Frank Spangenberg

Lieutenant Frank Spangenberg (born July 26, 1957) garnered fame in 1990 when he set the five-day cumulative winnings record on the game show Jeopardy!, becoming the first person to win more than $100,000 in five days on the show.^[1] He has been called one of the "veritable legends" of the show.^[2]

Biography

Spangenberg, at the time a member of the New York City Transit Police Department (now the Transit Bureau of the New York City Police Department), won $102,597 in five days. On his fifth and final appearance, he set a one-day record of $30,600. Prior to 2003, winners were retired after five consecutive victories and due to a winnings cap in place on Jeopardy! at the time, Spangenberg was only able to keep $75,000 of his total winnings; he donated the remaining $27,597 to the Gift of Love Hospice, a facility operated by the Missionaries of Charity. The five-day record remains a net record because of rule changes in 2001 regarding the value of clues, and in 2003 eliminating the five-appearance limit. Contestants must win $205,194 in their first five days in order to break the record. No contestant since Spangenberg's run in 1990 has won more than $100,000 (until 2001) or $200,000 (after 2001) in five days since then.

Shortly after he won his first five games in 1990, he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and played the Jeopardy! home game on the show with Dave. He would also later appear on its successor program The Late Show as a member of the New York City Transit Department choir.

Spangenberg also won Jeopardy!'s Tenth Anniversary Tournament in 1993, winning $41,800,^[3] and earlier appeared in the 1990 Tournament of Champions (winning $5,000 for being a semifinalist) and Super Jeopardy! (winning $5,000 for being a quarterfinalist), then later in the 2002 Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters (winning $10,000 for being a quarterfinalist) and 2005 Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions tournaments. He won an additional $105,199 in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, which, when combined with his original appearances and other tournament winnings, increased his grand total to $269,596. Spangenberg was also a participant in Jeopardy's Battle of the Decades tournament, and is the only contestant to appear in all five of Jeopardy's all-time best tournaments.

In 2007, Spangenberg was one of sixteen former game show contestants invited to participate in GSN's Grand Slam tournament. Seeded twelfth in the tournament, Spangenberg was matched up with former United States Navy officer David Legler, who had won a then-record setting $1.765 million on Twenty One in 2000. Spangenberg only won one of the three rounds of play against Legler and lost after his allotted time ran out.

In February 2014, Spangenberg was invited back for the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades. Mark Lowenthal won the game and became a quarterfinalist while Spangenberg finished second & attorney Phoebe Juel finished third. Both runners-up received $5000 as a consolation prize.

External links

• Frank Spangenberg at the Internet Movie Database

Notes and references

NOTE: The largest regular play winnings record is based only on a contestant's first five days (until 2003, contestants were retired after five wins), and contestants must reach $205,194 in their first five days to break the record (in 2001 clue vales doubled).