The charismatic host of one of the most popular US television game shows in history, The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker, has passed away aged 99, his publicist confirmed on Saturday.
For 35 years, audiences in the US and in many countries around the world watched every weekday as the famously affable Barker called on excited contestants to “Come on down” and test their knowledge of how much consumer goods cost, in return for cash and prizes.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us,” his publicist Roger Neal said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
He said Barker had died of natural causes in his Hollywood Hills home.
Barker, who won 19 Emmy Awards in his 60-year career in radio and television, hosted The Price Is Right — the longest-running game show in North American history — from 1972 until 2007, when the comedian Drew Carey took it over.
“There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t think of Bob Barker and thank him. I will carry his memory in my heart forever,” Carey posted on the X platform.
Barker was a prominent animal activist, once donating US$5 million to the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, which named a vessel after him.
He also hosted the Miss USA contest for 20 years — successfully convincing pageant organizers to ban furs.
The host made several popular cameos in other films and TV shows, from The Nanny to Happy Gilmore and soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
“The man. The myth. The best,” the Happy Gilmore star Adam Sandler posted on X. “Such a sweet funny guy to hang out with. Loved talking to him. Loved laughing with him. Loved him kicking the crap out of me. He will be missed by everyone I know!”
Born on Dec. 12, 1923, in Darrington, Washington state, Barker grew up on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. His mother, a teacher, was part Sioux, while his father was a foreman.
He joined the US Navy Reserve in 1943, during World War II, before beginning his career in radio.
Barker met his wife, Dorothy Jo, in high school. After she died in 1981, he never remarried.
His long-time friend Nancy Burnet, who worked with him on animal rights issues and oversaw his care in later years, said she was “proud” of the work they had done together.
Part of The Price Is Right famously featured a game in which contestants spun a wheel marked in increments from US$0.05 to US$1. They were given the option of spinning a second time for the prize, but if their combined totals went over a dollar, they lost.
“My man got as close as possible without going over a dollar,” X user B.W. Carlin posted, alongside a link to a TMZ report of Barker’s death at age 99. “Legend.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS