Former Brazil resident is two-day 'Jeopardy!' champion

• Angleton was a carrier for The Brazil Times

Ed Angleton, 48, a biochemist and Brazil native, dominated “Jeopardy!” for three nights until his reign ended Monday.
Ed’s winnings were $26,600 as the result of his three days on “Jeopardy!”
More importantly, he had a lot of fun and would recommend the experience to anyone.
“If anyone thinks they can do it, they should apply” to be on the show, he said from his Indianapolis home Monday night. His home is called “Runnymede,” as he told host Alex Trebek on TV.
While Alex visits with the contestants on the show, that is the only time he has any interaction with them. The reason is to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
“After all, he has the answers, or the questions” in the case of “Jeopardy!”, Ed said.
It was the quiz show scandals of the 1950s that nearly removed all game shows from the airwaves.
“Contestants are treated like a sequestered jury,” Ed said.
They are kept together or watched from the time they fill out their paperwork on the day of taping, through the rehearsal practice round on the set and during the shows on which they appear.
Although five shows are taped a day and “Jeopardy!” usually tapes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Ed found it necessary to fly home once between tapings of his shows which aired Thursday, Friday and Monday.
“My first taping was on Feb. 28,” Ed said. “So, I flew in on the 27th and took the red eye home (after the taping).
“That was an experience, flying the red eye, but I didn’t worry about the flight because there were several Marines on board and I knew no one was going to bother that flight,” he said, laughing.
For a reason unknown to Ed, “Jeopardy!” was not taped on a Tuesday and Wednesday that week.
He took the next day off from his job as a biochemist at Eli Lilly and Co.
The next week, Ed flew back to California on Monday, stayed over Tuesday and flew home Wednesday.
For nearly a month, Ed had to keep his winnings a secret, until the shows aired beginning last Thursday.
That is just part of the mystique of “Jeopardy!”
A contestant has to pay his own airfare for his first trip to California, but the show pays for subsequent trips, Ed said. If contestants stay overnight, they must pay their own hotel and other expenses.
“It’s not really a gamble,” Ed said. “Third place wins $1,000 and that’s more than enough to pay for expenses.”
Second place wins $2,000. The only player to win the amount that appears on his screen at the end of the Final Jeopardy segment is the winner.
“There was a situation when a contestant won with $600, so she actually won less than the third place contestant,” Ed said. “But, she got to return for the next show and that’s the thing” that makes it possible to earn big money.
Contestants have no trouble hearing or seeing the audio and video Daily Double clues. The equipment is continually being tested and the video clues are seen on a big screen.
The contestants’ wardrobe changes are really their own clothes. They are told to take three changes of clothing with them, so they have four “looks.”
The theory is that by the time the Friday show airs, no one will remember what the contestant wore on Monday, Ed said.
The “Jeopardy!” set is actually much smaller than it appears on TV and smaller than the set used for “Wheel of Fortune” which usually tapes Thursday and Friday in an adjacent Culver City studio in the Los Angeles area.
Ed doesn’t feel like a celebrity; very few people have recognized him from his appearance on the game show.
“Thursday and Friday I was up against the NCAA tournament,” he said with a chuckle. “After all, this is Indiana.”
He describes his appearance as a rush.
“Afterward, I couldn’t remember what happened during the games,” he said. “I remembered little bits and pieces. I did remember the Final Jeopardy question when I watched the show.
“I was riding this adrenaline rush. I was so focused” during the tapings.
When complimented on his victories, Ed attributed them to his education, maturity and experiences.
Some of those experiences came as a newspaper carrier in Brazil.
He delivered The Brazil Times twice, once as a boy, to his N. McGuire Street neighborhood on the west side of Brazil and later as a motor route driver while in high school.
“I delivered papers when The Brazil Times was on National Avenue,” he said. “I remember when the new building was built” on Meridian Street.
All in all, he really enjoyed being on “Jeopardy!” and would recommend the experience to anyone.
“They are going to have auditions at Indianapolis, if anyone wants to try out,” he said.
Tonight, would-be contestants have the opportunity to take the written test online at 8 p.m. at http://www.Jeopardy.com. Pre-registration at the Web site is required.