Bob Barker, legendary ‘Price is Right’ host, dead at 99
Bob Barker, the legendary host of “The Price is Right” and an outspoken animal rights activist, has died of natural causes at his Hollywood Hills home. He was 99.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us,” his longtime spokesman Roger Neal confirmed to The Post.
Barker was a 19-time Daytime Emmy award-winner: 14 for Outstanding Game Show Host for “The Price Is Right” and four Outstanding Game Show awards as the beloved program’s executive producer.
The small screen’s most enduring silver fox was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1995 Daytime Emmys. Barker received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976 and was later inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2008.
However, when asked how he’d liked to be remembered after he’s gone, Barker said: “I think that it would be nice if people remembered me as a guy who loved all living things and did as much as he could to make ours a better world for animals — and also did quite a few television shows.”
Barker famously signed off each episode with, “This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered,” marking one of the first high-profile campaigns to control the over-population of animals in America.
His close friend Nancy Burnet, the co-executor of his estate who has overseen the star’s care for many years, told The Post she’s “so proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose the cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry and including working to improve the plight of abused and exploited animals in the United States and internationally. We were great friends over these 40 years, he will be missed.”
Born Robert William Barker in Darrington, Washington, on Dec. 12, 1923, Barker spent most of his childhood on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, South Dakota. He was a member of the Sioux tribe.
“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,” Barker said in 1962.
“They’ve been called the greatest light cavalry in the history of man. And I have never been on a horse without falling off.”
Barker attended Drury University on a basketball scholarship until he left to join the Navy Reserve in 1943 during World War II to train as a fighter pilot but never served on active duty.
Barker married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon, in 1945. The couple never had any children. Gideon died in 1981.
Also in 1945, Barker returned to Drury to earn his degree in economics.
Barker got his first media job at KTTS-FM Radio in Springfield, Mississippi, during college. He then became a news editor and announced at WWPG 1340 AM in Palm Beach, Florida, before moving to California to advance in his broadcasting career.
He hosted his own radio show in Burbank, “The Bob Barker Show,” for six years, and was hosting a radio show in Los Angeles when he was tapped to replace original host Jack Bailey on the game show “Truth or Consequences.”
Barker hosted “Truth or Consequences” from 1956 to 1975, and in 1972, was asked to host and produce CBS’ revival of “The Price is Right.”
He did so for more than three decades until his final episode aired on June 15, 2007.
The then-83-year-old Barker — who also hosted the Miss Universe pageant for many years — officially passed his hosting duties along to comedian Drew Carey.
Carey posted his condolences Saturday via X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Very sad day for the Price Is Right family, and animal lovers all over the world,” Carey, 65, wrote. “There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t think of Bob Barker and thank him. I will carry his memory in my heart forever. #RIPBobBarker We love you.”
“I knew I could never be Bob, and I wasn’t going to try to be Bob,” Carey said upon picking up the hosting baton. “We went out to lunch, and his advice was ‘Don’t try to copy me. Just make it your own show.”
“I’m often asked what I loved most about my years with ‘Price,’ and the first thing that pops to mind is … the money, of course,” Barker added at the time of his retirement.
“All kidding aside, there was much to love. I had the pleasure of working with a dedicated and talented cast and crew for 35 great years.”
“Particularly close to my heart was the ability our vast popularity gave me to remind our entire audience daily about the importance of spaying and neutering your pets,” Barker said of his famous sign-off, which he said at the end of every episode starting in 1982.
In 1994, the former “Price” model Dian Parkinson sued Barker for a reported $8 million for alleged sexual harassment following an unlawful termination.
She claimed she was forced to have oral sex with Barker in his dressing room “about twice a week” for three-and-a-half years, and feared she’d be fired if she refused.
Barker countered that she’d initiated “a little hanky-panky” and copped to having a consensual relationship with Parkinson for a year and a half. A judge dismissed the wrongful termination charge in the suit but let the sexual harassment charge stand. Then, in 1995, Parkinson dropped the whole shebang, citing medical stress related to the lawsuit (a bleeding ulcer) and her inability to afford a costly legal battle.
A year later, fellow “Barker Beauty” Holly Hallstrom claimed in a lawsuit that she was fired from the show because she refused to give false information to the media regarding Parkinson’s suit as Barker allegedly wanted her to do.
Barker countersued for slander and the case was settled out of court.
In 1996, Barker made a fan-favorite cameo in “Happy Gilmore,” in which he famously beat up Adam Sandler’s smart-mouthed title character with the hilariously iconic line: “The price is wrong, bitch!”
Barker claimed that a stunt double was hired for the fight, but he asked to do his own stunts.
“I did ‘Price’ until 2007 and I didn’t do one show that the audience didn’t want to talk about ‘Happy Gilmore,’” Barker said in a 2013 interview with “CBS Mornings.”
“They’d say ‘Could you really whip at him? Could you beat him up in real life?’ I’d say, ‘Are you kidding? Adam Sandler couldn’t whip Regis Philbin.’ They’d laugh, they loved that.”
Barker released his memoir “Priceless Memories” in April 2009, which he co-wrote with former Los Angeles Times book review editor Digby Diehl.
Barker had several health scares throughout his long life.
In September 1999, he had emergency surgery to fix a life-threatening blocked artery on the left side of his neck.
Barker had numerous bouts of skin cancer throughout his life due to frequent tanning.
In 2015, he suffered a fall outside of his LA home and hurt his left knee. Barker was taken to a hospital and got stitches in the forehead.
He suffered a less serious fall again in June 2017, and was rushed to the hospital in October and November 2018 for severe back pain.
Barker is survived by his half-brother Kent Valandra, half-nephews Robert Valandra and Chip Valandra, half-niece Vickie Valandra Kelly — and a legion of fans.
Read the full article Here
