‘The Price Is Right’ Host Bob Barker Dies At 99
Television host Bob Barker poses for photographers at his last taping of "The Price is Right" show at the CBS Television City Studios on June 6, 2007 in Los Angeles California. Barker has been the host of the "The Price is Right" for 35 years.
Bob Barker, the longtime host of the game show The Price Is Right, has passed away. In a statement to NBC News Saturday (August 26), his publicist Roger Neal said, “It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us.” Barker was 99 years old. The legendary host spent more than half a century on television. He took over as host of the popular Truth or Consequences in 1956. He hosted that show for 18 years. In 1972, he began hosting The Price Is Right until 2007. After that, Drew Carey took over as host.
Robert Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, said one reason Barker became an iconic game show host was the sheer length of his career. “From the black and white era of television right up to the new century, Bob Barker had a real presence on two really big shows,” Thompson said. “Secondly, you’ve got some game shows where the host just stands behind a podium, but Barker really interacted with regular people” who were selected as contestants. “And he was particularly good at it.”
Robert William Barker was born in Darrington, Washington, on December 12, 1923. At the age of 6, he moved to a Sioux Indian reservation in Mission, South Dakota, with his mother after his father died in a workplace accident. His mother, Matilda, a schoolteacher, remarried and moved again to Missouri. Barker served in the Navy for two years at the end of World War II, then returned to Missouri to attend Drury College, now Drury University, and graduated with a degree in economics. He landed a job at a radio station in Florida, and gained popularity with his smooth delivery. In 1950, he moved to California to start his own radio program, The Bob Barker Show, in Burbank.
Celebrity Deaths 2023: Musicians, Entertainers & Cultural Figures We Lost
We’ve had to say goodbye to some big names this year in the worlds of entertainment, sports, politics and beyond. To be frank, it was an absolutely brutal year.
So many giants in music died in 2023. Guitar god Jeff Beck died suddenly in January at age 78 after contracting bacterial meningitis. In February, legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach died at age 94. Singer, actor and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte died in April at age 96 from congestive heart failure. In May, the world lost Tina Turner – the Queen of Rock ‘n Roll – at age 83. Iconic pop singer Tony Bennett died in July at age 96.
The worlds of television and film were not immune to significant loss in 2023. Sitcom mastermind Norman Lear died in December at age 101. Three’s Company star Suzanne Somers died in October at age 76 from an aggressive form of breast cancer. Matthew Perry also died in October. The Friends star was only 54. Bob Barker, longtime host of The Price is Right, died in August at age 99. Paul Reubens, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman, died in July at age 70 following a private battle with cancer.
The sports world was rocked by the deaths of three major wrestling figures. In June, The Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) died at age 81. Then, in August, there were two back-to-back deaths. First, WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk died at age 79. Funk’s hardcore style has been influential to generations of wrestlers that followed. Then, Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda) suddenly died at age 36. The young wrestler died after contracting COVID, which exacerbated a heart issue and led to a heart attack.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the musicians, celebrities and other cultural figures we’ve lost in 2023.
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
