Exactly one month after Sinead O'Connor's death, a man who contributed to my formation passed away--Bob Barker died at the age of 99, about 3 1/2 months short of hitting the century mark. I first became aware of Bob because of the 1974 Miss Universe pageant as it was held in Manila, and it was a very big event in our shores. I could vividly remember how in my mother's store there was a poster compiling photos taken of the candidates and highlights from the final, and of course hosting the final was Bob Barker.
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The first pageant I could remember consciously watching was Miss Universe 1976 held in Hong Kong. Besides the sights of the beauties competing in the pageant, I was drawn to the list of countries competing, and it fueled my curiosity about what those countries are, and it led me to a relentless pursuit of knowledge about the world at large that continues to this day. Bob Barker's smooth and effortless hosting throughout this pageant and all other events that followed helped contribute to drawing me in to the countries competing and fueling my thirst for knowledge. Years later when I watched those old Miss Universe pageants, I became a bit critical towards Bob's interview style towards the delegates as based on today's standards his interview style with the ladies could be seen as patronizing. But having reviewed how the hosting was done by the male hosts in other pageants like Miss World, Bob's style was actually a bit more progressive compared to the relative chauvinism prevalent at, say, Miss World in those days.
A couple of years later, US game shows start airing on TV on our shows. And one of those game shows was The Price is Right. And lo and behold, Bob was the host of this show, and he was effortlessly smooth in this gig as he was whenever he was hosting Miss Universe. The various price-based games being played were very entertaining so I understand why the studio audience were always excited and frenzied when they were called to become contestants in the show. I'll highlight one memorable episode aired originally in September 14, 1977, featuring contestant Yolanda Bowlesly, notorious for wearing a tube top that caused what we now term as a "wardrobe malfunction" and caused a comic audience uproar soon after that. Yolanda unfortunately never won a bid so she never saw action on the main games bieng played. That blooper has become one of the most memorable bloopers in game show history.
Part of the appeal of the game show was the models showcasing the prizes up for grabs. During Bob's tenure as host, they are dubbed the Barker Beauties. The lineup that I got to watch featured blonde Janice Pennington who was part of the cast alongside Bob at the game show's revival*1 in 1972, blonde Dian Parkinson who joined in 1975, and redhead Holly Hallstrom, who joined in 1977.*2. They were a dependable and reliable combo that the lineup stayed that way until increasing clamor for diversity prompted the show to add a new model in 1990, black model Kathleen Bradley. We only saw the game show on our local TV station until around 1984, so we just saw what is probably now considered the "Classic Trio".
*1 The Price is Right was first broadcast from 1956 to 1965.
*2 On our shores, they also broadcast some episodes of the primetime version hosted by Dennis James and featured brunette model Anitra Ford, who was part of the original cast in 1972 but left in 1976. This means the episodes featuring Anitra that were aired were around that period of time.
However, the facade of harmony on the game show's set started to wear down from 1993 onwards. On that year, Dian Parkinson first announced she would be departing the show "to pursue other interests". But it later turned into a sexual harassment lawsuit against Bob. I discovered much later that Dian had a history in major beauty pageants, as she was born Dianna Lynn Batts and competed at Miss World 1965, where she became 1st runner-up behind the United Kingdom's Lesley Langley. Considering that long period of time, I was amazed how Dian looked youthful and gorgeous even in her late 40s-early 50s. Interestingly during her The Price is Right gig, she posed and made the cover of Playboy in 1991 and 1993. Somehow she dropped her lawsuit two years later in 1995.
Two years after Dian's departure, Holly Hallstrom was fired, officially because of corporate discretion, but Holly filed a lawsuit reporting age and weight discrimination, as reportedly she was fired due to weight gain. Holly also noted that part of the reason for her firing was Bob retaliating against her as she refused to testify on Bob's behalf against Dian's lawsuit. She had to endure bankruptcy as the wheels of justice were slow, but she received a multimillion dollar settlement in 2005, 10 years after she filed her lawsuit. Meanwhile, because of their sympathies with Holly, Janice and Kathleen were also dismissed in 2000.
Despite being besieged by legal issues above, Bob Barker still had a good reputation, and many later generations now remember him for his appearance in Adam Sandler's 1996 comedy film Happy Gilmore, where he had a memorable fight scene where he roundedly beat up Adam. Many fans admire him for being a badass even in his advanced age (he was 72 at the time).
When Bob decided to retire after the 35th season, he was feted in style. He was regarded as an institution and his exit was graceful and dignified. As far as I can recall, only Alex Trebek on Jeopardy (37 seasons) and Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune had longer game show hosting tenures. Here is his final episode of the game show in 2007.
I've learned that Bob had a nasty feud with another beloved television institution, Betty White. Interestingly they have striking commonalities--both are renowned for their love of animals, both are notable for their careers in game shows (well, Betty is of course also well known for her legendary comedies), and both almost reached 100 years old but missed by a little bit before they passed away. Based on the story relayed by YouTuber Dave Sandstrom below, the feud might have been stemmed from an ill and dying animal at the Los Angeles Zoo. Betty, being a patron of said zoo, recommended improving the facilties to accommodate the animal's needs, while Bob recommended sending the animal to another nearby reserve. Betty ultimately had her way which upset Bob, it seems.
Bob still seemed to be lucid and made appearances in public at least up to 2015. He seemed to be by most accounts active and lucid at that time. But it turns out he actually was stricken by Alzheimer's, and reportedly this was his cause of death.
Despite those controversies about his treatment of women, Bob still holds a soft spot in my heart because of his 20-year hosting stint of the Miss Universe pageant, where he's still regarded as the gold standard among Miss Universe hosts (though I may beg to argue that Dick Clark may be a better exemplar befitting modern sensibilities). YouTuber The Pageant Nerd has a video compilation of highlights from his Miss Universe hosting stint that is worth watching. It's so uncanny how prescient the 1973 semifinalist from India, Farzana Habib was with her palm reading, as she noted Bob would live a very long life and had his "affairs".
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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