1980

1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter FE) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1980th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 980th year of the 2nd millennium, the 80th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the 1980s decade.

Events

January

Betty White

Betty White Ludden (born Betty Marion White; January 17, 1922), known professionally as Betty White, is an American actress, animal rights activist, author, comedienne, radio host, singer, and television personality. Regarded as a pioneer of television, White was one of the first women to have control both in front of and behind the camera; and is recognized as the first woman to produce a sitcom, which contributed to her receiving the honorary title as the Mayor of Hollywood in 1955.

She is known for her Emmy Award winning roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973–77) and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985–92). The Writers Guild of America has included both sitcoms in its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time. A staple guest of many American game shows such as Password, Match Game and The $25,000 Pyramid, White has been dubbed the 'First Lady of Game Shows' and became the first woman to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1983 for the show Just Men!. From 2010 to 2015, she starred as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, for which she has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Alex Trebek

George Alexander "Alex" Trebek (/trᵻˈbɛk/; born July 22, 1940) is a Canadian American television personality. He has been the host of the syndicated game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and has also hosted a number of other game shows, including The Wizard of Odds, Double Dare, High Rollers, Battlestars, Classic Concentration and To Tell the Truth. Trebek has made appearances in numerous television series, usually portraying himself. A native of Canada, he became a naturalized United States citizen in 1998.

Trebek is signed as host of Jeopardy! through 2018.

Childhood

Trebek was born in Sudbury, Ontario, in 1940, the son of George Edward Trebek, a chef who had emigrated from Ukraine as a child, and Lucille Lagacé, a Franco-Ontarian. He grew up in a bilingual French-English household.

Trebek graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute in 1957 before graduating from Toronto's Malvern Collegiate Institute in 1958, and later the University of Ottawa with a degree in philosophy in 1961. As a student at the University of Ottawa, he was a member of the English Debating Society. Interested in a career in broadcast news, he began his broadcasting career working for the CBC as a newscaster and sportscaster. Trebek specialized in national news and covered a wide range of special events for the CBC's radio and television divisions, including curling and horse racing.