Legendary television personality Bob Barker has died at 99 as confirmed by his longtime publicist, Roger Neal.
He passed from natural causes in his longtime Hollywood Hills home.
Who was Bob Barker?
Robert William Barker was born on December 12, 1923, and hailed from Darrington, Washington.
He trained as a US Navy fighter pilot during World War II, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947 from Drury College (now University).
After his graduation, Barker began working at a radio station in California. He quickly got the attention of the man behind game show Truth or Consequences, Ralph Edwards.
In 1956, Barker became the host of the television series, working on the show until 1975.
Aside from his time spent on game shows, Barker was a well-known animal rights activist.
In 1994, he established the DJ&T Foundation to fund the sterilization of pets, and in 2009, he donated $5million to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
He was a 19-time Emmy Award winner, with five Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host.
In 2004, Barker was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Was Bob Barker married?
In 1945, Bob Barker married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Jo Gideon.
Who was Bob Barker’s late wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon?
Dorothy Jo Gideon was born on February 25, 1924 in Springfield, Missouri.
She met her future husband at an Ella Fitzgerald concert while he was attending high school in Missouri, and started dating when Bob was only 15.
The young couple eloped in St. Louis while Bob, who was training as a navy fighter pilot during World War II, was on leave.
They exchanged vows on January 12, 1945.
“I was married at twenty-one; Dorothy Jo was twenty. She was with me all the time until she died,” Bob told Esquire in 2007.
“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.”
Dorothy, who appeared on 20 episodes of the 1970s game show Tattletales alongside her husband, got her start in commercial jingles.
Bob credited Dorothy with inspiring his own animal activism. “She was ahead of her time,” he told Good Morning America in 2009.
“She really was. She stopped wearing fur coats before anyone was stopping.”
What was Dorothy Jo Gideon’s cause of death?
Dorothy was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 1981.
She died at age 57 on October 19, 1981 in Los Angeles, California – just six months after her diagnosis.
Her death affected her husband deeply.
“Bob went into this deep depression and was a totally different person for two or three years,” his half-brother Kent Valandra told People magazine.
“I immersed myself in [work],” Barker said of that time period.
“I just tried to stay busy.”
In 2017, the retired star of The Price Is Right, now 99, was spotted laying a large bouquet of daisies to honor the 36th anniversary of Dorothy’s passing.
Bob founded the DJ&T Foundation in 1995 in honour of his late wife and his mother, Tilly.
Though it has closed last year, the foundation focused on aiding low-cost spay and neuter clinics to control animal overpopulation.
Did Bob Barker have children?
The couple never had children during their decades-long relationship.
“We didn’t have time for children,” he told Esquire in 2007.
“I don’t regret it, not when so many of my friends are having so much trouble with their children.
“I have thirteen ducks, and that’s a lot of work,” he joked.
When did Bob Barker die?
Bob Barker passed away in his home in Los Angeles on August 26, 2023. He was 99 years old and died from natural causes.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker has left us,” the star’s publicist Roger Neal said in a statement.
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