Bob Barker
American game show host (1923–2023) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Robert William "Bob" Barker (December 12, 1923 – August 26, 2023) was an American television game show host and animal rights activist.[2] He was best known for hosting CBS's The Price is Right from 1972 to 2007 and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1974.
Remove ads
Early life
Barker was born Robert William Barker on December 12, 1923 in Darrington, Washington.[3] He was of Sioux descent.[4]
Barker met his future wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, at an Ella Fitzgerald concert while he was attending high school in Missouri; they began dating when he was 15.[5] He went to Drury College (now Drury University) in Springfield, Missouri.[6]
Career
Barker started hosting Truth or Consequences on December 31, 1956.[7] He continued with the program until 1974.[7] On December 4, 1957, Barker began hosting a new Ralph Edwards creation, the short-lived End of the Rainbow for NBC.[8]
On September 4, 1972, Barker began hosting the CBS revival of The Price Is Right.[9] On October 15, 1987, Barker did what other MCs almost never did: he stopped using hair dye and allowed his hair to turn gray.[10]
On October 31, 2006, Barker made his announcement that he would retire from The Price Is Right in June 2007.[11] He taped his last episode on June 6, 2007. The show aired twice on June 15.[12]
Barker acted as himself in the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy movie Happy Gilmore.[13]
Barker won nineteen Daytime Emmy Awards.[14]
Barker broke Johnny Carson's record for continuous performances on the same network television show, appearing for a total of twenty-nine years.[15] At the time of his retirement at aged 83, Barker held the record of oldest person to host a regularly scheduled game show.[16]
Remove ads
Personal life and death
Barker married Dorothy Jo Gideon in 1945.[17] He had no children.[18] Despite retiring from television, Barker was an active animal rights activist.[19] In 1993, Dian Parkinson sued Barker for sexual harassment and the lawsuit was dropped in 1995.[20]
Barker was a skin cancer survivor.[21] On September 17, 2010, Barker collapsed at an L.A. shooting range. He was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for an adverse drug reaction and released.[22]
Barker died on August 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 99.[23] The cause of death was problems caused by Alzheimer's disease.[24]
References
Other websites
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads