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Bob Barker, Legendary Host of ‘The Price Is Right’ for 35 Years, Dies at Age 99
Rest in peace, Bob Barker. The Darrington, Washington, native, who hosted The Price Is Right for 35 years, died at the age of 99.
The legendary game show host reportedly died in his Los Angeles home of natural causes on Saturday, August 26.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker has left us,” Bob’s rep, Roger Neal, announced in a statement.
Bob and his late wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, who died of lung cancer in 1981, never had any kids. “We didn’t have time for children. I don’t regret it, not when so many of my friends are having so much trouble with their children,” he told Esquire during a 2007 interview. “I have thirteen ducks, and that’s a lot of work.”
Moreover, Bob never married again following Dorothy’s death. “I was married at 21; Dorothy Jo was 20. She was with me all the time until she died,” the 15-time Emmy Award winner explained. “For some men, maybe a second or third marriage would work out fine. In my case, I had my marriage and she was the love of my life.”
Although Bob faced some health issues in his sunset years, including two strokes and several bad falls, he remained fairly active. “He’s not that mobile but can get around with assistance in his wheelchair,” a source close to the A-lister told Closer Weekly in September 2019.
Unsurprisingly, Bob continued to watch The Price Is Right after leaving the series in 2007. “He likes Drew Carey and enjoys the show,” the insider revealed, referring to the show’s current host. “He’s a fan.”
Speaking with Closer Weekly in 2016, Bob explained what makes The Price Is Right such a huge success. “People always like to win prizes,” the Priceless Memories author said. “And they can win them without knowing who discovered America or anything in the way of history. All the contestants have to do is have Lady Luck give them a break and hope they walk away with a lot of money.”
The Price Is Right is the long-running game show of all time. It originally ran from 1956 to 1965 before Bob took over in 1972.
