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Drew Carey is a stand-up comic turned actor and producer who had the distinction of having two hit shows simultaneously: the long-running comedy "The Drew Carey Show," which ran from 1995-2004, and the improv/sketch show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on which he was host and a producer. In July 2007, Carey was named the host of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, succeeding longtime host Bob Barker. Known for his generousity, when Warner Bros. gave him a new Porsche to celebrate the ratings for his sitcom, he gave a production assistant with no car his old one. He is also known to be a very large tipper. He choose honor Bob Barker by ending each episode of Price the way Bob Barker did, by reminding viewers to "help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered." |
He grew up at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where is mother worked as a teacher. He met his future wife (Dorothy Jo Gideon) back in 1939, when they went to an Ella Fitzgerald concert. They were married for almost 40 years, until she passed away in 1981. He graduated from Springfield Central High in 1941, in Missouri, and began radio broadcasting while still in Drury college (where he earned a degree, with honors, in economics). After college, he soon had his own radio show in L.A. |
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From the strength of his radio work, in 1956 he was asked to take over the reins of the game show "Truth or Consequences", which he hosted for 18 years, before beginning his 30+ year stint on "The Price Is Right" - which he has hosted since 1972. It's now the longest-running game show in television history.
Along the way, Bob has won 14 Emmys. And in 1998, on the occasion of his 5,000th "Price is Right" show, Stage 33 at CBS TV City (where the show is taped) was renamed "The Bob Barker Studio."
He also hosted the Miss USA Beauty Pageant for two decades, trained as a Navy pilot in World War II, and appeared in a famous scene in the comedy "Happy Gilmore", where he got into a down & dirty fight on a golf course with Adam Sandler. (In real life, Bob has taken karate lessons from Chuck Norris.)
Other than "The Price is Right", Barker may be best known as an animal rights activist. A vegetarian, Bob always reminds viewers to "have your pet spayed or neutered."
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Rod Roddy 9/28/37-10/27/03. Like Bob Barker, he began his career on radio, as a DJ and talk show host in cities ranging from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Chicago to Los Angeles, before branching into TV as the announcer for the ABC sitcom "Soap". He landed his role as the "Price is Right" announcer in 1986, succeeding veteran sidekick Johnny Olsen, and became almost as well known for his outrageous outfits as for his melodious voice. Beside "The Price is Right", Rob has been the announcer for "The Roseanne Barr Show", Disney's "House of Mouse" and game shows such as "Love Connection" and "Press Your Luck".
The
bevy of "Price is Right" models, known as "Barker's Beauties",
currently includes Heather Kozar,
Claudia Jordan
and Nikki Schieler Ziering.
- Heather is from Akron, Ohio
and was Playboy's Playmate of the Year in 1999.
- Claudia comes from Providence,
Rhode Island and was Miss Rhode Island in both the Miss Teen USA and Miss
USA pageants.
- Nikki hails from Brea, California,
is an actress, and is married to actor Ian Ziering (who played 'Steve Sanders'
on "Beverly Hills 90210").
