The first episode of Jeopardy! aired 58 years ago today, on March 30, 1964. What else was happening in the entertainment industry around that time? “She Loves You” by The Beatles was at the top of the charts; Bonanza was on everyone’s television; and Tracy Chapman, who would later release a song even better than “She Loves You,” was born.
As for Jeopardy!, the show aired during the day time, it was hosted by Art Fleming, and Mary Cabell Eubanks was the winner of the first episode. “I wasn’t the least bit nervous,” she told the J!Buzz blog about her experience on the game show. “I was just having fun. I think they planned some of those words like food so that it would be funny the way I pronounced it. The audience just had a fit over it and so did Art for that matter.”
Cabell Eubanks also revealed what she did with her winnings, a whopping $345 (to put that into context: the winner of Tuesday’s episode ended up with $54,800 for a three-day total of $91,101 — the times they are a-changin’… which also came out in 1964).
While $345 may not seem like a lot of money these days, it was the perfect amount of cash for Mary to get her theater fix attending Broadway plays. “I went to every show that was in town,” Mary said. “I loved drama and shows and plays and everything. So I spent my money going to those. They were a lot cheaper at that point in time, obviously.”
Cabell Eubanks is now 84 years old and living in North Carolina. “I love being a part of this particular show,” she said. “It’s kind of been like the theme of my life in a sense, to not worry about doing new things because I started out early. As long as you just enjoy it, and as long as you have fun, everything will be good.” Unless you own a pygmy goat.
Still the best Jeopardy! clip of all time.
(Via J!Buzz)