John Carpenter (game show contestant)

He later participated as part of the Mob on NBC's 1 vs. 100 on October 27, 2006, and as a contestant on the Game Show Network game show Grand Slam. Carpenter appeared on the August 16, 2009 episode of Millionaire in prime time for its tenth anniversary. In the audience with him were his father, his wife, and his son. Additionally, he was also the first expert in the "Ask the Expert" lifeline for the eighth season of the syndicated series.

With Rod L. Evans, Carpenter co-authored a trivia book titled Matching Wits With the Million-Dollar Mind: The World's Hardest Trivia Quizzes From America's First Quiz Show Millionaire. The book was published by Berkley Books in 2002.

In 2000, Carpenter appeared in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Champions Edition, in which previous contestants who won $250,000–$1,000,000 played again, with half of their additional winnings from the Champions Edition going to a charity of their choice. Carpenter won $250,000, bringing his total Millionaire winnings to $1,250,000. In 2004, Carpenter participated in Super Millionaire, as one of the "Three Wise Men" on the episode during which Robert "Bob-O" Essig won $1,000,000.

On the November 19, 1999, episode of Millionaire, Carpenter proceeded to advance to the million-dollar question without using any lifelines. He then used his Phone-a-Friend to call his father, not for help, but rather to tell him he was going to win the game. Carpenter answered the question correctly and became the show's first millionaire. His win gave him national recognition and led to multiple talk show appearances, as well as subsequent appearances on Millionaire.

Carpenter was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. His father, Tom, worked as a computer program analyst for the Department of Veterans Affairs, while his mother, Gail, served as an administrative assistant for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. In 1986, he enrolled at Rutgers University and graduated in 1990 with a degree in economics. In January 1991, he joined the Internal Revenue Service after completing government exams and tests. In November 1996, Carpenter met his future wife, Deborah, who was studying for a master's degree at Southern Connecticut State University and worked as a manager of a Fleet Bank branch in New Haven. They married in August 1998. At the time of his appearance on Millionaire, he was 31 years old. When he revealed his profession as an IRS officer on Millionaire, Carpenter was playfully booed by the audience.

John Carpenter (born December 24, 1967) is an American game show contestant and Internal Revenue Service agent. He is the twelfth highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. Carpenter is best known for becoming the first top-prize winner on the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and the first ever top-prize winner in the entire Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise. He held the record for the largest single win in United States game show history, until it was broken by Rahim Oberholtzer who won $1.12 million on another U.S. quiz show, Twenty One.