in When Amy Schneider first appeared on Jeopardy in November 2021, she presented herself as a 42-year-old engineering manager from Ohio, residing in Oakland, California. Initially, fans thought she was a middle-aged woman, but concerns about her identity grew when she started winning consecutive games. Discover more about Amy Schneider before surgery and her transition.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Amy Schneider is an American engineering manager.
- She is best known for winning 40 consecutive games on Jeopardy, a television game show featuring a quiz competition.
- When she won 40 consecutive games in January 2022, she set the record for the second-longest winning streak in the programme’s history.
- Amy is a transgender woman.
Profile summary
| Full name | Amy Schneider |
| Birth name | Thomas E Schneider |
| Gender | Female |
| Date of birth | 29 May 1979 |
| Age | 46 years (as of 2025) |
| Zodiac sign | Taurus |
| Place of birth | Dayton, Ohio, United States |
| Current residence | Oakland, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Sexuality | Trans woman |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Weight | 154 lb (70 kg) |
| Hair colour | Strawberry-blonde |
| Eye colour | Brown |
| Father | James T Schneider |
| Siblings | 1 (John) |
| Marital status | Married |
| Partner | Genevieve Davis |
| School | Chaminade-Julienne High School |
| University | University of Dayton |
| Profession | Former engineering manager and game show contestant |
| @jeopardamy | |
| Amy Schneider |
Who is Amy Schneider?
Amy Schneider is an American writer and game show contestant. She was born on 29 May 1979 in Dayton, Ohio, United States. As of 2025, she is 46 years old and her Zodiac sign is Taurus.
There is little information about her siblings apart from the fact that she has a brother named John. Amy once lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently resides in Oakland, California. She then became the most successful woman to compete on Jeopardy.
While many people know Amy as a woman, her gender identity has changed throughout her lifetime. It was revealed she was a transgender woman. Her background showed that Amy had undergone a surgical procedure to become a woman.
Source: Original
Who was Amy Schneider before surgery?
Before surgery, Amy Schneider identified as a man. Her birth name is Thomas E Schneider. When she was in school at Chaminade-Julienne High School, her fellow students labelled her as trans.
Her peers called her that because she had physical properties that resembled those of a man. Amy founded her high school’s debate club because she wanted it to be reflected in her college applications.
The labelling continued even in college at the University of Dayton, where she went to study computer science.
The notion of identifying as a man was challenging to Amy because she sometimes exhibited the behaviour of a woman. It is worth noting that photos of Amy Schneider as Thomas Schneider are not available publicly.
Around 2016, Amy started seeing herself as more of a man than a woman. As a result, she decided to undergo a surgical procedure to change her identity. Amy had a sex alteration surgery and became a woman.
The transition made her stop thinking about being trans. She did not want people to think that she was hiding her identity when she appeared on Jeopardy. Amy embraced her identity as a woman, and the win on Jeopardy made people aware of her gender.
Source: Getty Images
Is Amy on Jeopardy a man or a woman?
Amy is a transgender woman. Initially, she did not like having tattoos and body piercings. After her transition, she changed her mind and decided to have her nose pierced and now wears a nose ring.
What is the tattoo on Amy Schneider’s left arm?
When she became a woman, Amy knew the transition was permanent. She decided to celebrate her new identity with a tattoo on her left arm. When filming Jeopardy, producers told her to cover it using long-sleeved dresses.
Her detailed tattoo is of Princess Ozma of the Wizard of Oz. She chose it to commemorate her transition to a woman, following the events of Princess Ozma, who was enchanted to become a boy, but the enchantment was lifted later.
Source: Getty Images
Who is Amy Schneider’s husband?
The Jeopardy contestant does not have a husband. Instead, Amy Schneider’s wife is Genevieve Davis. Amy proposed to Genevieve in 2022 after being in a relationship for some time.
The couple met in the summer of 2020 through one of Amy’s friends and got married three months after their engagement. Describing how she met her, Schneider wrote:
In the summer of 2020, my friend was hanging out at my apartment, talking on the phone to her boyfriend, and somehow or other she wound up inviting her boyfriend’s sister over to my place, to give her a ride somewhere. That sister turned out to be Genevieve.
Amy and Genevieve tied the knot in May 2022 in elegant gowns. In September 2022, the game show contestant tweeted photos of her wedding, calling it one of the best days of her life.
