Bob Barker

AKA Robert William Barker

Born: 12-Dec-1923

Birthplace: Darrington, WA



Gender: Male

Race or Ethnicity: White [1]

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: Game Show Host, Actor

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: The Price Is Right

Military service: US Navy (1943-45)

Bob Barker grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where his mom was a schoolteacher. He went to college on a basketball scholarship, then joined the Navy to fight World War II. He was hosting an audience-participation radio show in L.A., when Ralph Edwards happened to be listening and liked Barker's voice and style. Barker took over as host of Truth or Consequences within a few weeks, in 1956. His version of that show ran 18 years, and while it was still running Barker started a new version of another oldie, The Price Is Right, in 1972. It's still running -- TV's longest-running game show -- though Barker finally retired in 2007.

The models on the show were sometimes called "Barker's beauties", and longtime beauty Dian Parkinson sued Barker for coercing her into sex. Barker admitted to "hanky-panky" but maintained that it was consensual. Parkinson dropped her lawsuit, saying she couldn't match Barker's budget for lawyers.

Barker stopped eating meat in 1979 as part of his pro-animal activism. His hair suddenly went gray in the late 1980s when he stopped using hair dye -- it's tested on animals. He quit a lucrative gig as host of the Miss Universe pageant because they wouldn't stop giving contestants furs. TPIR, of course, long ago stopped having contestants win furs, meat, or anything made of leather, etc.

Bob Barker studied karate under Chuck Norris and other masters for more than twenty years. Even at 90-something, there's a fair chance he could kick Adam Sandler's ass, just like he did in Happy Gilmore.

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