Bob Barker | |
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 Barker in 1975 | |
| Born | Robert William Barker (1923-12-12)December 12, 1923 Darrington, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | August 26, 2023(2023-08-26) (aged 99) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills |
| Citizenship |
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| Education | Drury University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active |
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| Television |
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| Spouse | [1] |
| Signature | |
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Robert William Barker (December 12, 1923 – August 26, 2023) was an American media personality, game show host, and animal rights advocate. He hostedCBS'sThe Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in North American television history, from 1972 to 2007. Barker also hostedTruth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.
Born inDarrington, Washington, in modest circumstances, Barker spent most of his youth on theRosebud Indian Reservation and was a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Barker joined theUnited States Navy Reserve duringWorld War II. He worked part-time in radio while attending college. In 1950, Barker moved to California to pursue a broadcasting career. He was given his own radio show,The Bob Barker Show, which ran for six years.[1] Barker began his game show career in 1956, hostingTruth or Consequences.
Barker began hostingThe Price Is Right in 1972. He became an advocate foranimal rights and ofanimal rights activism, supporting groups such as theUnited Activists for Animal Rights,People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and theSea Shepherd Conservation Society. In 2007, Barker retired from hostingThe Price Is Right after celebrating his 50-year career on television. Regarded as apop culture icon, Barker continued to make occasional appearances for several years into his retirement until 2015.
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Robert William Barker was born on December 12, 1923, inDarrington, Washington, and spent most of his youth on theRosebud Indian Reservation inMission, South Dakota.[2] The U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885–1940, list Barker as a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, which the tribe publicly confirmed.[3][4] His mother, Matilda ("Tillie") Valandra (née Matilda Kent Tarleton), was a schoolteacher; his father, Byron John Barker, was the foreman on the electrical high line through the state of Washington. As Barker's father was one-quarterSioux,[5] and his mother non-Native, Barker was one-eighth Sioux.[6] Barker attended the grade school on the Rosebud Reservation where his mother was a teacher.[5] Barker once said, "I've always bragged about being part Indian, because they are a people to be proud of. And the Sioux were the greatest warriors of them all."[5]
Barker met his future wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, at anElla Fitzgerald concert while he was attending high school in Missouri; they began dating when he was 15.[7] Barker attended Drury College (nowDrury University) inSpringfield, Missouri, on a basketballathletic scholarship.[1] He was a member of the Epsilon Beta chapter ofSigma Nufraternity at Drury.[8] Barker joined theUnited States Navy Reserve in 1943 duringWorld War II to train as a fighter pilot but did not serve in combat. On January 12, 1945, while on leave from the military, Barker married Dorothy Jo.[7][9] After the war, he returned to Drury to finish his education, graduatingsumma cum laude with a degree in economics.[1]
While attending college in Drury, Barker worked his first media job atKTTS-FM Radio in Springfield. He and his wife left Springfield and moved toLake Worth Beach, Florida, and Barker was news editor and announcer at nearby WWPG 1340 AM in Palm Beach (nowWPBR in Lantana).[10] In 1950, he moved to California to advance his broadcasting career. Barker was given his own radio show,The Bob Barker Show, which ran for the next six years fromBurbank.[1] He was hosting an audience-participation radio show onKNX (AM) in Los Angeles when game show producerRalph Edwards, who was looking for a new host to replaceJack Bailey on the daytime-television version of his long-running show,Truth or Consequences, happened to be listening and liked Barker's voice and style.[11]
Barker started hostingTruth or Consequences on December 31, 1956, and continued with the program until 1975.[12]
In early 1972,Mark Goodson andBill Todman began shopping a modernized revival ofThe Price Is Right, withDennis James as host. NBC bought the syndicated nighttime version of the Show first with James at the helm. CBS expressed interest in the series. Due to a contractual obligation and the fact that James was already viewed as the "NBC" Host, CBS wanted Bob Barker as the daytime host. After some initial resistance, Barker instead offered to host another upcoming CBS game show,Jack Barry'sThe Joker's Wild (which had difficulty finding a host and was scheduled to debut the same day asPrice) to allow James to hostPrice, but CBS rejected this proposal.[13] In December 1974, James stepped in to host the daytimeThe Price Is Right for a week when Barker was ill. James was the only person to substitute on the daytime version of the show while Barker was hosting. In 1977, James' contract was not renewed, and Barker took over as host of the nighttime edition ofThe Price Is Right until its cancellation in 1980.
