The first ever “Celebrity Jeopardy!” aired in 1992 and pit famous comedian Carol Burnett, popular soap opera actor Donna Mill, and game-show host Regis Philbin against each other. Fans enjoyed the show so much, a series of celebrity tournaments were launched.
Over the years, many celebrities — from TV personalities and journalists to politicians and movie stars — have competed on the popular game show. Some ended up making mistakes that no one has been able to forget (thinking of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer many wrong answers that left him $4,600 in debt), while others surprised everyone with their depth of knowledge and high scores — even if they didn’t win.
To select 50 famous celebrity “Jeopardy!” contestants, 24/7 Tempo compiled a list of 270 celebrities who have competed on the game show from the Jeopardy website and Jeopardy fan sites. To select 50 famous celebrities, we consulted daily average Wikipedia pageviews for the period Nov. 23, 2020 to Nov. 23, 2021. Contestants are in loose chronological order.
To do well at “Jeopardy!”, a contestant doesn’t necessarily have to be the one with the most general knowledge, but of course, that can’t hurt. The contestant really has to be the quickest to press the buzzer and quickest to come up with the answer.
It’s not different for celebrities. But as most people know celebrities outside the game show, they don’t expect them to have so much information about random subjects. And that can often turn into some staggering performances.
Wonder how you’d rate on the game show? Try answering the following some real clues and see how you stack up — can you answer these real “Jeopardy!” questions about Star Wars?
Luke Perry
> Show: Game 4, Season 9
Carol Burnett
> Show: Game 1, Season 9; Game 1, Season 14B (Celebrity Invitational); Game 1, Season 16
Dean Stockwell
> Show: Game 2, Season 9
Ed Asner
> Show: Game 2, Season 10
Kelsey Grammer
> Show: Game 3, Season 10
Pat Sajak
> Show: Game 2, Season 10; Game 5, Season 26
Leslie Nielsen
> Show: Game 1, Season 10
Tim Daly
> Show: Game 5, Season 10
Stephen King
> Show: Game 1, Season 11; Game 4, Season 14B (Celebrity Invitational)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
> Show: Game 2, Season 11; Game 1, Season 15A; Game 2, Season 26; Game 2, Season 28 (Power Players)
David Duchovny
> Show: Game 1, Season 11; Game 6, Season 26
Tim Matheson
> Show: Game 5, Season 11
LeVar Burton
> Show: Game 2, Season 11
Lou Diamond Phillips
> Show: Game 3, Season 11
Buzz Aldrin
> Show: Game 4, Season 11
Jason Alexander
> Show: Game 3, Season 11; Game 1, Season 14B (Celebrity Invitational)
Bill Maher
> Show: Game 4, Season 11; Game 5, Season 14A (Power Players)
Kirsten Dunst
> Show: Game 3, Season 13B
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
> Show: Game 3, Season 13B
Rob Schneider
> Show: Game 1, Season 13B
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
> Show: Game 1, Season 14A (Power Players)
Alyssa Milano
> Show: Game 1, Season 15B
Jane Seymour
> Show: Game 5, Season 15B
Michael McKean
> Show: Game 3, Season 15B; Game 10, Season 20 (Power Players); Game 2, Season 26
Brian Dennehy
> Show: Game 2, Season 16
Jodie Foster
> Show: Game 1, Season 17
Charles Barkley
> Show: Game 2, Season 17
Martha Stewart
> Show: Game 2, Season 17
Seth Green
> Show: Game 5, Season 17
Ashton Kutcher
> Show: Game 2, Season 19
Lauren Graham
> Show: Game 4, Season 19
Julie Bowen
> Show: Game 1, Season 19; Game 3, Season 26
Tucker Carlson
> Show: Game 1, Season 20 (Power Players)
Neil Patrick Harris
> Show: Game 4, Season 20 (Power Players); Game 8, Season 26
Anderson Cooper
> Show: Game 2, Season 20 (Power Players); Game 7, Season 26; Game 5, Season 28 (Power Players); Game 2, Season 32 (Power Players)
Christopher Meloni
> Show: Game 3, Season 20 (Power Players); Game 4, Season 26
Martin Short
> Show: Game 8, Season 20 (Power Players)
Aisha Tyler
> Show: Season 25, Season 25; Game 7, Season 26
Dr. Mehmet Oz
> Show: Game 3, Season 28 (Power Players)
Aaron Rodgers
> Show: Game 2, Season 31
Zachary Quinto
> Show: Game 5, Season 31
Louis C.K.
> Show: Game 3, Season 32 (Power Players)