It has been verified by ET that Bob Barker, a veteran of the television industry and a former presenter of “The Price Is Right,” has passed away. His age was 99.
It is with tremendous grief that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us,” Roger Neal, Barker’s longtime publicist, said in a statement to ET. “It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us.” Neal said that, as Barker had requested, there would be no memorial ceremony or burial given in Barker’s honor. At Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, near to the grave of his wife Dorothy Jo, he will be put to rest after his passing. In 1981, Jo passed away.
Barker passed away due to natural causes early Saturday morning at his home in Los Angeles, according to TMZ, which was the first news outlet to report the news.
Nancy Burnet, who has been Barker’s long-term partner, was in charge of monitoring his health and providing care for him for a number of years.
In a statement, she said, “I 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.” “I am so proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose the cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry.” Throughout these last four decades, we have been close friends, and he will be sorely missed.
In response to the loss of the legendary television host, CBS has released a statement via a spokeswoman for The Price Is Right.
“With the loss of Bob Barker, we have today suffered the loss of a much-loved member of the CBS family. “Bob made countless people’s dreams come true during his 35 years as host of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, and when they were called to ‘come on down,’ everyone felt like a winner,” said the statement. Bob hosted THE PRICE IS RIGHT for more than three decades. “Bob will be remembered not just for his iconic half-century career in radio but also for his passionate work in the animal rights movement. One of the most recognizable faces from daytime television has passed away.
Although Robert William Barker was born in Darrington, Washington, he spent the most of his youth on a Native American Reservation in South Dakota, where his mother was a teacher. His mother’s job required her to live on the reservation. After Barker’s father passed away, his family made the decision to relocate to the state of Missouri.
Although Barker is most known for his work in television, he got his start in the broadcasting industry on radio. Following his graduation from college in 1953, Barker obtained his first formal position in the media working for a tiny radio station in the state of Missouri. After some time, he uprooted his life and relocated to Florida, where he got a job as a new editor and announcer at another radio station. He stayed there until he took a chance and moved to California. In 1953, Barker won his first national hosting gig on Truth or Consequences, which was a direct result of his decision to relocate. After then, he was the host of the program for the next twenty years.
“I came out here, no agent, no contacts, every reason to starve, and no reason to survive,” he had previously said with ET about his early days working in the industry. “I had no reason to survive.” “I was able to get a radio program going, and as the owner of Truth or Consequences, Ralph Edwards, was driving down the street, he heard my radio show on the car radio in his vehicle. He invited me to participate in the casting process for Truth or Consequences. He was successful in selling the program, but he was unable to find the kind of presenter he was looking for. He asked me to come in for an audition, and the next thing I knew, I was hosting a program on a major television network. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for me.”
Another opportunity presented itself to Barker in 1972 when the first season of The Price Is Right was shown on CBS. After its predecessor, a game show that had been hosted by Bill Cullen and which had finished its run in 1963, the program made a victorious comeback to television. The Price Is Right is now among the all-time leaders in terms of longevity among game shows because to its long-time host, Bob Barker.
By the 1980s, Barker had solidified his position as one of the game show presenters that garnered the largest viewership on television. In the meanwhile, he had some difficult times in his personal life. Barker’s high school love and wife of 35 years, Dorothy Gideon, passed away in 1981 as a result of lung cancer. Barker did not marry again and the pair did not have any children.
When Barker was thinking back on the time he first met Gideon, he used the phrase “treasured possession” to describe Gideon.
Barker once recounted this story with ET, saying that the woman in question was “sitting on the Veranda at the hotel where I worked.” There was a pack of playing cards at that location. She put her hand into the deck and removed the 10 of spades, at which point she greeted the other player with the words, “Here, this will be your luck.” And I’ve held this for the last six decades, and the name Dorothy Joe is written on the opposite side.
Barker has spent the most of his career portraying himself as a fun-loving game show presenter and animal rights campaigner, and he has done so for the majority of that time. He once referred to the atmosphere on the set of The Price Is Right as one that was similar to a family gathering.
“We have people who have been here for 20 years, 22 years, 23 years, and even a couple of us have been here for all 28 years, and we are a family,” Barker revealed to ET. “We have people who have been here for all 28 years.” “Each of us respects the other person and his abilities, and as a result, it works.” “We know our jobs, and we do them, and we do them to the best of our ability.”
Things started to turn around in 1994, when a former model for The Price Is Right filed the first of numerous lawsuits claiming sexual harassment, racial discrimination, wrongful termination, and gender prejudice. Since then, there have been many more cases filed alleging these same things.
In 2007, Barker stepped down from his role as host of “The Price Is Right.” The most of his latter years were spent away from the public eye.
