Bob Barker, born on December 12, 1923, in Darrington, Washington, attended college on a basketball scholarship, earned an economics degree, and trained to be a fighter pilot. That all came before he eventually made the jump to broadcasting, where he started in radio before moving over to television. “This was the heyday of radio,” he told Reuters about his humble beginnings. “It was the summer of 1950. I was told there were 3000 radio announcers walking the streets of Hollywood, and I knew 2,500 of them were better than me. So, I knew, if I didn’t want to starve, I’d have to get a [TV] show … so I decided to try to sell my own.”
Hosting “The Price Is Right” from 1972 until his final episode hit TV screens in 2007, he earned 15 Emmy Awards throughout his career. And in 1999, he received the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for Daytime Television. “It’s a lot more fun to do than a person might realize,” the star shared with Entertainment Weekly about hosting the show. “Each audience has its own personality.”
Read Related Also: Florida-bound American Airlines plane drops 15,000 feet in 3 minutes: ‘It was terrifying’
Although it’s sad to think Barker will never host another TV show again, fans can take some comfort in “The Price is Right” reruns. With that said, here’s to the star’s iconic legacy.
