He hosted "The Price is Right" for 35 years, not bad for the third choice.
Here is some little known history.
When Mark Goodson was reviving "The Price is Right" in 1972, he first approached the original host, Bill Cullen. Cullen walked with a severe limp due to a childhood bout with polio. He saw the walking involved with the new format and expressed a concern. Goodson promised some adroit camera work and directing to minimize Cullen's movements. Cullen passed. There was more. The revival would be shot in Los Angeles. Cullen was doing radio work, commercials, and "To Tell the Truth" in New York and was against the move.
Next choice, Dennis James. CBS vetoed that one, fearing James was too closely associated with NBC because of all his work over there. James received the consolation prize, hosting duties for the night time and syndicated "The Price is Right."
Goodson was familiar with Barker's work on the audience participation show "Truth or Consequences" and thought he would be a good fit. Goodson was right.
Here is something totally off the wall. According to a couple of books I read, Barker didn't think the revived "The Price is Right" would last. In the days before the show premiered, he lobbied to get one of the other two game shows CBS would be debuting on the same day instead. CBS declined. The rest is history.
Barker retired in 2007, and I thought it was time. He appeared a little cranky toward the end, and short with contestants. I will give him credit for one of the more difficult hosting jobs in game show history. "The Price is Right" isn't just one game show. It's about thirty, with all the little individual games, six per show.
There was more-- the Rose Parade, the Pillsbury Bake Off, Miss Universe, Miss USA, appearances on "Tattletales" and "Match Game."
Barker once offered the greatest advice on hosting a game show: "It's not what you say that counts. It's what you don't say." His reasoning was that it would be easy to have fun at the expense of a nervous or bad contestant, but it would come off as mean, so he never did it.
He loved animals and America loved Bob Barker.
