An icon has died in Hollywood.
Bob Barker, the longest-running host of the famous game show The proce Is Right, died from regular causes at age 99 at his Hollywood Slopes home, it was declared Aug. 26.
"It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World's Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker has left us," his representative, Roger Neal, said in a statement to NBC News.
Nancy Burnet, a long-term companion of the late Emmy champ and creature extremist, said in a proclamation given by Neal, "I am so pleased with the exploring work Barker, and I did together to open the brutality to creatures in media outlets and including attempting to work on the predicament of mishandled and taken advantage of creatures in the US and universally. Over the past forty years, we were great friends. he will be remembered fondly."
A U.S. Naval force veteran with broadcasting experience, Barker stumbled upon the opportunity of a lifetime in Hollywood in 1956, very nearly seven years after he moved to California with spouse Dorothy Jo Gideon to propel his profession in radio.
Priceless Memories, Barker's 2009 memoir, claims that while he was hosting his weekly radio show The Bob Barker Show, which featured demonstrations of kitchen appliances, he was approached by Ralph Edwards, a well-known game show producer, and invited to audition for a new version of Truth or Consequences.
In December of that year, Barker was hired to take over for Jack Bailey as host of a game show on television. He kept that job when he was hired to run The Price Is Right in 1972. Barker left Truth or Outcomes in 1975.)
Barker wowed viewers with his warmth and charm as The Price Is Right's inaugural host. His close down state, "assist with controlling the pet populace: during his tenure, "have your pets spayed or neutered" quickly became part of the television vocabulary. The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, the CBS series' primetime spin-off, was launched by Barker when he took on the additional responsibility of executive producer in 1988.
In 2007, Barker announced his retirement from The Price Is Right after 35 years, missing only one taping. Drew Carey, a comedian, took his place, and he continues to host the show.
Barker won 14 Daytime Emmys as the host of The Price Is Right, the most of any performer in the category, and four Daytime Emmys as the show's producer throughout his long career. In addition, in 1999, he received the Daytime Television Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2017.
"This truly finishes my expert life," Barker said at that point. " About a decent a thing might actually happen to anybody in TV."
Despite his work in television, Barker was a staunch supporter of animal rights. He famously clashed with the Miss USA pageant over their fur coat prizes, which led to him stepping down as its host in 1988 after 21 years of emceeing the event. In addition, he raised awareness of the pet population with his signature sign-off. He established the DJ&T Establishment, a non-benefit that supports minimal expense fix and fix facilities across the US, in 1994 and was subsequently respected by creature backing bunch PETA, who named their Los Angeles office after Barker in 2012.
For Barker, his long term creature support work originated from his significant other, who died in 1981. " He previously stated in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation that "I always loved animals and I had contributed financially to animal-oriented organizations, but I had never participated" in publicly advocating for them until Gideon helped open his eyes. "Dorothy Jo was before her times as far as animals were concerned," he said.
"I just felt compelled to do everything I could to change the situation," he continued. And I've been doing that all along."
