Bob Barker was 99 years old when he passed
away in 2023. He spent more than half of those years hosting
TV game shows like "The Price is Right." But his off-screen life had twists and turns
you'd never guess – like an unexpected bond with Chuck Norris. Bob Barker's mother, Matilda Tarleton Barker,
was a school teacher on the Rosebud Native American reservation in Mission, South Dakota,
and her husband was one-quarter Sioux. That meant Barker himself was one-eighth Sioux,
and was an enrolled member of the tribe, spending many of his formative years on the reservation. When he was just six years old, his father,
an electrical power foreman, died in an accident on the job. In the late 1930s, Barker and his mother relocated
to Springfield, Missouri, but he never forgot either his Native American or his South Dakotan
roots. He told the Argus Leader in 1962, "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 loved talking about his heritage and
enjoyed telling stories about the Sioux's legendary prowess in battle and their place
in history, with his own singular wit. He joked, "They've been called the greatest light cavalry
in the history of man, and I have never been on a horse without falling off." As for South Dakota, they're just as proud
of him as he was of them. In 1980, Barker was inducted into the state's
Hall of Fame in the Arts and Entertainment category. Growing up in Missouri, Bob Barker always
wanted to be an athlete. He had a particular obsession with one day
playing for his hometown's major league baseball team. "I wanted to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals. I was held back by a total lack of talent." Eventually, he went to college on a basketball
scholarship, but gave up on his hopes of ever being a pro athlete. Over the years, though, Barker often talked
about his childhood dreams of playing for the Cardinals, and once he was famous, the
club took notice. In a 2000 interview, Barker said that then-Cardinals
manager Whitey Herzog invited the host to come visit the team when he was in St. Louis
for a show. Herzog gave Barker his very own Cardinals
team jacket, and team management also made his dream come true. Barker said, "The Cardinals signed me to a contract. I get a dollar a year from the St. Louis Cardinals
so long as I do not pitch." Many viewers became familiar with Bob Barker
as the host of "The Price is Right" in the '80s, '90s, and beyond. Indeed, between 1972 and 2007, there were
well over 6,700 episodes of the famous game show, and with just four exceptions, Barker
hosted them all. But the truth is, Barker was already a household
name when he offered up his first Showcase in 1972. Long before he was telling contestants they'd
gone over with their bids, Barker was the host of another wildly successful game show,
"Truth or Consequences," where he'd been brought in to replace outgoing host Jack Bailey in
1956. He continued hosting that show for 18 years,
during which time he became one of the most famous game show hosts on television. "It was nice to have you join us there at
home for 'Truth or Consequences.' Make it a habit, won't you?" Even before "Truth or Consequences," Barker
had already made a name for himself elsewhere. Prior to his game show days, he appeared on
the radio, hosting "The Bob Barker Show" from a studio in Burbank, California. He also hosted what was then called an "audience
participation show." The story goes that it was hearing "The Bob
Barker Show" on the radio that convinced TV producer Ralph Edwards to select Barker to
be the next host of "Truth or Consequences." In 1945, Bob Barker married his high school
sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon. Over the course of Baker's career, Gideon
served as a producer, writer, and assistant. According to the man himself, he owes everything
he's ever accomplished to her. He told the Television Academy Foundation, "Without Dorothy Jo, you and I probably would
not be talking. [...] She gave me the confidence to even try
to do what I set out to do." Despite having no formal training, no experience,
and no background in entertainment, Gideon believed Barker could make something of himself
in the industry. The host recalled, "Dorothy Jo said, 'You do this well enough.' She said, 'You're going to be able to do this,'
and that gave me the confidence to try." Gideon wasn't just Barker's emotional support,
though. After relocating to California, she left her
job as a school teacher and went to work with Barker full-time, writing commercial jingles
and much more. Barker explained that Gideon produced and
wrote for Barker's radio shows. The couple remained together until Gideon's
death from cancer in 1981. "She was very bright and totally devoted." Embarking on a career in radio thanks to the
support of his wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, Bob Barker got his first job out of college at
WWPG, a radio station in Palm Beach County, Florida. They'd moved there from Springfield, Missouri,
and he eventually found himself as an editor and staff announcer at the station. But his favorite moments weren't the times
he was hosting shows on the air, but the holiday season when he played a jolly old Saint Nick. Barker declared with absolute certainty, "I was the greatest Santa Claus in the history
of radio. [...] I would go over to this store and put
on my Santa Claus outfit and I lived it. I loved it, I had more fun talking with those
kids, and their parents in some cases too, and we got lots of laughs. We got mail from more adults than we did kids." It was so much of a joy for Barker that he