On September 4, 1972, Barker began hosting the CBS revival ofThe Price Is Right.[12]
On October 15, 1987, Barker did what other MCs almost never did then: he stopped using hair dye and let his hair go gray, its natural color by that time.[14]
On October 31, 2006, Barker announced that he would retire fromThe Price Is Right in June 2007.[15] Barker taped his final episode on June 6, 2007, with the show airing twice on June 15; once in Daytime and once on Primetime.[16] On October 15, 2007,Drew Carey took over hosting duties on the show.
After his retirement, Barker made three return appearances toThe Price is Right. He first appeared on the episode that aired on April 16, 2009, to promote his new autobiography,Priceless Memories. Barker appeared in the Showcase round at the end of the show.[17] Barker made another guest appearance on the show to celebrate his 90th birthday, which aired on December 12, 2013. Barker announced a contestant for the first time ever on the show, along with one showcase.[18] Barker's last appearance was a surprise appearance on April 1, 2015, for anApril Fools' Day switch where he took Carey's place at the show's intro. Barker hosted the first bid and pricing game of that day before handing the hosting duties back to Carey; Barker later appeared during the showcase.[19]
In addition to the game shows for which he became famous, Barker also hosted the annual/biennialPillsbury Bake-Off (the bake-off occurred every two years starting in 1976). In 1978, he was the first host to have a male category champ.[citation needed] For several years during the 1970s and 1980s, he also co-hosted CBS's coverage of theRose Parade fromPasadena, California.[citation needed] On September 7, 2009, Barker was a special guest host forWWE Raw (called "The Price is Raw") inRosemont, Illinois.[20] Aired during a period when nearly every episode of the weekly wrestling show featured a celebrity guest host, with mixed results, Barker's appearance has been ranked the best of nearly 80 hosts.[21] Barker also agreed to be a rotating guest co-host onThe Huckabee Show, a daily TV talk show hosted byMike Huckabee. Barker first appeared on the show on July 29, 2010.[22]
Barker's fame from his television hosting roles also saw him become a popular guest on other shows, including as a semi-regular panelist on the game showsTattletales (1975–1976, with wife Dorothy Jo) andMatch Game (1973–1980). Barker sat inRichard Dawson's former place during the first week after Dawson permanently leftMatch Game.[23] Barker also made appearances on various talk shows such as:Dinah!,Larry King Live,The Arsenio Hall Show,Crook & Chase,Donny & Marie,The Rosie O'Donnell Show,The Ellen DeGeneres Show,The Wayne Brady Show, theLate Show with David Letterman, andThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.[23]
Barker often appeared in fiction as himself, usually in acameo appearance, in shows includingThe Nanny,The Bold and the Beautiful[24]Futurama,[25] andHow I Met Your Mother.[26] In 1996, Barker played himself in theAdam Sandler comedyHappy Gilmore. In one scene, Barker beats up Gilmore after an altercation arising from their teaming up in a Pro-Am Golf Tournament. According to Sandler, the original choice for that scene wasEd McMahon, but Sandler said that McMahon was not fond of the script and they got Barker because ofChuck Norris training Barker in the martial arts.[27] In 2007, during a CBS prime-time special commemorating Barker's career, the fight scene fromHappy Gilmore was shown, after which Sandler made a surprise appearance on stage to read a poem paying tribute to Barker.[28] In 2015, duringComedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars" benefit show to battleautism, Barker and Sandler reunited for a video featuring the two of them in a follow-up fight at the hospital, which ends with both of them dying and going to heaven.[29]
However, Barker did play characters apart from himself inBonanza, as a character named Mort in the 1960 episode "Denver McKee", and as a small business owner named Bob Barnacle in "Sanctuary!", an episode of theNickelodeon animated seriesSpongeBob SquarePants.[30]
About one year after his retirement fromThe Price Is Right, Barker appeared in apublic service announcement promoting the transition todigital television in the United States. The advertisement was produced under the first proposed date of February 16, 2009, for the transition.[31][32] He later appeared in a commercial forState Farm Insurance's "Magic Jingle" campaign, where he made "a new car!" appear for a woman whose previous car was totaled by a giant concrete cylinder.[33] In another TV advertisement, Barker endorsedDavid Jolly, a candidate for theRepublican Party nomination for the2014 Florida's 13th congressional district special election. Jolly won the nomination and ultimately won the seat.[34]
Barker was honored after his death with an hour-long TV special celebrating his life. It aired on August 31, 2023.[35]
Barker was married to Dorothy Jo Gideon from 1945 until her death from lung cancer at age 57 in 1981.[36]
