She was a pop music critic when she first appeared on Jeopardy! in 1996, but was offered a spot at her current job as a sports copy editor after a former editor caught her performance on Jeopardy! "Cheerful and somewhat ruthless" is how the Jersey City resident describes her approach to the game. Jeopardy! is a family affair for Claudia; her sister also appeared as a contestant. Claudia serves as president of the Society of American Baseball Research, is an avid cyclist and in her spare time raises money for diabetes research.
Hi, I'm Claudia Perry. I first appeared on Jeopardy! in 1997. Watch me participate in Jeopardy!'s Million Dollar Masters tournament. Right now you're watching me on jeopardy.com.
What is your present occupation?
I'm a sports copy editor at a newspaper in Newark, New Jersey.
What is your fondest memory from your previous appearances on Jeopardy!?
Well, um, that's hard to say. There were so many things about it that were really a lot of fun. Um, I think my favorite was my fourth game of my regular season winnings. Uh, I just was totally in the zone, and I just creamed my opponents, and that felt really good. They were nice people, but it was great to win.
Did anything unusual happen when you were on the show?
Ah, yes! The first show I was on I finished third with a dollar--I won an attractive fax machine, I believe--because they had buzzer problems during my show to the point where they actually stopped tape in the middle of the show and changed everybody's buzzer out because mine wasn't working properly. So the good folks at Jeopardy! called me after that show taped and said that they thought that I really didn't get a fair chance, and so, when I came back, I was a four-time winner, could have been a five-time winner if I had wagered smart enough in the fifth game, but I got a trip to Spain out of it, so I'm not complaining.
How has being on Jeopardy! changed your life?
Well, I bought a house. Um, and also, the newspaper that I work for now, I would never have found my way there if one of my former editors hadn't seen me on the show.
Any special strategy for the competition?
Yes, well, my strategy really would be just to, you know, kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out, pretty much, um... but in a slightly more serious way, we're here to have fun... Everybody has a strategy and everybody abandons it halfway through the first game, so... you know, you just play to win and try to do your best and just try to have some fun out there.
Do you want to say hello to anyone?
Oh, yeah, I especially want to say hello to the nurses at St. Joseph's Hospital in Patterson. I go there every three months for medication that I take, and the gals in infusion services totally rock, so I want to say hello to them. And also, uh, my friends at the Star-Ledger, which is where I work, and all my buddies in the Society for American Baseball Research, where I'm not only a customer, I'm also the president. |
"A pop music critic when she first appeared on Jeopardy!, she's now a sports copy editor; from Jersey City, New Jersey..."
2014 Battle of the Decades invitee: $5,000.
2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament wildcard semifinalist: $25,000.
1998 Tournament of Champions semifinalist: $5,000.
Season 13 4-time champion: $45,303.
Claudia's first game was aired on 1996-09-11; she lost, but due to technical problems, she returned on 1997-01-01.
Kathryn, her sister, was a contestant on show #2676, aired 1996-04-01.
Claudia appeared as a challenger on ABC's 500 Questions on 2016-06-01. She was unable to eliminate Season 19 player Guy Jordan.
Claudia won a $1,000 consolation prize after missing the $3,000 question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on 2018-10-25.
Claudia died 2024-05-16 at age 64. Obituary. |