said he would have made being Santa Claus his full-time job if Christmas was year round. When Bob Barker ended his run as the host
of "The Price is Right," it marked the end of a 35-year era – a then-record for the
game show circuit. He wasn't the first host of the show, but
he was key to its success when it was relaunched as "The New Price is Right" in 1972, though
Barker didn't know it at the time. Initially signed to what he felt was a very
generous contract, he learned later that the show would not have happened without him. Barker told the Television Academy Foundation, "[Creator] Mark Goodson had talked with [producer]
Bud Grant, and Bud Grant had said 'Yes I'll buy that show for CBS if you get Bob Barker
to host it.' I didn't know that when we negotiated. If I'd known that, Mark could have been even
more generous than he was." But it all worked out for everyone. "The Price is Right" went on to become one
of the most successful game shows of all time, and Barker became a TV icon. In the decades after he came to fame, Bob
Barker received numerous awards and honors, including an incredible 19 Daytime Emmy Awards
and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also had a ship renamed in his honor, and
it serves a cause close to his heart. A whaling vessel was rechristened the Bob
Barker by Sea Shepherd Global and served as an anti-whaling ship for 13 years. There's also a street in his old hometown
of Springfield, Missouri, that boasts the name, Bob Barker Boulevard. He received his star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame all the way back in 1976. But the honor that meant the most to him was
when CBS renamed Studio 33 "Bob Barker Studio" in 1998. Over 35 years of hosting "The Price is Right,"
there have been many unforgettable moments — for Barker, and for audiences. There was the time a contestant accidentally
saw the right price by mistake, or the time a game malfunctioned outright and gave the
contestant a win when it shouldn't have. But for Bob, no moment can compare to the
time a woman got a little too excited when her name was called, and her bouncing up and
down gave everybody a show after her tube top couldn't hold her in. Barker has often talked about the incident
as one of his favorite moments as host of "The Price is Right," including his appearance
on the "Rosie O'Donnell Show" in 1998. After showing a clip, he said that moment
was still the most talked-about in "Price is Right" history despite happening 20 years
earlier. "She came on down and they came on out!" Even before he was famous as the host of "Truth
or Consequences," Bob Barker had already been on TV. His first shot on the small screen was on
the game show "Your Big Moment," a local talent show that ran on an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles
for 13 episodes. It turns out, Barker was on TV before he even
owned one. The fact is, Barker broke into TV right when
it was just catching on as an entirely new medium that fascinated the public's imagination. He said to the Television Academy Foundation, "I can remember driving around Hollywood here
and there were people gathered around in front of the windows at the places where you could
buy television sets watching television ... And it just swept the country." It was a radical new way of enjoying entertainment
at home, and it grew so fast that Barker knew his career was going to be taking a very different
trajectory than he'd first imagined, saying, "When I first came out here [in 1950] I was
interested in a national radio show ... but by '52, probably, I knew that if I were going
to work it was going to be on television on a national scale." Considering that the image most people have
in their minds of Bob Barker is of a stiff-moving older man with white hair, it might raise
an eyebrow to find out that he was actually a trained martial artist. In fact, he trained under one of Hollywood's
most famous action heroes, none other than Chuck Norris himself. Even more unexpected is that Barker met Norris
years before the karate master embarked on his own Hollywood career. As it happens, Barker bumped into him when
he was on his earlier game show. In an interview with the Television Academy
Foundation, he said, "I had Chuck Norris as a guest on 'Truth or
Consequences. He did a karate demonstration, and I not only
had not done karate, I had never seen karate. I was so impressed that I started taking lessons." As Barker recounted, he and Chuck Norris formed
a years-long personal relationship that the host looked back on fondly. The arrangement also gave him an up-close
view at Norris' attempts to make it in show business. Speaking about their time together, Barker
recalled, "He used to come over to my house and give
me a karate lesson, have a shower, and then he'd go down the street to an acting class. That was before he'd ever even made his first
movie, you know. I worked with him for seven or eight years. I had a great time with Chuck." According to Barker, Norris didn't go easy
on him, revealing that in one session Norris kicked him, breaking two of the host's ribs. Though Bob Barker is one of the most beloved
faces in TV history, he wasn't immune to the occasional controversy. During his many years on the show, numerous
allegations were made against Barker by women accusing him of wrongful conduct. In 1994, model Dian Parkinson brought a lawsuit
against Barker and "The Price is Right," claiming she had been coerced into having a sexual
relationship with the host in order to keep her job. While Barker initially denied their relationship,
he later acknowledged having an affair with Parkinson. According to Barker, the pair had engaged