From 1983 until his death, Barker was in a long-term relationship with Nancy Burnet, a self-described "radical" animal rights activist nearly 20 years younger than Barker. By mutual decision, Barker and Burnet were never married and lived in separate residences throughout their relationship.[37][38] Barker had no children with either woman, stating that he had seen friends who had poor relationships with their children and felt like he was too busy to properly raise a child; as of 2007, Barker stated that he had no regrets about his decision.[37]
From the late 2000s onward, Burnet described the relationship as a platonic friendship, even as Barker had become more interested in remarrying; she recalled a 2011 incident where Barker drafted aprenuptial agreement for Burnet's lawyer to review and revise as she felt fit, which she refused.[39] Burnet managed Barker's health and diet in retirement.[40]
Barker was a vegetarian.[41] In 1982, Barker began endingThe Price Is Right episodes with the phrase: "This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control thepet population – have your petsspayed or neutered."[42] Though Barker had already been dabbling in animal rights before meeting Burnet, his efforts became more aggressive during his relationship with her.[40]
In 1987, Barker requested the removal of fur prizes for theMiss USA pageant and stepped down as host when the producers refused.[43] In 1989, Barker andUnited Activists for Animal Rights publicly accused several media projects and theAmerican Humane Association of animal mistreatment and condoning animal mistreatment, a tactic whichresulted in a $10 million suit against him and the UAAR[needs update] for libel, slander, and invasion of privacy.[44][45] The suit was finally settled by the insurer in 1994.[46]
Barker founded DJ&T Foundation in 1994, named after his late wife and mother, which has contributed millions of dollars to animal-neutering programs[47] and funded animal rescue and park facilities all over the United States.[48] In 2004, Barker donated $1 million (equivalent to $1.7 million in 2024) toColumbia Law School to support the study of animal rights.[49]
In 2009, Barker wrote a letter about three businesses inCherokee, North Carolina, asking them to close their bear exhibits.[50] He threatened to not attend the 2009 Game Show Awards, where Barker was to receive a lifetime achievement award, becauseBetty White would be attending. Although Barker had previously worked with White,[48] he was feuding with her over the treatment of an elephant at theLos Angeles Zoo. White instead did not attend and pre-recorded her comments that she was scheduled to make about another awardee,Mark Goodson.[51] That same year, Barker donated $1 million (equivalent to $1.4 million in 2021) to theUniversity of Virginia Law School to support the study of animal rights. He made similar donations toHarvard Law School,Stanford Law School,Georgetown University Law Center,Duke University School of Law,Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, andUniversity of California, Los Angeles.[52]
In 2010, theSea Shepherd Conservation Society announced that it had purchased and outfitted a ship to interdictJapanese whaling operations in theSouthern Ocean using $5 million (equivalent to $7.2 million in 2024) provided by Barker. The ship was then named theMYBob Barker, and its existence was first revealed when it helped discover the location of the Japanese whaling fleet.[53][54]
Barker participated in severalPETA public service announcements over the years, including one that claimed that vegan diets prevent Alzheimer's disease.[55] In 2010, he donated $2.5 million (equivalent to $3.6 million in 2024) toward the purchase of office space for the organization in Los Angeles. The Bob Barker Building opened in 2012.[56]
In the late 1980s, Barker accused theAmerican Humane Society and theUnited Activists for Animal Rights of condoning animal cruelty on the set ofProject X and in several other media projects on the basis of allowing acattle prod and a gun on set, and a rumored beating of a chimpanzee on set. American Humane responded by suing Barker for $10 million, citinglibel, slander andinvasion of privacy.[57] American Humane claimed that there had been a two-year "vendetta" against them behind the accusations.[58] In a series of public advertisements along with the lawsuit, American Humane responded to Barker's claims that his allegations were made based on insufficient and misleading information.[57] The suit was eventually settled by Barker's insurance company, which paid American Humane $300,000.[59]
In 1994, former modelDian Parkinson filed a lawsuit against Barker allegingsexual harassment following a three-year affair while working onThe Price Is Right. Parkinson, who alleged that she was extorted by threats of firing, later dropped her lawsuit, claiming the stress from the ordeal was damaging her health.[60]
