The winner of the Game show “Jeopardy!,” Harvey Silikovitz, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.
Harvey Silikovitz shocked “Jeopardy!” audiences after winning the show on March 10, 2025, Monday’s game show.
Highlights
- Harvey Silikovitz amazed audiences on Jeopardy! after winning the game on March 10, 2025.
- Silikovitz auditioned for Jeopardy! for the first time in 2001, and now, 24 years later, he has finally appeared on the show.
- He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in August 2019. It’s unclear whether he is suffering from the disease in 2025.
Silikovitz defeated eight-day champion Laura Faddah by answering 35 questions correctly, with only one wrong answer in the game.
He instantly became a fan favorite before the first commercial break.
Harvey ended with $23,600 after not correctly answering the Final Jeopardy question but still had a big win over Faddah and Sabrina Blanks.
As per the Jeopardy! Fans, Harvey had the seventh-best debut Coryat score of all time in regular play, which is the total dollar value of the clues a contestant got right minus the total dollar value of the clues a contestant got wrong.
The website also dubbed his performance “one of the greatest of all time.”
Silikovitz, 55, was born in Urbana, Illinois, on March 4, 1970. He moved to West Orange, New Jersey, where he studied law at Georgetown University.
Per his LinkedIn profile, he is an attorney at Cohen & Gresse LLP in New York.
Harvey Silikovitz, A Contestant With Chronic Illness, Stole Viewers’ Hearts In Jeopardy!
After winning the game show on March 10, 2025, Harvey Silikovitz stole viewers’ hearts with his performance. He shared his journey to the show and his struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
Harvey revealed that in 2019, he was allowed to appear on the show.
But he missed the call from producers and didn’t find the voicemail until five weeks later, after taping the season had wrapped.
He wasn’t eligible for the next season as too much time had passed since his audition.
Five months after the missed phone call, in August 2019, Harvey was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive movement disorder of the nervous system.
He revealed that he refused to let that diagnosis deter him from following his long-held dream.
Harvey worked hard to manage his Parkinson’s symptoms and improve his knowledge base and skills, such as timing on the buzzer, which is critical to success on Jeopardy!
Nearly six years later, Harvey got his shot to appear on the show. He added,
“In 2019, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s but I continued chasing the dream and now here I am.” “I wouldn’t recommend that as a preparation strategy for doing well on the show but after living with Parkinson’s for 5 1/2 years, it’s no longer about wanting to do well for myself, I would like to give hope and inspiration to the people living with chronic illnesses.”
Harvey Silikovitz
However, Harvey ended up dominating Jeopardy!, even though he got the Final Jeopardy! Clue wrong.
The category was “World Flags,” the clue was, “A dark blue square in the upper left corner of the flag of this country represents the continent of Africa.”
Additional Information
- Harvey Silikovitz received a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in 1990.
- Sikikovitz’s aunt, Gail Schaefer, moved to Quad Cities, Illinois, in May 1980. His other aunt, Ina Burwasser, who was Faith Burwasser’s loving mother, passed away peacefully on March 11, 2021.
- Harvey shared a close bond with his grandfather, Dr. Ronbald G. Silikovitz, and her grandmother, Sylvia (nee Aaronson). Sadly, Dr. Ronald passed away peacefully on November 11, 2004.
- He is admitted to practice law in New York and before several U.S. federal courts, including the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