in a consensual relationship while she was working on the show, but insisted that there
was no merit to the charge that she'd been pressured into it, calling the case "frivolous." The suit, which Barker said only came about
after he had refused to pay for her silence, was eventually dropped. "She's no fun at all, that Dian." Parkinson said she was out of money and was
suffering medical problems caused by the stress of the case. Barker maintained his innocence and claimed
that if there were any chance she could win in court, the case would never have been dismissed. A year later, though, another suit was filed
against Barker by model Holly Hallstrom, alleging that she had been fired from "The Price is
Right" for gaining weight. Barker filed a counter-claim of slander, but
the two sides reached a deal out of court. A well-known and staunch advocate for animal
rights, Bob Barker was involved with numerous charities over the years. He used his considerable platform to help
protect animals. "I was just born with a love of animals." In addition to urging viewers to have their
pets spayed and neutered, he refused to allow fur of any kind as a prize on the show. Famously, Barker went vegetarian in the late
1970s, an era when that was decidedly not the norm for big celebrities. Barker later spent $25 million to establish
the DJ&T Foundation, which helps clinics spay and neuter to deter pet euthanization, and
donated $5 million to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Barker eventually joined PETA, but perhaps
his most impactful charitable endeavor came from something he didn't do when he refused
to continue hosting the Miss USA Pageant over an animal rights issue. Barker claimed that the organization agreed
to discontinue the practice, but in 1988, he went to host and discovered that the plan
was for the contestants to walk out on stage in fur coats, and he decided to walk away. He said leaving the pageant was the best thing
to ever happen for the anti-fur campaign. Overnight, news of his exit from the pageant
was all over television, and suddenly millions who had never known about the cause were becoming
aware of it for the first time. The vision many have of Bob Barker today is
one of a stately older gentleman with pure white hair. That hair was one of his most distinguishing
features for decades and set him apart from so many other game show presenters. But for decades before, Barker had sported
a suave, dark brown 'do, even well into his 60s. That's because producers of "The Price is
Right" had Barker dyeing his hair, something which began to upset the host when he learned
that the product used was tested on animals. And it took a fight with folks behind the
scenes to let him sport his natural hair color. That day finally came in 1987. Arriving on the stage with a pure white head
of hair, the crowd roared with excitement. He told talk show host Ross Shaffer, "The reaction has been very positive. The girls love this gray hair. Since my hair became gray there's just not
enough of me to go around." Barker even claimed in an Los Angeles Times
interview in 1990 that ratings actually went up after his hair went white. During his time on "The Price is Right," Bob
Barker often talked about how much he loved making the show saying that he'd host for
as long as it was fun. He continued hosting for nearly 20 more years
before he finally spun the showcase showdown wheel for the last time as the regular host
in 2007. Believe it or not, though, he almost said
goodbye seven years earlier. In an interview with the Television Academy
in 2000 he revealed, "I thoroughly enjoy what I do, or I would
have retired long ago. But this is all I've ever done. I was going to quit this year. The show was going beautifully, the ratings
are terrific, I'm doing as well as I've ever done, I think. I should go out on top. I shouldn't stay too long. And so I was going to retire this year." Thankfully for his millions of fans, the network
wouldn't let him go. They made him an offer he couldn't refuse,
and Barker re-signed for another year, ultimately adding another six seasons to his resume after
that. They say records are made to be broken, and
TV records are no exception. For a long while it was Johnny Carson who
held the seemingly unbeatable record for continuous performances on the same network television
show. Then, in 2002, along came Bob Barker, who
one-upped the late-night legend by hosting "The Price is Right" for 29 years, seven months,
and 22 days. Retiring officially in 2007, he'd continue
to hold the record for another seven years until longtime "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek
took his crown in 2014. Trebek hosted his own show right up until
his death in 2020, with his final episodes airing a year later. By 2023, the new record holder was Pat Sajak,
host of "Wheel of Fortune," who has hosted over an eye-popping 7,700 episodes across
four decades. Bob Barker was known for his amiable personality
and jovial wit, perhaps even as one of the happiest men in Hollywood. He was so hard to make angry that David Letterman
poked fun at his famously upbeat attitude with a "Top 10 List of Things That Make Bob
Barker Angry." "And the number one thing that makes Bob Barker
angry…" "Recent allegations that I'm fixed." But there was one person who really did draw
Barker's ire, and it's probably the last person you'd ever expect: "Golden Girls" star Betty
White. The feud between the two celebs went down
back in 2009, two years after Barker had retired from "The Price is Right." Now focused almost entirely on his animal
advocacy, Barker was involved in the very public fight to get an elephant in the L.A.
