Television’s legendary game show host, Bob Barker, best known for his role as host of The Price Is Right, has passed away at the age of 99.
“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker has left us,” said his longtime publicist Roger Neal in a heartfelt statement on Saturday (August 26), per CBS News.
With a career spanning over half a century, Barker became an unforgettable part of American television.
Neal, who was Barker’s publicist from 1987 to 1994 and again since 2020, emphasized the game-changing impact Barker had on The Price Is Right. Reviving a show that had waned since the late ’50s, Barker took it to CBS in 1972 and turned it into a daytime TV cornerstone that continues to run even a decade and a half after his retirement.

With a career spanning over half a century, Barker became an unforgettable part of American television. Credit: Mark Davis / Getty
Robert Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, weighed in on the icon’s passing.
“From the black and white era of television right up to the new century, Bob Barker had a real presence on two really big shows,” said Thompson. He further highlighted Barker’s unique hosting style, adding, “you’ve got some game shows where the host just stands behind a podium, but Barker really interacted with regular people” who were contestants. “And he was particularly good at it.”