Recognized as the man with the thin microphone, Bob Barker was born on December 12, 1923, in Darrington, Washington . Growing up, Barker spent the majority of his time on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where his mother taught school. The Barker family eventually moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Barker attended high school, followed by Drury College on a basketball scholarship. Barker also enlisted to became a Navy fighter pilot; however, World War II ended before he was assigned to a seagoing squadron.

After his discharge, Barker returned to Drury to work at a local radio station while attending college. After earning a degree in economics, Barker landed a job at another radio station in Palm Beach, Florida, where he worked for a year prior to moving to Los Angeles and landing his own radio program, The Bob Barker Show.

Barker’s talent for radio audience participation had become recognizable to producers as something that would translate well to the game show format and he made his television debut as host of the game show Truth Or Consequences in 1956. Barker went on to host Truth or Consequences for an impressive eighteen years but soon surpassed his own record when he began hosting the show for which he is now best –known for, The Price Is Right. On October 31, 2006, Barker announced that he planned to retire from hosting the show in June 2007, making Barker’s run as host a record-breaking thirty-five years.

Barker has broken Guinness World Record as television's Most Durable Performer and Most Generous Host in Television History. With seventeen Emmy awards to call his own, Barker has also been the recipient of the Carbon Mike Award of the Pioneer Broadcasters.

In 1996, Barker played himself in the blockbuster Happy Gilmore, also starring Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, and Julie Bowen. He celebrated his eightieth birthday in 2003 with a CBS prime-time birthday celebration, featuring guests Celine Dion, Larry King, and Chuck Norris.

Barker has also become one of the most high-profile animal rights activists in Hollywood. In 1987, Barker threatened to back out of hosting the Miss USA Pageant if swimsuit contestants wore real furs. Producers conceded, and the furs were switched to synthetic. But the fur flew again one year later, when Barker resigned as host of the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants after twenty-one years, due to producers’ refusal to remove fur coats from the prize packages. Reportedly, the first telecast of the Miss USA Pageant without Barker showed a decline in ratings by 29%.

Barker was accused of less than model behavior when prize model Dian Parkinson filed an $8 million lawsuit against him for sexual harassment. Barker admitted he had sexual relations with Parkinson but claimed they had been consensual, and Parkinson dropped her suit in 1995. In addition to reminding viewers at the end of The Price is Right to have their cats and dogs neutered, Barker has also established and funded the DJ&T Foundation, established to help control the dog and cat population through low-cost or free spaying and neutering clinics. In June 2001, the Harvard Law School established the Bob Barker Endowment for the Study of Animal Rights Law, which supports teaching and research in the field of animal rights.

When he’s not teaching the public the truth about cats and dogs, Barker enjoys karate in his spare time, and has studied under Chuck Norris, who considered Barker one of his most dedicated students. Barker is also an avid world traveler, reader, and Civil War buff. 

YUDDY