<Tr> <Th> Home town </Th> <Td> Northampton, Massachusetts </Td> </Tr> <P> John Carpenter (born c. 1968) is an American game show contestant and IRS agent . He is best known for becoming the first top prize winner on the United States version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire . 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 . Carpenter was also the first top prize winner among all international versions of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? series . </P> <P> 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 reappearances on Millionaire itself . </P> <P> Carpenter is from 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 . </P>

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