Television Personality, Gambler. Born Demetrios Georgios Synodinos in Ohio, his family's roots are in the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea. He was raised in Steubenville, Ohio. He and his wife Joan, lost three of their five children to cystic fibrosis. By the time he was 28, he was known as a man who could pick winners after nailing the 1948 Presidential election. He invested money in oil drilling and coal mining, but when those ventures failed, he moved to Las Vegas in 1956 and began a weekly pro-football betting line. Jimmy went on to spend 12 years as the betting analyst, specializing in forecasts intended to help bettors, on the CBS Sports program, "The N.F.L. Today," which aired each Sunday in the pro football season to mixed reviews. On January 16, 1988, he was fired by the CBS network (where he had been a regular on NFL Today since 1976) after commenting to WRC-TV reporter Ed Hotaling at Duke Zeibert's Washington, D.C. restaurant that African Americans were naturally superior athletes. Jimmy appeared in a cameo in the 1981 comedy film The Cannonball Run as a bookie. In the movie he offered 50–1 odds against Formula One driver Jamie Blake (played by Dean Martin) and gambler Morris Fenderbaum (played by Sammy Davis Jr.) winning the Cannonball coast-to-coast endurance race. Jimmy the Greek and Dean Martin were childhood acquaintances in Steubenville, Ohio. In November 2009, ESPN aired a show in their 30 for 30 series titled The Legend of Jimmy the Greek, which was produced by Fritz Mitchell. Commentary was provided by, among others, Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Phyllis George from The NFL Today, plus Anthony Snyder Jimmy's son, as well as his brother Johnny and sister Angie. The show also acknowledges his role in the first sportscasts of poker tournaments. Although Jimmy was largely unknown outside of the United States, in 1974 his name achieved international renown. After beating George Foreman to regain the world heavyweight championship, Muhammad Ali, in the midst of an interview with David Frost, looked into the camera and addressed his doubters. "All of you bow" he said. "All of my critics crawl...All of you suckers bow... If you wanna know any damn thing about boxing, don't go to no boxing experts in Las Vegas, don't go to no Jimmy The Greek. Come to Muhammad Ali." He was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons, which is titled "Lisa the Greek". Jimmy suffered from diabetes in his later years. He died in Las Vegas, Nevada.