A publicist says popular game show host Bob Barker, a household name for a half-century as host of 鈥淭ruth or Consequences鈥 and 鈥淭he Price Is Right,鈥 has died at his home in Los Angeles. Barker was 99.
Barker 鈥 also a longtime animal rights activist 鈥 died Saturday morning (Aug. 26), according to publicist Roger Neal.
鈥淚 am 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,鈥 said Nancy Burnet, his longtime friend and caretaker, in a statement.
Barker retired in June 2007, telling his studio audience: 鈥淚 thank you, thank you, thank you for inviting me into your home for more than 50 years.鈥
Barker was working in radio in 1956 when producer Ralph Edwards invited him to audition as the new host of 鈥淭ruth or Consequences,鈥 a game show in which audience members had to do wacky stunts 鈥 the 鈥渃onsequence鈥 鈥 if they failed to answer a question 鈥 the 鈥渢ruth,鈥 which was always the silly punchline to a riddle no one was ever meant to furnish. (Q: What did one eye say to another? A: Just between us, something smells.)
In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Barker recalled receiving the news that he had been hired: 鈥淚 know exactly where I was, I know exactly how I felt: I hung up the phone and said to my wife, 鈥楧orothy Jo, I got it!鈥欌
Barker stayed with 鈥淭ruth or Consequences鈥 for 18 years 鈥 including several years in a syndicated version.
Meanwhile, he began hosting a resurrected version of 鈥淭he Price Is Right鈥 in 1972. (The original host in the 1950s and 鈥60s was Bill Cullen.) It would become TV鈥檚 longest-running game show and the last on a broadcast network of what in TV鈥檚 early days had numbered dozens.
鈥淚 have grown old in your service,鈥 the silver-haired, perennially tanned Barker joked on a prime-time television retrospective in the mid-鈥90s.
In all, he taped more than 5,000 shows in his career. He said he was retiring because 鈥淚鈥檓 just reaching the age where the constant effort to be there and do the show physically is a lot for me. 鈥 Better (to leave) a year too soon than a year too late.鈥 Comedian Drew Carey was chosen to replace him.
Barker was back with Carey for one show broadcast in April 2009. He was there to promote the publication of his memoir, 鈥淧riceless Memories,鈥 in which he summed up his joy from hosting the show as the opportunity 鈥渢o watch people reveal themselves and to watch the excitement and humor unfold.鈥
He well understood the attraction of 鈥淭he Price Is Right,鈥 in which audience members 鈥 invited to 鈥淐ome on down!鈥 to the stage 鈥 competed for prizes by trying to guess their retail value.
鈥淓veryone can identify with prices, even the president of the United States. Viewers at home become involved because they all have an opinion on the bids,鈥 Barker once said. His own appeal was clear: Barker played it straight 鈥 warm, gracious and witty 鈥 refusing to mock the game show format or his contestants.
鈥淚 want the contestants to feel as though they鈥檙e guests in my home,鈥 he said in 1996. 鈥淧erhaps my feeling of respect for them comes across to viewers, and that may be one of the reasons why I鈥檝e lasted.鈥
As a TV personality, Barker retained a touch of the old school 鈥 for instance, no wireless microphone for him. Like the mic itself, the mic cord served him well as a prop, insouciantly flicked and finessed.
His career longevity, he said, was the result of being content. 鈥淚 had the opportunity to do this type of show and I discovered I enjoyed it 鈥 People who do something that they thoroughly enjoy and they started doing it when they鈥檙e very young, I don鈥檛 think they want to stop.鈥
Barker also spent 20 years as host of the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Universe Pageant. A longtime animal rights activist who daily urged his viewers to 鈥渉ave your pets spayed or neutered鈥 and successfully lobbied to ban fur coats as prizes on 鈥淭he Price Is Right,鈥 he quit the Miss USA Pageant in 1987 in protest over the presentation of fur coats to the winners.
鈥淚 am 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,鈥 said Nancy Burnet, his longtime friend and caretaker, in a statement. Burnet is now also the co-executor of Barker鈥檚 estate.
In 1997, Barker declined to be a presenter at the Daytime Emmy awards ceremony because he said it snubbed game shows by not airing awards in the category. He called game shows 鈥渢he pillars of daytime TV.鈥
He had a memorable cameo appearance on the big screen in 1996, sparring with Adam Sandler in the movie 鈥淗appy Gilmore.鈥 鈥淚 did `The Price Is Right鈥 for 35 years, and they鈥檙e asking me how it was to beat up Adam Sandler,鈥 Barker later joked.
In 1994, the widowed Barker was sued for sexual harassment by Dian Parkinson, a 鈥淧rice is Right鈥 model for 18 years. Barker admitted engaging in 鈥渉anky panky鈥 with Parkinson from 1989-91 but said she initiated the relationship. Parkinson dropped the lawsuit in 1995, saying it was hurting her health.
Barker became embroiled in a dispute with another former 鈥淧rice Is Right鈥 model, Holly Hallstrom, who claimed she was fired in 1995 because the show鈥檚 producers believed she was fat. Barker denied the allegations.
Neither uproar affected his goodwill from the audience.
Born in Darrington, Washington, in 1923, Barker spent part of his childhood on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where his widowed mother had taken a teaching job. The family later moved to Springfield, Mo., where he attended high school. He served in the Navy in World War II.
He married Dorothy Jo Gideon, his high school sweetheart; she died in 1981 after 37 years of marriage. They had no children.
Barker was given a lifetime achievement award at the 26th annual Daytime Emmy Awards in 1999. He closed his acceptance remarks with the signoff: 鈥淗ave your pets spayed or neutered.鈥
Frazier Moore, The Associated Press
