Bob Barker
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| Bob Barker |
|---|
| Born |
| December 12, 1923 Darrington, Washington |
Robert William “Bob” Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American television game show host best known for The Price Is Right.
Contents |
Childhood
Born in Darrington, Washington, he grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Rosebud, South Dakota, where his mother, Matilda ("Tilly") Valandra, was a schoolteacher. His father, Byron John Barker, was an electrical power foreman who lost his life in a fall from a utility pole in 1929. Bob has a half-brother, Kent Valandra, from Matilda's subsequent remarriage. Both Tilly and Kent have joined the studio audience for numerous tapings of The Price Is Right.
College
Barker attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri on a basketball scholarship. He was a member of the Epsilon Beta Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity at Drury. His education was interrupted by World War II. Barker served in the Navy as a fighter pilot. However, the war ended before he was assigned to a seagoing squadron. After the war, he returned to Drury to finish his education, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in economics. He was hosting an audience-participation radio show in Los Angeles, when game show producer Ralph Edwards happened to be listening and liked Barker's voice and style. 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.
Marriage
In 1937, at the age of 14, Barker met future wife, Dorothy Jo, at an Ella Fitzgerald concert. Dorothy Jo died of lung cancer on October 19, 1981. His mother Matilda Valandra lived with him until her death in 1993.
Animal rights
Barker is an outspoken member of the animal rights movement, and is known for ending each episode of his game show The Price Is Right by saying, "Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered." This practice would later be followed by now-deceased game show hosts Jack Barry and Bert Convy. When the United States Postal Service created a series of postage stamps on this subject, one of the shows had a small segment whose only purpose was to publicize them. CBS goes out of its way to offer prizes that do not violate Barker's animal rights views (though for the first ten years of shows did feature fur coats as prizes, and Barker has since prohibited the airing of such past episodes that featured fur coats as prizes).
Game show career
Truth Or Consequences
Barker started hosting on December 31, 1956. The idea was to mix the original quiz element of game shows with wacky stunts. On the show, people had to answer a trivia question correctly (usually an off-the-wall question that no one would be able to answer correctly) before "Beulah the Buzzer" was sounded. If the contestant could not complete the "Truth" portion, there would be "Consequences," usually a zany and embarrassing stunt.
In many broadcasts, the stunts on Truth or Consequences included a popular, but emotional, heart-wrenching surprise for a contestant, that being the reunion with a long-lost relative or with an enlisted son or daughter returning from military duty overseas, particularly Vietnam.
The Family Game
In 1967, Barker hosted the short-lived game show The Family Game, where he 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.
The Price Is Right
On September 4, 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–1960s original.
In 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).
On March 1, 2004, the 6000th episode of The Price Is Right hit the air. On this episode, the daytime winnings record (which had been $88,865 since 1992), was broken by a woman named Amy Rempel. She won $97,130.
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 and on occasion when CBS's turn in the rotation occurs for the Daytime Emmy Awards, including the post-September 11 terrorist attack themed episodes honoring the different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, etc.) and public safety officers, and later special occasions. Coincidentally, the first of the specials saluting the Armed Forces to air was the Navy, which was Barker's own branch of the military, and both CBS and RTL showed photos from Barker's own time in the Navy.
During the prime time shows, the prizes are more extravagant than in the daytime version, and the cash amounts are higher, with Plinko, It's in the Bag, and Grand Game featuring higher dollar values. In the Showcase Showdown, the $10,000 bonus was replaced during the specials. In the 2002 military specials, $100,000 can be won if the player spins $1.00 in their bonus spin, but was never won. Since 2003, a $1,000,000 prize can be won on the prime time version; this has yet to be won, however there have been a few close calls.
Lawsuits
Dian Parkinson, a prize model for the show from 1975 to 1993, filed an $8 million suit against Barker for sexual harassment. Barker admitted that he had slept with Parkinson, but stated the "hanky panky" (Barker's words) between them was consensual. Parkinson gave up her legal fight with Barker in 1995.
Barker was involved in more legal trouble with a The Price is Right model in 1995. Holly Hallstrom, a model from 1977 to 1995, stated that she had gained 14 pounds because of drugs to treat a hormonal condition, and had been fired for failure to lose weight. Barker responded with a countersuit for slander and libel, and Hallstrom answered back with a suit for wrongful dismissal. The suit by Barker was dropped after five women who worked for The Price is Right testified in Hallstrom's behalf.
Five women were dismissed from The Price is Right in 2000, as their contracts were not renewed. The obstensible reason for their dismissal was to hire younger models to appeal to a younger demographic and to save costs. (Barker was renewing his own contract on a year to year basis for budget reasons.) Four of the women who were dismissed had testified on Hallstrom's behalf in the Barker countersuit. The women included models Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley. All of the women dismissed sued for wrongful termination. The cases were settled out of court, although the suit by former production assistant Linda Riegart is still awaiting a trial date.
The plantiffs against Barker have painted a picture of an atmosphere where The Price Is Right models and employees suffer routine sexual harassment and racial slurs. Supporters of Bob Barker state that Barker's name is dragged into lawsuits and scandalous allegations in the hopes of gaining tabloid attention.
Longevity records and celebration
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, who is four years younger than Barker, has held a job longer than Barker in the entertainment industry albeit not a weekday job but seasonal.
