On Saturday, August 26, the game show world lost an icon when Bob Barker passed away at the age of 99.
Many sources have mentioned about aspects of his early life that included growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where his mother was a teacher so HSGN will focus primarily on his game show career as well as his animal rights activism that he took up after the passing of his wife Dorothy Jo.
Barker, who got his start in radio in Springfield, MO and Palm Beach, FL, moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s and hosted his own audience participation show. The show caught the attention of game show producer Ralph Edwards. Edwards was in search of a host for the daytime version of the show that put him on the map in radio, Truth or Consequences. This version would be seen Monday through Friday on NBC. He was driving his daughters to an ice rink and heard Barker's show so he called Barker to set up a meeting with him about hosting the show. On December 21, 1956, Barker was hired to become the new host of Truth or Consequences. The show returned on New Year's Eve and Barker would preside over the long running stunt show until it was canceled on September 24, 1965 as part of NBC's revamping of their daytime lineup that had the ax falling on Wink Martindale's first game show What's This Song?, the Goodson-Todman game show Call My Bluff and I'll Bet, hosted by Jack Narz and revived in 1969 under the title It's Your Bet.
But Barker was not unemployed for long. In 1966, Edwards revived Truth or Consequences as the first game show to air in first run syndication. He would bring back Barker as host. The show was a hit and paved the way for more syndicated reboots such as What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth and Beat the Clock. This incarnation ran until 1974.
While Barker was presiding over the mayhem on Truth or Consequences, he hosted the ABC daytime game show The Family Game. But The Newlywed Game lone was clobbered in the ratings by Dick Van Dyke Show reruns and a show that was becoming more popular and successful Hollywood Squares. ABC canceled the show after 26 weeks.
Other hosted jobs for Barker included the Pillsbury Bake-Off, the Tournament of Roses Parades and the Miss USA and Miss Universe beauty pageants. He also produced a game show that gave Richard Dawson his first hosting job, a Los Angeles game show that aired locally on the CBS owned station Lucky Pair.
Barker's biggest success came in 1972 when Mark Goodson hired him to host a revival of The Price is Right. Aired opposite NBC's long running game show Concentration, the show became a big hit and three years later it became television's first hour long game show. He presided over the show with humor and the ability to make the contestants feel at home. Barker won 14 Emmy Awards as host and five more when he became executive producer. He also received a lifetime achievement award for his years in television.
But in 1981, tragedy struck Barker when his wife Dorothy Jo passed away from lung cancer. He considered leaving The Price is Right but instead, he channeled his grief into something else he would be best known for, an animal rights activist. He quit hosting the two beauty pageants because the producers were still giving away fur coats. Another success was The Price is Right stopped giving away furs. To this day, under the reigns of current host Drew Carey, no fur coats are awarded as prizes.
HSGN will wrap up this tribute with his familiar closing that's still used by Carey. "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered."
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