Bob Barker Lost ‘Love Of His Life’ Over 4 Decades Ago But He Still Visits Deceased Wife’s Grave

Aug 25, 2023

Bob Barker is a retired television game show host most known for hosting the hot game show “The Price Is Right.” Barker hosted the premiere in 1972 and remained the host until his retirement in 2007. Afterward, actor and comedian Drew Carey took over. Barker’s legacy with the show will never be forgotten, as he was its longest-running host on what is still the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history.

Barker started in the entertainment industry early. In 1950, he moved to California to officially pursue a broadcasting career and was later given his own radio show. In 1956, Barker became the host of “Truth or Consequences” and stayed the host until 1975. Barker credited his successful hosting career to his late wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon while talking on Good Morning America. 

“I had been working in a radio station and I finally got the opportunity to do an audience participation show,” he recalled. “… Dorothy Jo heard it. When I got home she said, “That's what you should do.’”

Gideon died in 1981 at 57, six months after her lung cancer diagnosis. “The Price Is Right” presenter never remarried, although he was romantically linked to animal-rights activist Nancy Burnet after Gideon’s death. 

“I never had any inclination to remarry,” he told Good Morning America. “She was my wife.” A source also told Radar Online that Barker felt there should only be one Mrs. Bob Barker. “She was the love of his life,” the source told Radar Online. 

Barker has visited his late wife’s grave every year since she died. Thirty-six years later, he was spotted laying a bouquet of daisies at her grave while keeping a 20-minute-long vigil for her. Keep reading to know what Barker has been up to since Gideon died.

Barker and Gideon started their romance when he was only 15 years old. They attended high school together, and the game host knew he wanted to marry her from their first date. Their relationship remained strong while Barker went away to fight as a Navy fighter pilot during World War II. Barker and Gideon eloped in 1945 to tie the knot while Barker was on leave. 

Gideon worked with Barker on his TV shows as a commercial jingle singer. She also sometimes appeared on game shows as herself. Gideon and Barker loved each other very much.

“She was tenacious... Also bright, loyal, and loving. I could always depend upon Dorothy Jo to help in every way possible,”  Barker wrote in his memoir.

He also credited Gideon with being a visionary and ahead of her time on several issues, including healthy eating and animal rights. He recounted that she gave up eating meat and stopped wearing fur long before those ideas gained popularity, which also led to Barker becoming a vegetarian.

“I owe it to her, and I thank her for it, because I think it has really improved my life. I am a staunch believer in it,” he told Outside in 2012.

Gideon’s concern for animal welfare also led Barker to start a foundation in her name and his mother’s in 1995, as they both loved animals. The foundation was focused on providing low-cost or free spay/neuter services for relevant organizations. It also created voucher programs to this end. However, the foundation closed operations in 2022.

Animal Defenders International awarded the 19-time Emmy Award winner with the Lord Houghton Award for outstanding services to animal welfare in 2012 following his contribution to airlifting 29 lions to the US to live in sanctuaries.

Thirty-six years after Gideon’s passing, Barker took a bouquet of daisies to her grave and leaned against a short wall.

Ron Phillips posted a photo on Facebook of a grieving Barker laying flowers at Gideon’s grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. He then held a vigil for 20 minutes beside her on Oct. 19, 2017, the anniversary of her death. He also knelt by Gideon’s gravestone and cleaned the place. However, he was too overcome with grief at some point and fainted, according to Radar Online.

Remarkably, Barker already arranged for his gravestone, and it is placed right beside Gideon’s at the park. 

Meanwhile, the lovebirds never had children, and the acclaimed host couldn’t be happier. 

“We didn’t have time for children,” Barker told Esquire in 2007. “I don’t regret it, not when so many of my friends are having so much trouble with their children. I have 13 ducks, and that’s a lot of work.”

Barker has been leading an active lifestyle for a while. He told Outside that he used to do karate until he became 70 and moved to pushups and cardio. Those exercises have been helpful for the 99-year-old Barker, who has had two nasty falls already. 

In an interview posted on Inside Edition’s YouTube channel in 2015, he disclosed that he sustained a gash on his forehead and injured his knee when he fell on an uneven pavement. “I tore my knee really well,” he said and added that his forehead required six stitches.

Thankfully, Barker has been well, and in an interview about his retirement, posted on YouTube, he opened up some parts of the home he lived in with Gideon for 36 years and showed off his World War II memorabilia as well. 

“We knew that the house was truly special from the moment my wife, Dorothy Jo, and I moved in,” he said of his home. 

What do you think of Bob Barker’s devotion to his late wife? What have you learned from his story and fight for animal rights? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to friends, family and fans of Bob Barker.