Bob Barker

Birthdate: December 12, 1923
Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
Birth place: Darrington, Washington
Oddest Job: Pumping water - restaurant
Nickname: Bob
Hobbies: Laying in sun - doing nothing!
Pets: Dog (Federico) and cat (Dulce)

FAVORITES

Film: Films without animals
TV Show: PRICE IS RIGHT, of course
Cartoon: Cartoons with animals
Comic Strip: "Peanuts", "Marmaduke"
Play/Musical: "Dr. Doolittle"
Book: Books by Bruce Catton
Magazine: Crossword Puzzle magazines
Actor: Tom Mix
Actress: Paulette Goddard
Singer: Ella Fitzgerald
Song: "Anchors Aweigh"
Album: "Victory at Sea"
Musical Group: Glen Miller Orch.
Sport: College Sports
Sports Team: Mission, S.D. Midgets
Athlete: Jim Thorpe
Restaurant: Vegetarian
Fast Food: No thanks!
Dessert: Anything chocolate
Ice Cream: No dairy products, please
Season: Summer
History Figure: St Francis of Assisi
Holiday: Ground Hog Day
Color: Blue
Charity: DJ&T Foundation
Automobile: American Made
Vacation Spot: USA
Place You'd Like to Visit: Antarctica

Named the most popular game show host of all time in a national poll, Bob Barker has graced our television screens for more than three decades. "But", he hastens to add, "I was very young when I started."

Barker made his debut on national television as the host of the popular TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. Ralph Edwards, originator of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, had sold the show as a daytime strip, but he had not chosen a host. For weeks Edwards had been auditioning emcees in Hollywood and New York, but when he heard "The Bob Barker Show" on his car radio he knew he had found the man for the job.

When asked what it was about Barker that had impressed him, Edwards replied, "Bob sounds like Jack Benny doing audience participation." Proving that Edwards had chosen wisely, Barker hosted TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES for an unbelievable eighteen years, and he and Edwards remain close friends today. They drink a toast every December 21st to celebrate the day in 1956 when Edwards called Barker to tell him that he was to become the star of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES.

Barker has been twice named in the Guinness Book of World Records as television's "Most Durable Performer", 3,524 consecutive performances on TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, and "Most Generous Host in Television History", for awarding $55,000,000 in prizes on his various shows. During the ensuing years, the $55,000,000 figure has increased to approximately $95,000,000.

Barker recently completed his sixteenth year as the host of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, America's highest rated daytime game show. Mark Goodson, whose company produces the legendary hit, describes Barker as, "the best in the business."

Barker, winner of three Emmys and the coveted Carbon Mike Award of the Pioneer Broadcaster, was honored this year during the CBS telecast of the Rose Parade for having narrated the parade for twenty years, a record for the network.

Barker, a former Navy fighter pilot, attended Drury College on a basketball scholarship and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Economics.

Named one of America's "Ten Best Dressed Men" by the Custom Tailor's Guild of America, Barker is a man of many interests, including karate. His first instructor was film star Chuck Norris who says that Barker was one of his most dedicated students. Barker has traveled the world over, enjoys reading, but claims, "I excel at laying in the sun doing absolutely nothing."

However, in recent years he has become the most visible figure in the Animal Rights Movement and one of its most eloquent speakers. The "Fur Flap" surrounding the 1987 Miss USA Pageant attracted more media attention than any single event in animal rights history. If contestants wore real furs, as planned by the pageant producers, Barker said that it would be impossible for him to participate in the telecast, and synthetic furs were substituted for the real thing.

In 1988, Barker was again the subject of media attention coast to coast when, after hosting the "Miss USA" and "Miss Universe" pageants for twenty-one years, he resigned because the producers refused to remove the fur coats from the prize packages. As an interesting sidelight, the first telecast of the "Miss USA Pageant" without Barker as host resulted in a decline in rating of 29%, an incredible loss for a special that airs from one year to the next.

Also, Barker resigned as host of "The Patsy Awards" when he learned that trainers frequently use cruel methods to force animals to perform.

Barker, a man of conviction who fights animal exploitation, has refused offers to do commercials for a fast food chain, a frozen food company and a cosmetics manufacturer because of the animal cruelty involved in these businesses. He turned down a lucrative offer to use his name and likeness in print advertising by one of the nation's best known hospitals because the institution was conducting animal experiments.

Barker's work on behalf of animals has garnered him a long list of awards from prestigious humane organizations across the country. In fact, a columnist wrote that Barker has become a part-time television host and a full-time animal rights activist. But Barker, one of the most popular personalities in television history, assures us that there is room in his busy life for both television and animals.
Links: [Rod Roddy][The Price Is Right][Ticket Information]