In 1995, modelHolly Hallstrom leftThe Price Is Right and later filed suit against Barker, alleging that the reason she was fired was not so much because of her 14-pound (6.4 kg) medication-mediated weight gain (as documented) but because, to Barker's displeasure, she refused to give false information to the media regarding Parkinson's suit, as she alleges Barker had requested she do. Barker countersued forslander, but Hallstrom prevailed, receiving asettlement in 2005.[61]
In October 2007, Deborah Curling, a CBS employee assigned toThe Price Is Right, filed alawsuit against CBS, Bob Barker, andThe Price Is Right producers, claiming that she was forced to quit her job after testifying against Barker in a wrongful-termination lawsuit brought by a previous show producer. Curling claimed that she was demoted to an "intolerable work environment" backstage, which caused her to leave the job. Curling, who is black, also alleged that the show's producers, including Barker, created a hostile work environment in which black employees and contestants were discriminated against.[62] A few months later, Barker was removed from the lawsuit, and in September 2009, the lawsuit was dismissed. Curling's attorney stated that he planned to appeal the dismissal of the lawsuit.[63][64] In January 2012, theCalifornia Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.[65]
On September 16, 1999, Barker was in Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress regarding proposed legislation that would bancaptive elephants from traveling shows, such ascircuses. While preparing for the presentation, Barker experienced what he calledclumsiness in his right hand. Barker was admitted toGeorge Washington University Hospital and diagnosed with a partially blocked leftcarotid artery. He underwentcarotid endarterectomy to remove the blockage. The procedure went well enough that Barker was able to return to work within the month.[66]
Three years later, Barker had two additional health crises after taping the 30th-season finale ofThe Price is Right. While lying in the sun on May 30, 2002, he experienced astroke and was hospitalized; six weeks later, on July 11, Barker underwentprostate surgery. Both hospitalizations occurred at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. and both surgeries were successful.[67]
Barker had several mild bouts withskin cancer, a result of his frequent tanning. Barker consulted adermatologist regularly to make sure any cancers were caught and removed before they spread; they did not pose a threat to his life. During a televised interview, Barker told viewers, "I urge anyone who has spent some time in the sun, whether you're doing it now or not, go to a dermatologist once a year."[68]
On October 20, 2015, two police officers passing Barker's Los Angeles-area home saw himtrip and fall on a sidewalk. They called an ambulance which took him toCedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Barker received stitches for an injured forehead and was released; he also hurt his left knee.[69]
Barker slipped and hit his head at home on June 19, 2017. His maid drove him to the emergency room, where Barker was checked and released. His representative said it was not as serious as his earlier fall.[70] In October and November 2018, Barker was rushed to the hospital for severe back pain.[71][72] Barker suffered another fall in January 2019, but he was not hospitalized.[73]
Barker's last public interview was withPeople in August 2021, in which he discussedThe Price Is Right's upcoming 50th season on air.[74]
As of 2022, Burnet stated that, other than some non-prescription supplements such ascollagen and ameal replacement drink to replenish nutrients not found naturally in Barker's vegetarian diet, he took onlyone prescription medication forhypothyroidism.[40]
On August 26, 2023, Barker died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 99[75] following several years withAlzheimer's disease, a condition that Burnet and Barker's publicity team had kept hidden from the public.[76]Hypertension,hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism were listed as secondary causes of death.[55] Barker was interred alongside his wife atForest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills.[77]
Barker's autobiography,Priceless Memories, written with formerLos Angeles Times book review editor Digby Diehl, was published on April 6, 2009.[11]
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Host ofTruth or Consequences 1956–1975 Served alongside:Steve Dunne (1957–1958) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host ofThe Price Is Right (daytime) September 4, 1972–June 15, 2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host ofThe Price Is Right (syndicated) September 1977–March 12, 1980 | Succeeded by Tom Kennedy (1985–1986) |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 1987–88 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 1990–92 (tie withAlex Trebek in 1990) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 1994–96 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 2000 (tie withTom Bergeron) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host 2007 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
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