Bob Barker, the iconic American game show host and animal rights activist, has died … TMZ has learned.
Barker died at his home Saturday morning in L.A. His rep tells TMZ Bob died of natural causes.
The longtime host of “The Price Is Right” actually got his start in game shows after legendary producer Ralph Edwards discovered him while listening to Bob’s radio show and hired him for TV.
Barker started off hosting the iconic hit, “Truth or Consequences” back in 1956, on which he starred until 1975. He also hosted a number of other game shows and programs over the years, including “Dream Girl of ’67,” “Tattletales,” ‘Miss Universe,’ and most famously … “The Price is Right,” which he produced and hosted until 2007.
Drew Carey took over as host, and the show continues to be extremely popular to this day.
Barker has appeared in a number of other TV shows and films over the years, oftentimes starring as himself. He got into a fight with Adam Sandler in “Happy Gilmore,” stood in as Neil Patrick Harris‘ would-be biological father in “How I Met Your Mother,” and played himself in lots of other shows like “Futurama,” “Spongebob,” “The Nanny,” “Martial Law” and many others.
He had several minor bouts of skin cancer over the years, and suffered a nasty fall in in 2015 and 2017 that sent him to the ER. He fell again in 2019, and was treated once more at the hospital. On top of that, he was transported by ambulance twice in 2018 for back issues.
Safe to say, he’s had a lot of health scares over the years, especially of late. Of course, when the pandemic hit in 2020 … we checked in with him to see how we was dealing — and were pleasantly surprised to learn he was taking it in stride. Self-isolating wasn’t a problem.
SEPTEMBER 2016
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We last saw him out in the streets of Hollywood back in 2016, when he was complaining to us about a bad foot he was dealing with. We chopped it up with him about TV, residuals, his basketball-playing days, and … a potential Sandler rematch. He was such a good sport and a sweet guy.
Bob’s wife, Dorothy Jos, died of lung cancer in 1981. They had no children, and he never remarried. Bob does, however, have extended family that have helped care for him in his later years.
Bob was 99. RIP.