Larissa Kelly (born February 10, 1980) is an American multiple-time champion on the U.S. game show ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...
'', currently resident in
Richmond, California. She is a writer and academic.
Biography
Kelly grew up in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
and attended
Newton North High School
Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonville. The school f ...
where she helped lead the
science bowl
The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an an ...
team to national competition. She graduated from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
in 2002 and completed a Ph.D. at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, studying the history of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
in 19th century
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. She played
quiz bowl at both Princeton and Berkeley. On August 3, 2002, she married her quiz bowl teammate Jeff Hoppes. On the All Star games draft show, she mentioned that her husband attended high school with
Brad Rutter.
She is one of three members of her family to have played on ''Jeopardy!'', all between 2004 and 2008, and the only winner of the three. Her husband was defeated by
Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
in Jennings's 70th game as champion. Her sister Arianna was defeated in her initial ''Jeopardy!'' appearance, in part due to questionable calls that prompted
Standards and Practices to bring her back for a second appearance; in her second appearance, Arianna was defeated by Aaron Schroeder, who later faced Larissa in the 2009
''Jeopardy!'' Tournament of Champions finals.
In the 2009 ''Jeopardy!'' Tournament of Champions in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Kelly won her quarterfinal and semifinal matches and led after the first game of the two-game finals, with $24,400 to Dan Pawson's $22,301 and Schroeder's $9,600. Although she led going into Final Jeopardy! in the second game, she lost to Pawson after she incorrectly responded to the clue which required identifying
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
as the last British ruler to be born outside the United Kingdom. She won $100,000 for finishing second.
Kelly is a
science fiction author
This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order):
A
*Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960)
*Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954)
*Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926)
*Kōbō Abe (1924–1993)
* Robert Abernathy (1924–1990)
*Dan Abn ...
, who has had one story published at ''
Strange Horizons
''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables.
History and profile
It was launched in September 2000, and ...
''.
Appearances on ''Jeopardy!''
Including tournament winnings, Kelly set the ''Jeopardy!'' record for money won by a female contestant at $660,930 and is third to
Julia Collins in ''Jeopardy!'' winnings outside tournament play. During her regular run on ''Jeopardy!'', Kelly won a total of $222,597 over six games and $1,000 3rd place consolation prize in her seventh, with her last appearance airing May 28, 2008. Excluding tournament winnings, Kelly is the fourth-highest winning female contestant and ranks seventh all-time in ''Jeopardy!'' earnings.
While she was champion, Kelly broke
Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
s record for most money won in a contestant's first five days by winning $179,797; this record was one of two
Roger Craig broke during his reign as champion, as he won $195,801 in his first five games (Craig also topped Jennings's single-game record of $75,000).
[These scores were achieved after ''Jeopardy!'' doubled its clue values in 2001; if earlier scores are doubled to account for this, Craig, Kelly, and Jennings all trail Frank Spangenberg, whose adjusted total is $205,194. Jerome Vered's adjusted total of $193,602 is third to Spangenberg and Craig.] Kelly is also the third-highest winning female contestant in any single game in ''Jeopardy!''s history. Kelly's $45,200 performance narrowly trails Maria Wenglinsky, who won $46,600 on November 1, 2005, Emma Boettcher, MacKenzie Jones, who both won $46,801 on June 3, 2019, and February 19, 2020, respectively, and Amy Schneider, who won $50,000, $61,800, and $71,400 on November 25, 2021, December 2, 2021, and January 20, 2022, respectively.
Kelly returned to participate in the
''Jeopardy!'' Battle of the Decades tournament in 2014, but was eliminated in the first round, winning $5,000. She also appeared on ''Jeopardy!'' All Star Games in February 2019, as a member of
Team Brad Rutter with
David Madden; her team won and split $1,000,000.
''Jeopardy!'' records
During her time as champion, Kelly set several records, which have since been surpassed:
*Highest five-game total, winning $179,797 (later surpassed by
Roger Craig, who won $195,801, then by
James Holzhauer
James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time and is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion ...
, who won $298,687)
*Highest total winnings by a female player in non-tournament play, winning $222,597 (later surpassed by
Julia Collins, who has won $428,100,
)
*Longest streak (from first appearance) of correct ''Final Jeopardy!'' responses, with 10 (later surpassed by Ben Ingram, who had 12 correct responses)
*Longest winning streak on ''Jeopardy!'' by a female player in non-tournament play, winning six games
(later surpassed by Stephanie Jass, who won seven games, then by Julia Collins, who won 20 games)
References
;Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Larissa
1980 births
21st-century American short story writers
American science fiction writers
American women short story writers
American short story writers
Living people
Jeopardy! contestants
Writers from Newton, Massachusetts
People from Richmond, California
Princeton University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
Writers from California
Writers from Massachusetts
Newton North High School alumni
21st-century American women writers
American women television personalities