FILE PHOTO: Bob Barker, host of the television game show 'The Price is Right', smiles near his birthday cake at CBS Studios in Los Angeles December 12, 2006. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES)/File Photo
“Price Is Right” legend Bob Barker died Saturday of natural causes. He was 99 years old. The joke going around social media all weekend was that he came as close as he could to 100 WITHOUT GOING OVER.
Barker spent a decade in radio before being named the host of the game show “Truth or Consequences” in 1956. He stayed with that show until 1975 . . . but in 1972, he also joined a revival of “The Price Is Right”.
He hosted that one until his retirement in 2007. He was replaced by Drew Carey.
Bob also delivered a beatdown to Adam Sandler in the 1996 comedy “Happy Gilmore”. They won the 1996 MTV Movie Award for best fight.
Over his career, he won 15 Emmys, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys, and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
He was also an animal rights activist, who spent years urging us to, quote, “Have your pets spayed and neutered.”
PETA remembered Barker as, quote, “one of the first stars to go vegetarian more than 30 years ago, [who] urged families to stay away from SeaWorld, [and] demanded the closure of cruel bear pits masquerading as tourist attractions.”
Sandler posted a tribute, saying, quote, “The man. The myth. The best. Such a sweet funny guy to hang out with. Loved talking to him. 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!”
Drew Carey said, quote, “Very sad day for the Price Is Right family, and animal lovers all over the world. There hasn’t been a day on set that I didn’t think of Bob Barker and thank him. I will carry his memory in my heart forever.”
(Check out more celebrity tributes here.)
