Eddie Timanus

Eddie Timanus (August 9, 1968) is a sportswriter for USA Today. He is commonly known for being the first blind contestant on Jeopardy!.

Eddie appeared on Jeopardy! in October 1999 and won $69,700 and two cars over five consecutive games. During his appearances, the show made a few changes to accommodate his blindness. He was given a card with the names of the categories printed in Braille before each round and a Braille keyboard for typing his name on the podium's computer and his response and wager for Final Jeopardy!. Also, no video-based clues were featured and the show would start with the contestants already at their podiums as opposed to walking up to them as they were introduced.

After that, Eddie went on to appear in several Jeopardy! tournaments, such as the 2000 Tournament of Champions, the Million Dollar Masters Tournament, the Ultimate Tournament of Champions and the Battle of the Decades tournament.

Eddie also appeared on the U.S. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on November 25-26, 2004 and won $50,000. Like on Jeopardy!, special accommodations were made for his blindness. When he used the Phone-A-Friend lifeline, instead of reading the question and the four choices to his friend himself, host Meredith Vieira would read them. She would also remind him how much time remain on the 30 second clock.

Eddie Timanus

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