Zoo released into a sanctuary. But on the other side was White, a proponent
of the zoo who feared it would mean the end of the zoo industry, which itself helps raise
awareness of the plight of animals. Eventually, the battle between the former
network stars got heated, with Barker rumored to have said he wouldn't attend the ceremony
for his own Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Show Awards that year if White was
in attendance. Though neither ever commented publicly on
the spat, it's worth noting that White did not attend in person, and Barker accepted
his award on stage. Though Bob Barker did indeed retire from hosting
"The Price is Right" in 2007, it's not actually the final time he appeared on the show. In fact, it's not even the last time he hosted. In 2009, Barker popped up in a special guest
appearance, walking out during a showcase to promote his book, "Priceless Memories." Emerging to a thunderous applause, he shook
hands with his replacement Drew Carey, before gifting a copy of his book to every member
of the audience, and announcing that all profits from the sale of the book would go to his
non-profit DJ&T Foundation. Six years later, as part of the show's annual
April Fool's tradition, "The Price is Right" introduced Drew Carey, only for Barker himself
to come out on stage. "I have never had a welcome like that!" Barker, at age 92, may have been a little
slower than fans were used to seeing him, but he was as sharp as ever in his final hosting
gig, handing the first bid and pricing game before handing the reins back over to Carey. "The Price is Right" won Bob Barker critical
acclaim and countless awards, and turned him into a cultural icon. In addition to his 19 Emmy wins, he was nominated
an additional 20 times during his career. But when perusing a list of all of his honors
there's one award that stands out: An MTV movie award. Not known for his on-screen acting, Barker
was a surprise choice for the award, which was given for his bit role in the 1996 Adam
Sandler comedy "Happy Gilmore." In the film, Sandler's Gilmore gets into a
fistfight with Barker, playing himself, at a celebrity golf tournament. It's one of the most memorable moments in
the film, and one that has Barker playing decidedly against type duking it out with
Sandler. The fight scene was also the origin of Sandler's
iconic line, "The price is wrong, b—!" For this scene, he and Sandler took home the
MTV Movie Award for best fight. As the host of one of America's most popular
game shows for 35 years, you might think that Bob Barker loved being on the other end of
contestants playing the game, knowing the prizes and all the right answers before they
did. According to Barker though, that's not the
case at all. In an interview with the Television Academy
Foundation, Barker said, "I don't know any of the prices. In fact, I don't even know what the prize
is going to be ... and in the games where the price is the all-important thing, I don't
know what the prices are. And I don't particularly want to." As Barker tells it, being in the dark allows
him to be a lot more interactive with his contestants, giving him the opportunity to
play along with them, have a lot more fun, and even tease them a bit. He said, "If I knew [a contestant] was going to lose,
that would be cruel in a way. But when I don't know I can play it to the
hilt." Retiring from "The Price is Right" in 2007,
and making his last hosting appearance in 2015, Bob Barker spent the last years of his
life out of the public eye, popping up mostly to help promote important animal rights causes. Unfortunately, the last 20 or so years of
his life were marked with a number of health scares, beginning with frequent fights with
skin cancer, apparently caused by decades of tanning. The same year he returned to "The Price is
Right" as guest host, Barker also made the news for taking a fall and injuring his knee,
receiving a number of stitches and being hospitalized as a result. Less than two years later, he was back in
the hospital again for another fall, and again a year after that. Though it wasn't always easy, Barker nevertheless
remained relatively active. He was often seen visiting his wife's grave
and was sometimes photographed by paparazzi while out on leisurely strolls near his Los
Angeles home. Even during his lifetime, there was never
any doubt that the first line in every obituary for Bob Barker would be about his role as
host of "The Price is Right." But that's not what Barker himself really
wanted to be remembered for. In 2007, he spoke with interviewer Terry Morrow
of the Knoxville News Sentinel about his legacy, saying, "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." Well, rest easy, Bob, because you just about
got your wish. While his role as host of "Price is Right"
did indeed top his memorials following his passing in August of 2023, it was his work
fighting for animal rights that was often mentioned right up there with it. "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered."
