How a Jewish man with Parkinson’s won ‘Jeopardy!’ after 24 years and a missed voicemail
Harvey Silikovitz, a lawyer and globe-trotting karaoke performer, hopes to inspire others with a chronic illness
Harvey Silikovitz on ‘Jeopardy!’ Courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
By Benyamin Cohen March 17, 2025
Harvey Silikovitz spent 24 years trying to get on Jeopardy! — and less than 30 minutes winning it. But after winning, he was stumped by a question about the Forward.
Just recently, in an online trivia league, he was asked:
“The newspaper called the Forverts, founded in 1897, provided socialist-leaning coverage of politics and government, as well as columns aimed at familiarizing its readers with American culture. It was published in what language?”
He guessed French.
The correct answer? Yiddish. Obviously.
“I didn’t associate Jewish immigrants specifically with socialism, Emma Goldman notwithstanding,” he told me over the phone on Sunday.
Silikovitz, 55, is believed to be the first contestant with Parkinson’s to win Jeopardy! — and he became an overnight sensation. Clips of his victory exploded across social media. He landed on The Today Show and World News Tonight. The Michael J. Fox Foundation reached out, eager to share his story as proof that those with Parkinson’s can still achieve their dreams.
His road to Jeopardy! was almost as grueling as the game itself.
It probably helped that knowledge was ingrained in him from an early age. Growing up in New Jersey, he attended the Hebrew Youth Academy. Although Silikovitz is quick to point out that he skipped second grade.
But even for a kid who was already ahead of the game, getting on Jeopardy! was anything but easy. He first passed the show’s online audition test in 2004. Then he passed it again. And again. And again — nine times in total. In 2019, he finally got the call.
And he missed it.
The voicemail sat there, unheard, until it was too late. Jeopardy! moved on.
Then, a few months later, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. That might have ended the story. But instead, Silikovitz kept on trying.
Before his taping in January, he practiced with a simulated buzzer, knowing his body could sometimes move beyond his control. He played seated, an accommodation offered by the show’s producers.
“I didn’t care what people thought about those things,” he said. “I just wanted to go there and play the game and prove to myself and to other people that someone with Parkinson’s could get on the show and hopefully do well.”
And he did. He didn’t just win. He dominated.
He returned on Tuesday and finished in third place — but at that point, he had already won the game he had been chasing for decades.
After a whirlwind week of TV interviews, viral fame, and Jeopardy! fandom, Silikovitz is finally decompressing.
And he won’t let a wrong answer go to waste. “When I miss a trivia question, the silver lining is I make a flash card on it,” he said. “And I go down a rabbit hole when I’m making that card, and I learn things that I wouldn’t have known had I gotten the question right.”
At some point, when life settles down, he’ll make that flash card about the Forward.
