five-time winner loved the program from birth and had recently appeared on the show. Jeopardy! heard the news from Debbie Smith on social media. Thousands of fans are flooding into that post on Twitter to offer their condolences. It seems as though the fanbase is more vocal and supportive than ever after the pandemic began. Everyone is still reeling from the loss of TV legend Alex Trebek as well. During all his appearances on the show, Smith managed to pull in $115,798 across all of those episodes. It was very recently too as all of them flow from late 2020 to the dawn of this new year. In his obituary, the family notes that Smith graduated from the University of Nevada last year and was looking at law school in his future. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
She wrote, “We are heartbroken to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly. We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy.”
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 Brayden’s family. He will be missed. https://t.co/aFQRt6KzPc
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) February 12, 2021
The game show’s account replied, “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 Brayden’s family. He will be missed.”
His family describes his life on the new page for the Brayden Smith Memorial Fund. That effort will help southern Nevada students achieve their dreams through scholarship awards, conference fees, seminar tuition, research grants, field trips, and school supplies.
“Throughout his life, Brayden pursued every opportunity to improve his understanding of the world. Intensely interested in philosophy, economics, politics, semantics, and geography, Brayden intended to attend law school with an eye toward a career in the U.S. government. He was a serious student who lived a lifelong dream by appearing as a contestant on the popular Jeopardy! gameshow. As a five-game champion, he was, at the time of his death in 2021 at age 24, preparing to compete in the Tournament of Champions. In preparing for the competition, Brayden memorized every world capital, read or reread Shakespeare’s plays, and brushed up on popular culture.”
Did you see any of his appearances on Jeopardy? Let us know down in the comments!