Brayden Smith, of Las Vegas, was 24 years old when he died on February 5th. The family did not disclose the cause of death.
“We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream at @jeopardy,” Smith’s mother, Debbie, said. he tweeted Friday morning.
Smith earned $ 117,798 on the show, with his final appearance last week on Alex Trebek on the air. The shows were recorded in October and Trebek died of pancreatic cancer on November 8th.
The six episodes of Smith aired December 15-18 and January 5-6.
“I am so grateful for everything, for all the opportunities I had,” he said in a video posted on the Jeopardy website. “I’m glad we were able to do that and I’m glad I was able to show what I was capable of.”
Smith was an intern at the Cato Institute in Washington, according to the obituary his family provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and planned to attend law school to become a government attorney.
“He was a voracious reader and self-taught, a lover of knowledge, and an advocate of justice,” the obituary said.
Smith graduated in 2020 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“It was kind, fun and absolutely brilliant,” the producers of “Jeopardy!” tweeted Friday. “Our deepest condolences to the Brayden family.”
In the video about his time on the show, Smith said he hoped to participate in a Jeopardy champions tournament.
“The champions tournament was my favorite tournament every year since I was little,” he said. “These people are some of my weird idols.”