It’s not been the best of summers for a lot of us, but far worse if you were a nonagenarian legend. Tony Bennett last month, and, yesterday, Bob Barker passed away in what could only be described as amidst a most ironic set of circumstances. 100 days short of his 100th birthday. “as close as you can come without going over”, as numerous PRICE IS RIGHT zealots were quick to point out, falling just short of his centennial just like fellow animal rights advocate and perennial TV favorite Betty White did, and on National Dog Day to boot.
As you might suspect, my social media feed and news alerts were buzzing nonstop because, while not wholly unexpected news given recent credible reports of his failing health, its occurrence triggered an outpouring of sadness and wistfulness among the many, many people who I’ve known who were personally touched by him. Whether that relationship was actual, because I happen to know an awful lot of people in the game show world, or whether it was strictly as a fan, because his 35-year tenure as host of what was more often than not the most popular daytime TV show in America made him as familiar as as comforting a presence for multiple generations as a hot bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on snow days and sick days to multiple generations of fans,
Indeed, Barker’s career trajectory reached fans going back to the days of radio, as his first big national show was when he took over TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES in the mid-1950s, a show which was both a radio hit and the very first game show ever seen anywhere in television way back in 1941, and extended into pop culture with an award-winning cameo in Adam Sandler’s 1996 comedy HAPPY GILMORE, prompting this reaction yesterday from Sandler as reported by THE WRAP’s Jeremy Fuster:
“The man. The myth. The best. Such a sweet funny guy to hang out with. Loved talking to him,” Sandler tweeted. “Loved laughing with him. Loved him kicking the crap out of me. He will be missed by everyone I know! Heartbreaking day. Love to Bob always and his family! Thanks for all you gave us!”
And if you were a pet lover, you undoubtedly revered Barker as much for his tireless work with organizations such as PETA, as PEOPLE’s Kimberlee Speakman reported yesterday as well:
Following the news of Barker’s death on Saturday, PETA issued a statement honoring the legendary game show host for his significant contributions to safeguarding animals throughout his life.
“Bob’s influence on the entertainment industry is indisputable, but what mattered to him most was using his voice and prominent position to protect animals,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Of course, everyone is familiar with his ‘spay and neuter your pets’ sign-off on The Price Is Right — a show where he refused to allow fur prizes — but he was also one of the first stars to go vegetarian more than 30 years ago,” Newkirk continued.
And as a professional, Barker was considered by many, including his current representative, to be the WGMC–The World’s Greatest Emcee. Not only did he host more episodes of a daytime network game show than any other person in history, but he lasted longer in one job than anyone else had at the time of his 2007 retirement. Some more passionate and longer-entrenched fans of the genre would have given that title to Bill Cullen–ironically, Barker’s predecessor as host of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, but Bill’s strength and weakness was his ability to make even a weak format passable, rarely often enough to sustain a long-lasting run other than was the case with his version of PRICE. But as this episode from an obscure short-lived Chuck Barris ABC show called THE FAMILY GAME shows, Bob was just as capable of lifting up a format as was Cullen. He just didn’t have the need to do given the success of his two most enduring shows.
Following the news of Barker’s death on Saturday, PETA issued a statement honoring the legendary game show host for his significant contributions to safeguarding animals throughout his life.
“Bob’s influence on the entertainment industry is indisputable, but what mattered to him most was using his voice and prominent position to protect animals,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Of course, everyone is familiar with his ‘spay and neuter your pets’ sign-off on The Price Is Right — a show where he refused to allow fur prizes — but he was also one of the first stars to go vegetarian more than 30 years ago,” Newkirk continued.
I fall into the camp of fan, though since my personal connection to Barker was limited I was far less zealotic about it as many others. I met him once at a fund-raiser, and he politely declined to shake my hand, citing an illness, and then snuck out before I could get a selfie. And I also know many people who worked with him that had scant little nice things to say while he was alive and healthy. None as harsh as the accusations leveled at him by several of the women once called BARKER’S BEAUTIES”.
The incidents involving Barker, a widower since 1981 and as Sandler learned a remarkably fit man well into his 70s, were documented frequently by THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER, which unfortunately for him reached an awful lot of readers who had similar demographics to PRICE’s most loyal viewers,. So plenty of them were all too familar with these tales, which the newspaper summarized in a December 2017 profile:
Barker was 70 years old when in 1994 former model Dian Parkinson went to court claiming she had been forced into a sexual relationship for three years. Bob didn’t deny a fling with Parkinson, 21 years his junior. But he fought back, telling the ENQUIRER that “she aggressively pursued me and told other people on the set she was going to be the next Mrs. Bob Barker!”
Barker was defended at the time by fellow BEAUTIES Holly Hallstrom and Janice Pennington, each of whom claimed was Parkinson was the show’s “resident mean girl”. Parkinson eventually dropped the lawsuit, “citing poor health and dwindling finances”. But then as the ENQUIRER continued, Barker saw both Hallstrom and Pennington join with other PRICE models in a 2000 lawsuit claiming wrongful termination once they turned 40 years old, Hallstrom, Pennington and Kathleen Bradley each received settlements.” And in 2007, as the show was ending, former CBS executive Debbie Curling also accused Barker of sexual harassment. That suit was thrown out in 2009.
So if one looks at the actual track record, Barker was never actually convicted of any of the multiple accusations thrown at him. And in a company run by Mark Goodson that also employed the likes of Richard Dawson, both of whom crossed personal and professional lines many times themselves, in an era well before #metoo, he was hardly unique.
It also doesn’t mean that where was smoke there wasn’t any fire. It doesn’t mean the WGMC wasn’t a serial misogynist–or worse.
So as I’ve said on many of these friends’ timelines: Honor the memory of the personality. Question the true legacy of the person.
Such judgement no longer needs to be made by any of us, be they colleague, fan or judge. That now rests in the hands of the Ultimate Determinator, in whatever shape or from you’d like to imagine that is.
I imagine there will be an awful lot of tail-wagging at the Rainbow Bridge, where Barker would clearly be welcomed, and I’d like to believe Betty is already pampering a few deserving spayed or neturered souls.
But the darker side of Barker can’t be ignored, nor should it be forgotten. And since Hallstrom, Pennington and Parkinson remain silent, we may never know beyond what we already know had transpired. Reportedly, he had been reaching out for forgiveness as his last days approached. I’d like to believe forgiveness may have been possible. But we really don’t know.
Which means I also wouldn’t be surprised if, in perhaps the most ironic way of all, Barker may finally become the one being implored to “come on down”. And I don’t mean to Contestants’ Row.
Until next time…