What is "The Most Money Ever Won On Jeopardy! By a Woman?"
Celebrating some of the best-performing women in Jeopardy! history by going over a record that was set sixteen years ago today by Celeste DiNucci and then battled over for the years that followed.
History Surrounding the Record
Slightly pre-dating Jeopardy! legends Larissa Kelly and Julia Collins, and long before Amy Schneider, there was a long-lasting record for the highest-earning female player in Jeopardy! history that was set sixteen years ago today, during the 20th Tournament of Champions held in the Trebek era. Over the course of 40 years, women have been generally underrepresented in terms of accomplishments on Jeopardy!. When you analyze the top 100 highest-earning Jeopardy! players, the gender discrepancy becomes pretty apparent: 81 men, 18 women, and one non-binary contestant (Mattea Roach). While the show has improved on this, particularly in recent years, it’s been a long road to get where we are now. Before we get to the core of today’s anniversary, let’s take a moment to look back at the previous recordholders.
On October 5th, 1984, Elise Beraru made history by becoming the very first person to ever win 5 straight games in the Trebek era, thus retiring undefeated and getting a chance to compete in the first Tournament of Champions held in 1985. In the TOC, she went down in the quarterfinals but pocketed another $1,000 for a series total of $48,350 at the time. Though there were a select few women who were able to qualify for a TOC in the following years, including Liz Caccese and Paula Tupper from Beraru’s own TOC, none were able to quite replicate the heights of which she had reached in the first year of the show’s programming. Infamously, one of the only women to win 5 games following Beraru’s streak, Barbara Lowe, was not given an invitation to the 1986 TOC and has never appeared on the show since then.
In the final regular game that aired before the all-male TOC that was held in 1987, Kate Waits made history by winning her 4th game with $12,001 for a 4-day total of $49,804, scraping past Elise Beraru’s combined earnings of $48,350 and becoming the show’s all-time biggest female winner. She wound up losing her 5th game on November 23rd, 1987, but her earnings were substantial enough to qualify for the 1988 TOC the following year. In the same qualification period, Sandra Gore emerged as an undefeated champion by winning 5 games and surpassing Waits’ total with $53,507 in earnings. Like Kate Waits however, this record was short-lived as Leah Greenwald became the new recordholder after winning 5 games worth $58,802, her final game airing on January 15th, 1988. Just three weeks later, Barbara Anne-Eddy earned a 5-day total of $52,000. The final 1988 TOC female qualifier emerged on May 20th, 1988 when Peggy Kennedy (R.I.P.) won the 1988 Seniors Tournament for $25,000.
With more women in the TOC than any previous year before, a lot of stakes were riding on each female participant, as well as everyone else of course. Of the five participants, Sandra Gore was the only one to advance automatically after winning her quarterfinal game. Peggy Kennedy and Kate Waits advanced as wildcard semifinalists, while Leah Greenwald and Barbara Anne-Eddy were eliminated in the quarterfinals, taking home $1,000. Gore was the only woman to make it past the semifinals, but she finished in third place behind Bruce Naegeli and winner Mark Lowenthal, taking home $13,000. Despite this, her winnings was immense enough to surpass Greenwald’s all-time total of $59,802 by that point with $66,507.
Looking for a Female TOC Winner
Over the course of the next few years, it was a struggle for women to perform to the same standard that was set by the female participants of the 1988 TOC. As a result of this, Sandra Gore’s all-time score remained the top record of female Jeopardy! winners until Lynne Wexler’s fifth victory on January 29th, 1991. Three other women qualified for the 1991 TOC that year, but none of them were able to make the finals. On November 18th, 1992, Wexler’s record was anti-climactically broken when India Cooper (R.I.P.) was eliminated in the TOC semifinals by Bruce Simmons. Despite this, Cooper added $5,000 to her 5-day total of $68,400 for a total of $73,400 at the time, surpassing Wexler’s record of $71,351.
The 1993 TOC was the most hopeful year for women on the show to date, as a record seven out of fifteen qualifiers for the season were women. Of the seven women to qualify, four advanced to the semifinals, and two made it through to the final round. It was a strong battle between Tom Nosek (R.I.P.), Bev Schwartzberg, and Marilyn Kneeland for the $100,000 grand prize, but it boiled down to Final Jeopardy! on November 26th, 1993. Nosek was the only player to respond correctly, adding $8,400 to his first day total of $19,200 for a two-day total of $27,600 and the $100,000 grand prize. For the 1st runner-up, Bev Schwartzberg, her tournament total of $19,100 pushed her above the ranks of India Cooper for an all-time total of $85,000. Regardless of this achievement, there had been no female TOC winners after nine tournaments had been held already.
