Come on Down! Remembering Bob Barker on What Would Be His 100th Birthday
You can’t put a price on personality. Bob Barker’s was beyond compare, a display of unflappable charm, graciousness and good humor no matter the circumstance. With nary a hair out of place, never losing his cool even when frenzied contestants lost their minds, the dapper Barker was the ultimate TV host, receiving 19 Daytime Emmys. Little wonder a “W.G.M.C.” (World’s Greatest Master of Ceremonies) sign hung on his dressing room door for years. “When people asked me how I made a living, I told them I made a living creating spontaneous entertainment with unrehearsed contestants,” he wrote with characteristic modesty in his 2009 memoir, Priceless Memories, published two years after he ended his 35-year run as host of CBS’ enduring The Price Is Right.
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Truth Or Consequences, producer Ralph Edwards, Sandy Grant and Bob Barker celebrate the 25th Anniversary in 1965
The opportunities were pretty much endless on Price, with contestants hugging, kissing and even chasing him around the stage in their excitement to meet their idol and play those pricing games. As befits a cultural icon, Barker enjoyed sending up his wholesome image — memorably sparring with Adam Sandler in 1996’s Happy Gilmore and also appearing as himself on TV comedies How I Met Your Mother, Futurama (as a preserved head) and Family Guy.
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The well-known ‘Barker Beauties,’ from right to left Janice Pennington, Holly Hallstrom and Dian Parkinson
If he could choose his own legacy, it would doubtless be as an outspoken animal-rights activist. He famously ended each episode of Price with a reminder to “have your pets spayed or neutered” to control the pet population. It’s even the last line of his memoir. Remember that the next time you watch someone excitably play Price’s popular game Plinko.
Sonja Flemming/CBS/courtesy Everett Collection
Remind 
Farewell 2023
December 2023
A look back at the stars we loved and lost in 2023.
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