Bob Barker
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Bob Barker (born Robert William Barker in December 12, 1923) is an American actor, best known for his role as host of the game show The Price is Right, a job which he has had since 1972.
Born in Darrington, Washington, he grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where his mother taught. In 1939, he met future wife Dorothy Jo at an Ella Fitzgerald concert.
In 1956, he took over hosting of the game show Truth or Consequences. The show made Barker a star; he was clearly a natural whose charisma and charm connected with contestants and viewers. He would host it for 18 years.
In 1967, Barker hosted the short-lived game show The Family Game, where Barker would ask children contestants questions about their family's lives, and the parents had to guess how they answered, in a Newlywed Game-esque fashion.
In 1972, Barker began his most famous assignment hosting the CBS revival of The Price is Right. In the three decades of the CBS version, he has become as synonymous with the show as first host Bill Cullen was with the 1950s–60s original.
Barker's wife Dorothy Jo died of lung cancer on October 19, 1981. His mother Matilda Valandra lived with him until her death in 1993.
Barker is an outspoken member of the animal rights movement, and is known for ending each episode of The Price is Right by saying: "Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered." He forced CBS to stop offering Porsche cars as prizes after one appearance when he learned they were involved in animal testing. CBS goes out of its way to offer prizes that do not violate Barker's animal rights views.
In 1993, he was accused of sexually harassing one of the show's models, Dian Parkinson. Ultimately, it was shown that Parkinson initiated the whole affair and Barker was exonerated.
Barker has set a longevity record as holding a weekday TV job continuously for 49 years as of 2005, which includes his years on Truth or Consequences. Only sportscaster Vin Scully held a job longer than Barker in Entertainment...55 years as broadcaster for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.
At age 81, Barker holds the record of being the oldest man ever to host a game show, and the oldest man ever to host a weekday television program since the inception of network television.
In 1996, Barker played himself in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore. In one scene, Barker beats up Gilmore after an altercation arising from their teaming up in a Pro-Am Golf Tournament.
On September 4, 2002, The Price is Right celebrated 30 consecutive years on the air. It is the longest running game show of all time in North America, and is also the longest running five-day-a-week daytime entertainment program (and only The Tonight Show's 50 years on the air has surpassed it in terms of overall five-day-a-week American entertainment television programming).
In 2002, at the Daytime Emmy Awards Barker received a lifetime achievement award.
In 2003, Bob Barker celebrated his 80th birthday with a prime-time special on CBS. It featured guest appearances by fan Céline Dion along with friends talk-show host Larry King and actor (and Barker's karate instructor) Chuck Norris. The show also featured taped vignettes from CBS stars like Ray Romano, the cast of Becker, and the cast of Joan of Arcadia
In 2004, Bob Barker was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Barker has recently had success with a prime time version of The Price is Right. This stemmed from the incredibly high ratings for the 30th anniversary show in January 2002. Since then, the prime time specials have returned in spurts for sweeps weeks, sometimes with themes such as honoring the different branches of the U.S. armed forces (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, etc.) and American colleges. During the prime time shows, the prizes are more extravagant than in the daytime version, and the cash amounts are higher. Usually $1 million can be won by spinning the big wheel and getting $1.00, and spinning $1.00 on one's bonus spin.
Filmography
Happy Gilmore (1996)