Mike Teevee finally fulfilled his dream of being on TV! Paris Themmen, who played the cowboy-loving little boy in the original ‘Willy Wonka,’ just competed on ‘Jeopardy!’ and you HAVE to see the then-and-now pics.
In case you were wondering what Paris Themmen, 58, is up to these days — it’s competing on game shows! The former child actor, who portrayed the television-obsessed Mike Teevee in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, made an appearance on the March 13 episode of Jeopardy! and the Internet promptly freaked out. Check out the video above!
Paris was introduced by Alex Trebek as an “entrepreneur” and “avid backpacker,” but his role in the beloved movie wasn’t mentioned. Still, viewers figured it out immediately! “Is nobody realizing that Paris on Jeopardy right now, is Mike TV from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?…. Like legit it’s the actor,” one fan tweeted.
“I was making dinner in the kitchen, listening to Jeopardy when Alex Trebek started introducing contestants at the break. He said @ParisThemmen and I ran out saying MIKE TEEVEE !!! My wife thought I was nuts. Great job Paris!” another wrote. Paris starred in the original film along with Peter Ostrum (who played Charlie Bucket), Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop), Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt) and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde).
Check out more tweets about Paris’ appearance on Jeopardy!:
You’ll remember that Mike doesn’t win the final prize in Willy Wonka — that being the chocolate factory, of course — and similarly, Paris came in second place on Jeopardy! with a total of $6,800. Hey, not bad.
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