Bob Barker’s agent confirmed that he passed away at his home in Los Angeles. He taped more than 5,000 programs in his career. He won 19 Daytime Emmy Awards and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2004.
Bob Barker, the dashing host who achieved great fame in American homes for more than half a century with his “Truth or Consequences” and “The Price Is Right” quiz shows, died Saturday at the age of 99.
Barker, also an animal rights activist, died Saturday morning at her home in Los Angeles, her agent Roer Neal said.
“I am very proud of the trailblazing work Barker and I did together to expose animal cruelty in the entertainment industry, including work to improve the plight of abused and exploited animals in the United States and internationally,” Nancy Burnet, a longtime friend and co-executor of the onetime host’s estate, said in a statement.
Barker retired in June 2007 with his announcement to a studio audience, “I thank you, thank you, thank you for inviting me into your homes for more than 50 years.”
Barker was working for radio in 1956 when producer Ralph Edwards invited him to audition as the new host of “Truth or Consequences,” a program in which audience members could participate in some outlandish stunt – the “consequence” – if they failed to answer a question – the “truth” – which was the punch line of an impossible-to-answer riddle. (Question: What did one eye say to the other eye? Answer: Between you and me, something smells fishy).
In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Barker recalled when he was told he’d been hired: “I know exactly where I was, I know exactly how I felt: I hung up the phone and said to my wife, ‘Doroti Jo, I got it!'”
Barker lasted 18 years with “Truth or Consequences,” including several years on his version for various television networks.
Meanwhile, he would begin hosting the revived version of “The Price Is Right” that CBS would air in 1972. (The original host of the show in the 1950s and 1960s was Bill Cullen). The quiz show would become the longest-running quiz show on television and the last in contrast to the dozens that existed in the early days.
“I got old in service to you,” Barker, with his permanent tan and graying hair, quipped in a prime-time television retrospective in the mid-1990s.
CBS said in a statement that daytime television has lost one of its “most iconic stars.”
“We lost a beloved member of the CBS family today with the passing of Bob Barker,” the television network said. “He made countless people’s dreams come true and everyone felt like a winner when they said ‘come on over,'” it added.
In all, Barker taped more than 5,000 programs in his career. He said he was retiring because “I’m getting to an age where the continued effort of being there and doing the show physically is too much for me…Better (to leave) a year too soon than a year too late.” He was replaced by comedian Drew Carey.