Pat Sajak

Pat Sajak, American journalist, actor, and game show host

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Born: October 26, 1946
Age in 2026: 80
Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Birth year: 1946

About Pat Sajak

Patrick Leonard Sajak, born October 26, 1946 is an American retired game show host, television personality, and creative consultant. He is best known as the host of the television game show Wheel of Fortune, a position which he held from 1981 to 2024. Sajak also served as a consultant for the show, and hosted Celebrity Wheel of Fortune until 2025. For his work on Wheel, Sajak has received 19 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, winning thrice, and twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Game Show, winning in 2024. In 2019, he was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the longest-serving career as a game show host for the same show, surpassing previous record holder Bob Barker. Sajak won a contest on WLS radio's Dick Biondi Show to be a guest teen deejay. With Sajak returning for his 36th season in 2018–19, he became the longest-running host of any game show, surpassing Bob Barker, who hosted The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Pat Sajak timeline

1981He is best known as the host of the television game show Wheel of Fortune, a position which he held from 1981 to 2024.
2018With Sajak returning for his 36th season in 2018–19, he became the longest-running host of any game show, surpassing Bob Barker, who hosted The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007.
2019In 2019, he was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the longest-serving career as a game show host for the same show, surpassing previous record holder Bob Barker.
2025Sajak also served as a consultant for the show, and hosted Celebrity Wheel of Fortune until 2025.

The world when Pat Sajak was born

Pat Sajak was born in 1946. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1946

#1 song"The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole
Top movieThe Best Years of Our Lives
Best-selling bookThe King's General – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentFirst NBA (BAA) season begins
Top headlineUnited Nations General Assembly holds its first session
Technology milestoneENIAC — first general-purpose electronic computer
Defining fadBaby boom begins
Notable inventionTupperware
World population2.43 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
U.S. population141.4M

1946 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Pat Sajak's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1946	2026
Gas	$0.21	$3.45/gal
Average home	$6,600	$435,000
Average income	$4,300	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.40	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.35	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	141.4M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.