At age 82, 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 2003, 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 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.
Awards and recognition
Barker has won 15 Emmy Awards in total. 12 were for Outstanding Game Show Host, even more than any other performer. He has also won twice for Executive Producer of The Price Is Right and received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Television in 1999.
In 1997, he and Adam Sandler won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight for Happy Gilmore, and became the oldest winner of any MTV award, at 73.
In March 1998, on the 5000th episode of The Price Is Right, CBS dedicated the soundstage where the show has been produced since 1972, in honor of Barker.
In 2004, Barker was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Filmography
In 1996, Barker played himself in the Adam Sandler comedy movie Happy Gilmore. In one scene, Barker beats up Gilmore after an altercation arising from their teaming up in a Pro-Am Golf Tournament. Gilmore fights back and briefly gets the upper hand, declaring, "The price is wrong, bitch!" Bob then gets up, and knocks him down a grassy hill declaring "I think you've had enough." Barker reportedly accepted the role when he learned he would get to win the fight with Sandler[1]. "It took 46 years from the time I first came to Hollywood for me to land a movie role," Barker said about his role in Gilmore. "I hope I won't have to wait that long for the next offer."[2]
He received that chance again in 2000 and 2001 when he was asked to voice himself on the hit Fox shows Futurama and Family Guy. He appeared in the Futurama episode "Lesser Of Two Evils" in 2000, followed by the Family Guy episode "Screwed The Pooch" in 2001.
Barker also in the late 90's played the father of Mel Harris on a few episodes of the NBC sitcom "Something So Right."
He also has made small cameo appearances on some of the CBS daytime soap operas that his show is scheduled alongside throughout the years. In 2006 He Might Narrated A Children's Tv Show Name * Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends .
Trivia
- Barker was a regular panelist on the game shows Tattletales (with wife Dorothy Jo) and Match Game. Barker sat in Richard Dawson's former place during the first week of Dawson's permanent absence from the show.
- Barker, the Beauties, and Rod Roddy all played in a special week-long tournament on CBS's Family Feud with Ray Combs against the cast of The Young and the Restless in a battle of the daytime shows in November 1991 with money donated to charity. Coincidentally, one of the Y&R players that week was Doug Davidson, who would host the short-lived, syndicated The New Price Is Right in 1994.
- Barker got a letter from a viewer who watched The Price Is Right and noticed that his hair went from dark to grey the very next day. The viewer said, "Bob, you must have had a hell of a night!"
- Barker would have a traditional luncheon with Ralph Edwards every December 21, until Edwards died in 2005.
- Barker trained and earned his black belt in the martial arts with action celebrity and infamous black belt Chuck Norris. Norris was one of the many guest stars on the special primetime The Price Is Right celebrating Bob's 80th birthday. Other guests included Ray Romano, Charlie Sheen, Celine Dion, and Larry King.
- Barker is good friends with celebrities Rosie O'Donnell and Wayne Brady. He appeared on both of their talk shows. He also was a good friend of Arsenio Hall, and appeared numerous times on his show.
- Barker had Adam Sandler make a cameo appearance on The Price Is Right for the "Happy Gilmore showcase." Happy Gilmore was the movie that Bob was in, and it starred Sandler and included the infamous fight between the two.
- Works closely with Betty White as an advocate for animal rights.
- He became a vegetarian in 1979 when he started to promote animal rights after being named the national spokesman for "Be Kind To Animals Week" which culminated in May 1980. He also forbids any fur prizes and animal-tested products and/or prizes from being on The Price Is Right and also doesn't allow the rerunning of past episodes where those products were offered on the show (sans the original Bill Cullen-hosted version, which Barker had no involvement with).
- Barker is a sports enthusiast, and plays golf and practices martial arts on a daily basis.
- He appeared as a sub-host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1966.
- He loves history and collects military figurines, his main area of interest is the US Civil War.
- Was formerly a host of the Miss USA/Universe Pageants (1967-1987), but stepped down in 1987 when his request for the removal of fur prizes was declined.
- Created and hosted "The Bob Barker Fun and Games Show" from 1978 to 1986 which was a combination of stunt particpation in the style of Truth Or Consequences and pricing games such as the Price Is Right in which Bob traveled throughout the United States and Canada selling out various arenas and venues.
- Played the father of Mel Harris on a few episodes of the NBC sitcom Something So Right.
- In December 2002, Bob appeared on Hollywood Squares/H2 three times in the same week to do some outro segments during Game Show Week. In one, he's talking to host Tom Bergeron, telling him "I remember watching Hollywood Squares with my good friend Peter Marshall... Who's hosting now?" In a second, Tom replaces Bob Barker's name on the plaque outside of Bob Barker Studios/Studio 33 (where both shows taped) with his name written in marker on a piece of tape. Bob would later remove the tape, then look at the camera and say "As if!" The third one had Tom Bergeron mentioning that Hollywood Squares/H2 was taped at the Bob Barker studio, the same studio where "The Price is Right" is taped. Following that, Barker appears on screen and asks Tom for rent money. (It was that week where Bergeron would assume the center square and Marshall have a one-day hosting gig.) Bob and the TPIR models also were guests on Hollywood Squares in 1987 when John Davidson was the host.