Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) holds the record for the longest winning streak on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! Jennings won 74 games before he was defeated by challenger Nancy Zerg on his 75th appearance. His total earnings on Jeopardy! are US$3,022,700 ($2,520,700 in winnings, a $2,000 consolation prize on his 75th appearance, and $500,000 in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions). Jennings held the record for most winnings on any game show ever played until the end of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions (first aired on May 25, 2005), when he was displaced by Brad Rutter, who defeated Jennings in that tournament.
After winning, he began working on a book, Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, which explored American trivia history and culture. Ken also appeared as a member of the mob sitting in podium #13 from the new game show 1 vs. 100 in 2006, and in 2007 Jennings was the champion of the first season of the US version of Grand Slam.
Ken Jennings (born October 10 1947, Jersey City, New Jersey) is an actor most famous for his 1979 role as Tobias Ragg in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He has also performed in several other shows, most recently Urinetown in 2001.
On November 30th 2004 he was finally dethroned as Jeopardy champ by Nancy Zerg. The Final Jeopardy answer was "Employees at this white collar firm work only four months out of the year." The answer was "H. and R Block", Jennings said "Fed Ex". He finished his reign with a grand total of $2,520,700.
H&R Block has offered to give him free tax preperations for the rest of his life as a result of his Final Jeopardy!
Won 74 successful games during his run on "Jeopardy!" (1984).
"Quiz Show" (1994) is listed as his number three favorite film in 1994 under "Pulp Fiction" (1994) and "Red" (1994) on the Ken's Top 2000 Favorite Movies Page.
Appeared in a FedEx print ad following his "Jeopardy!" loss. The ad shows Jennings at his podium during his final episode, which the screen reading the incorrect "What is FedEx?" Final Jeopardy! response. Under the photo is a caption reading "The only time when FedEx was the wrong answer".
