Pat Sajak is the host of the popular American show Wheel of Fortune. He began his career as a journalist at a local radio station before joining the US Army as a disc jockey during the Vietnam War. In 1977, Pat joined KNBC-TV in Los Angeles as a full-time meteorologist.
In 1981, Pat was asked by media mogul Merv Griffin to take over as the host of Wheel of Fortune. The move met with resistance from higher-ups at NBC, but after then-Chairman and CEO Fred Silverman was fired, Pat became the host of Wheel of Fortune.
Sajak thought he wouldn’t last as the host of the popular show, but in 2019 he broke the world record for having the longest run as a game show host for the same show. He is set to extend his record as he is under contract to host the show until 2022. This piece will look at Pat’s wife and children, and an emergency surgery he underwent in 2019.
Pat and his wife Lesly Brown did not share an instant connection when they first met
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Lesly Brown grew up in Maryland with two sisters, Wendy and Kelly. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1986 with a degree in television production. In 1988, she appeared in a Playboy photo shoot and met Pat at a sports bar in California. A couple of years earlier, Pat had divorced his first wife, Sherrill Sajak, and was still reeling from the broken relationship.
Also, Lesly was 18 years his junior, so there wasn’t an instant connection between the pair during their first meeting. However, they kept in touch and dated several times over the next few months. Their relationship was purely platonic, but in the spring of 1989 they both felt a stronger connection.
However, neither declared interest in the other until Lesly appeared on the dating game and went on a date with a handsome bachelor. Pat knew he had to move fast or he would lose Brown. He said People:
“Frankly, that bothered me a bit… I knew that she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
Pat proposed to her later that year, and on New Year’s Eve 1989, the couple were married in front of 150 guests at a Catholic church in Annapolis, Maryland. The couple welcomed her first child, Patrick Michael, on September 22, 1990, and her second child, Maggie Marie, on January 5, 1995. Lesly is now a photographer and some of her best work is available on her website.
Lesly describes her relationship with her family in the following words: “My husband is my constant and beloved companion throughout life. My family is my crown in life and I wear it with enormous gratitude.”
Pat underwent emergency surgery in late 2019 to clear a blocked intestine
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In November 2019, Wheel of Fortune announced that Pat had undergone a successful operation to correct a blocked intestine. Vanna White stepped in as host during Pat’s absence, and in a January 2020 episode, Pat’s daughter Maggie stepped in as co-host. Maggie first appeared in Wheel of Fortune in 1996 when she was a child.
He is a musician and graduated from Princeton University in 2016 with a BA in history. During the show, opened up about his father’s enthusiasm for returning to the show:
“He’s doing great. From his daughter’s perspective it was a scary experience, I’m not going to lie, but he’s doing great and I know he’s excited to be back next week.”
Michael, Maggie’s brother, doesn’t enjoy being the center of attention as much as his sister.
In an episode of Wheel of Fortune, Pat congratulated his son on finishing medical school and becoming a doctor.
In an early June 2021 episode of Wheel of Fortune, Pat announced that his son was officially Dr. Sajak. “We are all excited,” he said. “The only worrying part is that he insists that I call him ‘Dr. Sajak,’” Pat added humorously.
Maggie Sajak congratulated her brother via Instagram. “My big brother officially became a doctor today,” Maggie wrote alongside a photo of the couple. “And I am the MOST proud.”
About a week later, Pat shared some sad news on the show. He revealed that the family had lost their beloved dog Stella.
He began by pointing out that his dog and co-host Vanna White’s pet shared the same name. “We both have two children, we both have the same unusual blood type, but the strangest thing of all is that we independently, without anyone knowing, we both call our pets by the same name,” Pat told her co-host.
“I use the past tense because we recently had to say goodbye to our Stella. We are going to miss her, she was a good friend ”.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn