10 Priceless Facts About the Late Bob Barker: The Game Show Legend Lived on a Reservation and Was a Karate Black Belt
Bob Barker hosted TV’s longest-running game show, The Price Is Right, from 1972 to 2007. He on August 26, 2023, leaving behind a lasting legacy. Here are 10 things you might not know about the star.
1. Barker was one-eighth Sioux.
Most of his childhood on South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation and is listed as a tribe member on U.S. Indian Census rolls for 1885–1940.
2. Barker hosted a different game show before 'The Price Is Right.'
He was hired in 1956 to host the daytime TV version of Truth or Consequences, a long-running radio quiz show, and remained on the program until it ended in 1974.
3. He was a baller.
He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, on a basketball scholarship.
4. He trained to be a Navy fighter pilot
However, World War II ended before he saw combat.
5. Barker earned a ton of Emmys.
Parker won his 19th Emmy Award in 2007, the same year he retired from The Price is Right.
6. He had a black belt in karate.
His trainer was none other than Chuck Norris.
7. He plays himself in the 1996 film 'Happy Gilmore.'
He plays himself in the 1996 film Happy Gilmore, and his hilarious brawl with co-star Adam Sandler was named best fight at the MTV Movie Awards that year.
8. A ship named after him was featured on a reality TV show.
An animal rights supporter, He donated $5 million dollars to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for the purchase of a large ship, named MY Bob Barker, which was prominently featured on the reality show Whale Wars.
9. Barker quit hosting Miss USA and Miss Universe for a noble reason.
Bob ended his 22-year run as the host of Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1988 when pageant organizers continued to put fur coats in the winners’ prize packages against his wishes.
10. He stopped coloring his hair for a good reason, too.
The TV icon stopped coloring his hair after decades of pleasing network bigwigs, and went proudly gray because the dye they used had been tested on animals.