First Appearance:
January 18, 1985
Total Winnings:
5 games, $56,200
Tournament of Champions, $5,000
Total, $61,200
Records Held:
Highest 5 time champion in 1984-85 season
Favorite anecdote:
When I gave a speech a few years ago, the MC, a close friend, told the audience that I had "won a fortune" on Jeopardy! During the Q&A after the talk, 22 of the 23 questions were about Jeopardy!
Use of Jeopardy! winnings
I quit my job and lived on my winnings for a year while I went back to school to take post-doctoral courses in employment law. This led directly to my new career as a civil rights attorney working at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. My specialty is age discrimination law. (The money ran out two weeks after I started the new job).
Anything else:
1. I am now an amateur (very) actor appearing in community theater in the D.C. area.
2. Since 1997, my wife and I have spent our summer vacations producing children's productions of Gilbert & Sullivan shows at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England.
3. I have discovered a rare situation on Jeopardy! where a contestant can double his or her chances of winning by guessing a question wrong. [Long answer supplied upon request.]
4. My son Scott, who was 5 when I was on the show, preferred to watch Voltron instead of Jeopardy! He is now trying out for the show. He missed passing the test by only 3 questions this year.
5. In 1985, when Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were both fairly new in syndication, at least half a dozen people asked me what is was like working with Vanna White. |
"He was the top winner of the 1984-85 season. Now he's a civil rights attorney. From Potomac, Maryland..."
2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions Round 1 player: $5,000.
1985 Tournament of Champions semifinalist: $5,000.
Season 1 5-time champion: $56,200.
Paul was the biggest money winner of Season 1.
Paul died 2014-07-30 at the age of 67. Obituary. |
