'Jeopardy!' champ hits $1 million; talks fame, trans rights
abcnews.go.comLOS ANGELES -- “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider is adding to her list of bragging rights and admirers.Already the highest-earning female contestant in the quiz show's history and the woman with the longest winning streak, on Friday she became one of only four “Jeopardy!” players to reach seven figures in regular-season winnings.She's collected $1.02 million in 28 victories, solidifying her 4th-place position on the list that includes Ken Jennings with $2.5 million; James Holzhauer, $2.46 million, and Matt Amodio, $1.52 million.Schneider, who's also fourth in consecutive wins, will compete again Monday.Poised and affable on TV and in an interview with The Associated Press, she doesn't seem the gloating type.
But she is tickled by the fact that she's fulfilled a prediction made by her 8th-grade classmates in Dayton, Ohio: She was voted most likely to be a “Jeopardy!” contestant, based on her geography and spelling bee prowess.More significantly, she's the first transgender person to qualify for the show's tournament of champions.
In a series of tweets last November, Schneider said she's proud to be a trans woman and wants people to know that aspect of her, adding, “but I’m a lot of other things, too!”Schneider's “Jeopardy!” achievements have made her both an inspiration and a target for transphobic insults online — which she batted away with the same aplomb she displays on TV.
Her deftness earned attention last week from Harvey Fierstein.“I couldn’t be prouder if she were my own daughter,” the writer and Broadway star tweeted.Fun fact: Schneider is proud of a podcast she did on “Downton Abbey” and invites those who are interested to listen to “hundreds of hours of content” about the PBS series.Schneider, an engineering.
