Bob Barker, the longtime host of “The Price is Right,” has died. Barker hosted the CBS-acquired game show from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in the history of American television.
Barker was 99. After his wife, Dorothy Jo, passed away from lung cancer in 1982, he became increasingly active in animal rights groups.
NBC News has more:
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World's Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker has left us,” publicist Roger Neal said in a statement Saturday.
Neal served as Barker's publicist from 1987 to 1994 and again from 2020.
When producers hired Barker to host “The Price Is Right” in 1972, they hit the jackpot. The game show had faded significantly from its glory days in the late ‘50s and had been punted by two networks before it landed at CBS.
But in Barker, the show found its voice, and it has continued to air a decade and a half after he retired.
Comedian Drew Carey took over as the show's host after Barker's retirement.
Barker continued making guest appearances on television until 2017.
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