47 Facts About Bob Barker

Robert William Barker was born on December 12,1923 and is an American retired television game show host.

Bob Barker is known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history.

Bob Barker is known for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.

Bob Barker was given his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show, which ran for six years.

Bob Barker began his game show career in 1956, hosting Truth or Consequences.

Bob Barker subsequently hosted various game shows, and the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from 1967 to 1987, giving him the distinction of being the longest-serving host of those pageants.

Bob Barker began hosting The Price Is Right in 1972.

Bob Barker spent most of his youth on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, South Dakota.

Bob Barker's mother, Matilda Valandra, was a school teacher; his father, Byron John Barker, was the foreman on the electrical high line through the state of Washington.

Bob Barker attended the grade school on the Rosebud Reservation where his mother was a teacher.

Bob Barker met his future wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, at an Ella Fitzgerald concert while he was attending high school in Missouri; they began dating when he was 15.

Bob Barker attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, on a basketball athletic scholarship.

Bob Barker was a member of the Epsilon Beta chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity at Drury.

Bob Barker joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1943 during World War II to train as a fighter pilot, but did not serve on active duty.

Bob Barker was given his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show, which ran for the next six years from Burbank.

Bob Barker was hosting an audience-participation radio show on KNX in Los Angeles when game show producer Ralph Edwards, who was looking for a new host to replace Jack Bailey on the daytime-television version of his long-running show, Truth or Consequences, happened to be listening and liked Barker's voice and style.

Bob Barker started hosting Truth or Consequences on December 31,1956, and continued with the program until 1975.

CBS expressed interest in the series, on one condition: instead of James, Bob Barker would be installed as host.

On September 4,1972, Bob Barker began hosting the CBS revival of The Price Is Right.

On October 15,1987, Bob Barker did what other MCs almost never did then: renounced hair dye and began wearing his hair gray, which was its natural color by that time.

On October 31,2006, Bob Barker made his announcement that he would retire from The Price Is Right in June 2007.

Bob Barker taped his final episode on June 6,2007, with the show airing twice on June 15.

Bob Barker first appeared on the episode that aired on April 16,2009, to promote his new autobiography, Priceless Memories.

Bob Barker appeared in the Showcase round at the end of the show.

Bob Barker made another guest appearance on the show to celebrate his 90th birthday, which aired on December 12,2013.

Bob Barker announced a contestant for the first time ever on the show, along with one showcase.

Bob Barker's latest appearance was a surprise appearance on April 1,2015, for an April Fools' Day switch where he took Drew Carey's place at the show's intro.

Bob Barker hosted the first one bid and pricing game of that day before handing the hosting duties back to Carey and later appeared during the showcase.

On September 16,1999, Bob Barker was in Washington, DC to testify before Congress regarding proposed legislation that would ban captive elephants from traveling shows, such as circuses.

Bob Barker was admitted to George Washington University Hospital and diagnosed with a partially blocked left carotid artery.

Three years later, Bob Barker had two additional health crises after taping the 30th-season finale of The Price is Right.

Bob Barker had several mild bouts with skin cancer, a result of his frequent tanning.

Bob Barker consulted a dermatologist regularly to make sure any cancers were caught and removed before they spread; they did not pose a threat to his life.

Bob Barker slipped and hit his head at home on June 19,2017.

Bob Barker's maid drove him to the emergency room, where he was checked and released.

Bob Barker's representative said it was not as serious as his earlier fall.

In October and November 2018, Bob Barker was rushed to the hospital for severe back pain.

Bob Barker countersued for slander, but Hallstrom prevailed, receiving a settlement in 2005.

Curling, who is black, alleged that the show's producers, including Bob Barker, created a hostile work environment in which black employees and contestants were discriminated against.

Bob Barker has been an outspoken advocate for a variety of animal rights issues:.

In 1987, Bob Barker requested the removal of fur prizes for the Miss USA pageant and stepped down as host when the producers refused.

In 1989, Bob Barker and United Activists for Animal Rights publicly accused several media projects and the American Humane Association of animal mistreatment and condoning animal mistreatment, a tactic which for libel, slander and invasion of privacy.

In 2004, Bob Barker donated $1 million to Columbia Law School to support the study of animal rights.

In 2009, Bob Barker threatened to not attend the 2009 Game Show Awards, where he was to receive a lifetime achievement award, because Betty White would be attending.

Also that year, Bob Barker donated $1 million to University of Virginia's Law School to support the study of animal rights.

Bob Barker made similar donations to Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Duke University School of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Stanford Law School and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Bob Barker has participated in several PETA public service announcements over the years and, in 2010, he donated $2.5 million towards the purchase of office space for the organization in Los Angeles.