A year ago today, I was in LA, waiting to fulfil a dream. The year since has been full of good days, but by far the best one was May 9th, when Genevieve and I got married. Without her, none of the other good days would have happened. I’m so lucky to share my life with her!
Before she started her relationship with Genevieve, Amy was a divorcee. The Jeopardy contestant was previously married to Keely Anneken when she identified as a man.
In 2016, Amy divorced Keely when she started seeing herself as a woman. She subsequently went through a surgical procedure and became a woman.
Amy Schneider’s children
Schneider does not have any children. She has yet to talk about having children with Genevieve. She is a pet lover and has a cat named Meep, whom she adopted from her partner.
Source: Getty Images
Does Amy on Jeopardy have a photographic memory?
Amy Schneider’s winning streak on Jeopardy left people wowed. She set the second-best record after winning 40 consecutive games on the quiz show.
Fans questioned how Amy was so bright. Some even suggested she has a photographic memory. She denied these claims;
One is to attribute my intelligence to factors outside of my control. With this approach, I’ll generally observe that I was born with a brain that, for whatever reason, retains knowledge well. I don’t have a ‘photographic’ memory or anything like that; God knows I’ve spent enough time hunting my apartment for my phone to disprove that idea.
On 8 February 2022, after the airing of her final episode on Jeopardy, Schneider announced on her unverified X account that she quit her day job as a software engineer to focus on her new life as a public figure.
Some of you may have heard, but I quit my day job yesterday! It’s a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to… public figure, I guess? But regardless of the outcome, I’m so excited to spend the next couple of years at least tackling this new challenge!
Why was Amy on Jeopardy sitting in a chair?
In one Jeopardy episode, Amy was seen sitting in a chair. She was competing for her fourth win. Fans questioned the decision to offer her a chair, to which Amy responded:
It’s a fact that I wasn’t feeling well on the day we taped the semifinals; they had a chair out for me because I was experiencing some dizziness and wasn’t sure I could stand for a whole episode.
Source: Getty Images
Why does Amy Schneider wear pearls on Jeopardy?
Amy wore a pearl necklace during each episode because it was a birthday gift from her girlfriend, Genevieve. She said the pearl necklace gave her comfort.
[Being on Jeopardy!] was the first significant time I’d spent apart from her since we’d started dating. And so having that was just a nice, just sort of comforting reminder that, that she was at home waiting for me.
What kind of writer is Amy Schneider?
Amy is an accomplished American writer. Her debut memoir, In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life, traces her journey from childhood.
Amy takes readers through her gender transition, polyamorous relationships, neurodivergence, and iconic trivia triumphs. The tone is candid, humorous, and introspective.
The writer has adapted her memoir into a middle-grade edition titled Who Is Amy Schneider?, aimed at readers aged between eight and 12. It focuses on themes of curiosity, identity, and acceptance.
Amy Schneider’s net worth
The exact amount Amy is worth remains undisclosed in the public domain. In Jeopardy, Amy bagged nearly $1.4 million in winnings.
Source: Getty Images
How tall is Amy Schneider?
Amy Schneider’s height is 5 ft 6 in or 168 cm. She weighs about 154 lb or 70 kg and has strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes.
Trivia
- Amy Schneider’s winning streak was the second-longest win streak in the show’s history.
- The Jeopardy contestant stated she was proud of her gender but never wanted to gather attention.
- Coming out as transgender helped Amy in many aspects of her life.
- She thinks everyone should be polyamorous.
- The American author was raised in a strict Catholic household.
The identity of Amy Schneider before surgery has stunned many. She was a man called Thomas Schneider. She transitioned before joining the show, Jeopardy. Amy set the second-longest winning streak on the show after winning 40 consecutive games. She is married to Genevieve Davis.
Yen.com.gh recently published Zahn McClarnon’s biography. Born to a Hunkpapa Lakota mother and Irish father, McClarnon spent his childhood between Colorado and Montana.
McClarnon began his career in local theatre before rising to fame. Some of Zahn McClarnon’s Native American roles include Joe Leaphorn in Dark Winds, Mathias in Longmire, Akecheta in Westworld, and Hanzee Dent in Fargo.
Source: YEN.com.gh
Source: Yen.com.gh
