Barker was born in 1923 in Darrington, in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains, in the state of Washington. His breakthrough came in 1956, when he became the host of the television channel NBC’s competition program “Truth or consequences”. It became a job he had for almost 20 years, until 1975.
Several years before that, in 1972, he had started leading another competition program on the CBS channel – the successful “The price is right”, where participants have to guess the value of various goods. He held that job until 2007, when he retired from television and passed the baton to comedian Drew Carey.
In addition to his program management, Barker was a profiled animal rights activist and also appeared in small roles on the big and small screen. Among other things, in the comedy film “Happy Gilmore” from 1996, where, as a 70-plus year old, he gives Adam Sandler’s clearly younger lead a beating after a protracted fight on the golf course. A scene that won the “Best Fight” award at the MTV Movie Awards that year.
“Loved talking to him. Loved laughing with him. Loved when he kicked the crap out of me. He will be missed by all,” writes Sandler on Instagram.
Bob Barker was 99 years old.
