Bob Barker hosted The Price is Right from 1972 to 2007, easily becoming one of the most iconic elements of the game show. But it has been some time since Barker, who passed away on August 26, hosted. Some people did have the chance to compete while he ran the program, including CBS executive Jessie Garcia, who has fond memories to share.
Barker was 99 – just four months shy of his 100th birthday – when he died of natural causes at his Hollywood Hills home. Tributes have since poured in from fans and former colleagues who remember him as the face of television gaming as well as an advocate and friend.
Former ‘The Price Is Right’ contestant Jessie Garcia remembers Bob Barker as host
CBS has launched into an ongoing remembrance of Barker, the game show host who called the network his home for 35 years. CBS 58 News Director Garcia met Barker and got to compete on The Price Is Right while Barker still hosted. The experience was an entirely positive one thanks to Barker’s approach to the job.
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“It was 1989,” Garcia recalled. “I was a college student out to visit a friend of mine in Los Angeles. My friend said, ‘Let’s go on The Price is Right.'” He further mused, “My showcase was a living room set, a big screen TV, and a satellite dish. None of which I needed living in a dorm. My parents wound up taking over, they sold everything. I used some of the money to pay tuition.” But joining The Price Is Right made the whole thing exceptional, said Garcia, adding, “It was really a great experience there.”
Jessie Garcia and others who knew him remember Bob Barker as a person out from behind the podium
Speaking of Barker as a person, Garcia said fondly, “I have really nice, warm, fond memories of him and of that experience of being on The Price is Right thanks to Barker.”
Garcia’s is just one of many voices singing the praise of Barker, who was recently honored on CBS with a special hour-long primetime tribute hosted by the new Price Is Right head, Drew Carey. Thursday’s episode revisited Barker’s long career on the program, which is the longest-running game show on TV, along with the impact he left even outside his hosting duties.
“Most people remember Bob from the 35 years he spent hosting The Price Is Right,” said Carey that day. “So it’s easy to forget that for 18 years, he was a fixture in America’s living rooms for Truth or Consequences, a radio host before that, and a naval aviator during World War II. We’ll also remember Bob for his tireless work on behalf of all animals from whales and elephants to the cats and dogs who reminded everybody at the end of the show to get spayed or neutered.”
He continued, “You know, I mentioned the word ‘legend’ earlier and how that word gets thrown around all too much these days. It couldn’t be more appropriate when you think about Bob’s time on The Price Is Right.”
