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’s with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Biggest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us,” his longtime spokesman Roger Neal confirmed to The Post.
Barker was a 18-time Daytime Emmy award-winner: 14 for Outstanding Game Show Host for “The Price Is Right” and 4 Outstanding Game Show awards because the beloved program’s executive producer.
The small screen’s most enduring silver fox was awarded the Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
“Bob Barker was a Daytime television mainstay for generations [who] helped to define the sport show genre, cementing the ‘Price is Right’ as a powerhouse format that has remained essentially unchanged for greater than half a century,” Adam Sharp, president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Art and Sciences, told The Post. “You don’t mess with perfection. His championship of the craft and for animal welfare were equal of their exuberance. His presence might be missed greatly by the Emmy community.”
Barker also 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.
Nonetheless, when asked how he’d liked to be remembered after he’s gone, Barker said: “I feel that it will be nice if people remembered me as a man who loved all living things and did as much as he could to make ours a greater world for animals — and in addition did quite a number of television shows.”
Barker famously signed off each episode with, “That is Bob Barker reminding you to assist control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered,” marking one among the primary high-profile campaigns to regulate the over-population of animals in America.
His close friend Nancy Burnet, the co-executor of his estate who has overseen the star’s take care of a few years, told The Post she’s “so pleased with the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to reveal the cruelty to animals within the entertainment industry and including working to enhance the plight of abused and exploited animals in the USA and internationally. We were great friends over these 40 years, he might 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 all the time bragged about being part Indian, because they’re a people to be pleased with — and the Sioux were the best warriors of all of them,” Barker said in 1962. “They’ve been called the best light cavalry within the history of man. And I actually have never been on a horse without falling off.”
Barker attended Drury University on a basketball scholarship until he left to affix the Navy Reserve in 1943 during World War II to coach as a fighter pilot but never served on lively duty.
Barker married his highschool sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon, in 1945 and returned to Drury the identical 12 months to earn his degree in economics.. The couple never had children and Gideon died in 1981.
Barker got his first media job at KTTS-FM Radio in Springfield, Missouri, while still in 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 profession.
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 exchange original host Jack Bailey on the sport 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 greater than three many years until his final episode aired on June 15, 2007.
The then-83-year-old Barker — who also hosted the Miss Universe pageant for a few years — officially passed his hosting duties along to comedian Drew Carey, who shared his condolences Saturday via X, the platform formerly often known as Twitter.
“Very sad day for the Price Is Right family, and animal lovers all around the world,” Carey, 65, wrote. “There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t consider Bob Barker and thank him. I’ll carry his memory in my heart perpetually. #RIPBobBarker We love you.”
“I knew I could never be Bob, and I wasn’t going to attempt to be Bob,” Carey said upon picking up the hosting baton. “We went out to lunch, and his advice was ‘Don’t attempt to copy me. Just make it your personal show.”
“I’m often asked what I loved most about my years with ‘Price,’ and the very first thing that pops to mind is … the cash, in fact,” Barker added on the time of his retirement.
“All kidding aside, there was much to like. I had the pleasure of working with a dedicated and talented forged and crew for 35 great years.”
“Particularly near my heart was the flexibility our vast popularity gave me to remind our entire audience each day concerning the importance of spaying and neutering your pets,” Barker said of his famous sign-off, which he said at the tip of each episode starting in 1982.
In 1994, the previous “Price” model Dian Parkinson sued Barker for a reported $8 million for alleged sexual harassment following an illegal termination.
She claimed she was forced to have oral sex with Barker in his dressing room “about twice per week” for three-and-a-half years, and feared she’d be fired if she refused.
Barker countered that she’d initiated “a bit of hanky-panky” and copped to having a consensual relationship with Parkinson for a 12 months and a half. A judge dismissed the wrongful termination charge within the suit but let the sexual harassment charge stand. Then, in 1995, Parkinson dropped the entire shebang, citing medical stress related to the lawsuit (a bleeding ulcer) and her inability to afford a costly legal battle.
A 12 months later, fellow “Barker Beauty” Holly Hallstrom claimed in a lawsuit that she was fired from the show because she refused to offer 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 bounced back from scandal with a fan-favorite cameo in “Comfortable Gilmore,” during which he famously beat up Adam Sandler’s smart-mouthed title character with the hilariously iconic line: “The worth is fallacious, bitch!”
Sandler, 56, posted a tribute to his scene-stealing co-star on social media: “The person. The parable. The most effective. Such a sweet funny guy to hang around with. Loved talking to him. Loved laughing with him. Loved him kicking the crap out of me. He might be missed by everyone I do know! Heartbreaking day. Like to Bob all the time and his family! Thanks for all you gave us!”
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 need to speak about ‘Comfortable Gilmore,’” Barker said in a 2013 interview with “CBS Mornings.”
“They’d say ‘Could you actually 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.
The TV icon survived a series of health scares throughout his long life.
In September 1999, he had emergency surgery to repair a life-threatening blocked artery on the left side of his neck.
Barker had quite a few bouts of skin cancer throughout his life resulting from 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 within the brow.
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.