The week following the 1993 TOC, Tom Nosek appeared in a special tournament celebrating 10 years of Jeopardy! in the Trebek era. The winner of the tournament would pocket their two-day final score, along with a $25,000 bonus. Nosek made it to the finals against Frank Spangenberg and Leslie Frates. Nosek had a massive lead after the first day, earning $13,600 compared to $600 for Spangenberg and $100 for Frates. Despite this, Frates and Spangenberg dominated most of the action, and Frates came out with the advantage at $13,000 before FJ! compared to $8,100 for Spangenberg and $4,000 for Nosek. A correct response in FJ! from Frates would have given her the new record, but Spangenberg was the only player to answer correctly, earning $16,800 in two days and another $25,000 to his total for $41,800. With women in the finals becoming more prevalent and the competition getting steeper, it wouldn’t be long before the first woman would end up winning a TOC.
The First Two Women to Win a TOC
The 1994 qualification season wasn’t the most hopeful for women. Rachael Schwartz was ultimately the first woman to qualify, but she had to hold her breath through the entire qualification period as she ended up being the #15 seed for the tournament, with 4 wins and $37,499 to her name. Jean Grewe became the first to automatically qualify after winning 5 games and $62,801, with Amy Fine being the final woman to qualify for that year with 5 wins and $72,803. With three women on the roster and none very close to $85,000 in earnings, a win was needed in order for history to be made yet again.
The highest-seeded woman of the tournament, Amy Fine, was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Between Grewe and Schwartz, it was Schwartz who made it through to the finals despite being the lowest-seeded player of the tournament. Facing off against college champion Jeff Stewart and 4-time champion David Hillinick, Schwartz was in command and control for much of the finals and had the cover bet advantage before Final Jeopardy! on the second day, November 25th, 1994. After earning $0 in his first game, Jeff Stewart maxed out at $20,800 on the second day, well above Hillinick’s two-day total of $7,500. $7,500 was also the third place minimum at the time. For Rachael Schwartz, however, it was $13,601 on her second day plus the $7,200 from the previous game which gave her a two-day total of $20,801, making her the first woman to ever win the Jeopardy! TOC of the Trebek era. With $100,000 in earnings, along with her $37,499 from regular games, she became the biggest female money winner on the show with $137,499.
After Schwartz’s historic win in 1994, the success rate for women slightly regressed a bit over the years as none were able to accomplish a TOC victory or get close to her winnings. While there were some 5-time winners over the years and memorable TOC performances, it wasn’t until the end of the millennium when Schwartz’s all-time total would be dethroned. On March 17th, 2000, Robin Carroll won her 5th game, sweeping the entire weekly bloc of episodes and qualifying for the TOC that took place just two months later. With $64,100 in earnings from regular games, she was the #2 seed of the tournament, behind only Eddie Timanus.
Robin Carroll’s path to winning the 2000 TOC wasn’t the easiest. After losing her quarterfinal game to Michael Rooney, she was on the brink of elimination but got the final wildcard spot necessary for the semifinals. In her semifinal game against Terry Currin and Mike Blumenfeld, she ran away with the game and advanced to the finals to compete against 5-timers Jeremy Bate and Steve Fried. After the first day, she led with $8,000 compared to $7,000 for Bate and $4,500 for Fried.
On the second day of finals, held on May 20th, 2000, Fried had control of most of the game but not enough to put the tournament away, accumulating $7,000 before FJ! compared to $4,600 for Carroll and $1,500 for Bate. All three players missed the final clue with Carroll and Bate betting the farm and Fried utilizing the standard cover bet, as he did have the advantage. Because of the miss, Fried slipped back into third place with $5,799 in two days, thus granting Robin Carroll the $100,000 prize and making her the highest-earning female winner with $164,100 in total winnings.
After Carroll’s historic TOC win, she was invited to participate in the 2001 International Championship as the USA representative. This was the third international tournament to be held, with previous USA representatives being Fritz Holznagel for 1996 and Gay Mollette for 1997. Swedish representative Ulf Jensen won the 1996 tournament, with Canadian representative, as well as participant of the American version, Michael Daunt winning the 1997 tournament. In 2001, Carroll emerged as the winner against Fredrik Gildea (Sweden) and Carsten Wiedemann (Denmark), earning $50,000 and bumping her all-time total up to a staggering $214,100.
Following the doubled clue amounts on November 26th, 2001, she appeared again in the 2002 Million Dollar Masters, but was eliminated in the first round, taking home $10,000. She appeared once again in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, with a bye into the second round, but was axed once again by Matt Zielenski. Regardless, she earned another $25,000 from the tournament for an all-time cumulative total of $249,100. In summary, she extended her record for another 5 years after breaking Rachael Schwartz’s record in 2000. Which brings us to the last female winner of the TOC before Amy Schneider in 2022, following Rachael Schwartz and Robin Carroll, sixteen years ago today. Who would later emerge as the highest-earning woman for the next couple of decades?
Celeste DiNucci
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