Bob Barkerand his longtime companion of 40 years,Nancy Burnet, almost never met.
The formerPrice Is Righthost, whodiedon Saturday at age 99, was emceeing an animal adoption day in Downey, California with actor Earl Holliman in March 1983. Burnet, an animal rights activist involved with animal legislation, had heard about Barker’s event and hoped he would help raise awareness around a proposal she had to stop pet stores from selling chicks and ducklings around Easter time.
“I knew almost nothing about him really,” Burnet says. “I knew he didThe Price Is Right. I knew that he was interested in animals, and he had the format to get the word out.”
The Price Is Rightstar passed on Burnet’s request, but he did ask her out for dinner that day.
“He said, ‘I’ll bet you are a wild-eyed radical.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know about the ‘wild-eyed’ part,’” she recalls.
Alex Wong/Newsmakers/Getty
It would be another day or two before their schedules aligned, and the pair went out. But over their lunches and dinners, where Barker would travel to her in San Clemente and she would meet him in Los Angeles, the two bonded over their mutual love for animals.
For Barker and Burnet, it was the start of a love and enduring friendship that would span four decades. Through the height of his fame and into his twilight years, they maintained a unique relationship.
“He had such an amazing, productive life,” Burnet says.“He was a natural, but he worked hard. Everything he accomplished, he accomplished himself because of hard work.”
Bob Barker and Nancy Burnet.Michelson/ZUMA Press/Alamy
Michelson/ZUMA Press/Alamy
While Barker hostedThe Price Is Right, he also became a crusader for animal rights, alongside Burnet. “He was willing to use his name value,” she explains. “He was willing to stand up when things were controversial.”
Burnet founded and served as president of United Activists for Animal Rights in 1987, an animal rights group, with Barker’s support. The couple led an investigation into the 1987 filmProject X,starring Matthew Broderick, which resulted in the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulationrequestinganimal cruelty criminal charges be filed during the film’s production.
The Price Is Righthost also founded the DJ&T Foundation in 1994, which provided spaying and neutering services for a low cost. (Burnet took over the foundation in 2000.)
“I can’t tell you the millions of animals, because of his name value and his speaking out, that were not born doomed, never to be adopted, because there just aren’t enough homes,” she explains. “It made a difference.”
Though the two were committed to animal rights at home, their work also followed them on their their travels, which they did a lot of during the mid-1980s through the early 1990s.
PAWS co-founder Ed Stewart (left) at a news conference with Bob Barker (center) and Nancy Burnet (right).Amy Dempsey/Toronto Star/Getty
Amy Dempsey/Toronto Star/Getty
The couple tried to organize a protest, contacting local media and humane organizations before leaving, although it never happened.
During a trip to Hawaii, Barker and Burnet found a scarred pit bull loose in a tourist area, begging for food. The two believed the dog had been in a fight since they noticed a piece of skin on its side had been ripped away.
“The top layer of skin was gone and it had healed over, but it was awful,” she recalls. “It was a terrible scar.““The animal control person said, ‘No, this is not dog fighting. This is pig hunting,'” she adds. “The islanders would take their dogs, their pit bulls, to go after a boar. And of course, the boars are pretty tough animals and they have tusks. And if a dog was injured, they’d leave it. We were trying to do something about that. But that did not go over well, because that’s a tradition. Our opinions were not very popular.”
While it was previously reported Barker had no interest in remarrying in the years after his first wifeDorothy Jo Gideondied in 1981, Burnet says Barker proposed to her “many times.”
Bob Barker and Nancy Burnet attend the 29th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in May 2002.Henry McGee/MediaPunch/Alamy
Henry McGee/MediaPunch/Alamy
Barker, however, remained very persistent, according to Burnet. In 2011, he had his attorney in Los Angeles draft a prenup without consulting her.
“He had his attorney send it to me,” she continues. “I said, ‘I just don’t want to do this. I’m not going to accept this.’ And he said, ‘Well, if you don’t like the terms of the prenup, take it to your own attorney. You can change it.’ I never did do it.”
Even in 2019, during Barker’s final years — and more than a decade after Burnet says their relationship had become more platonic — Barker, once again, brought up the idea of getting hitched.
“There was a difference, a 19-and-a-half, 20-year difference in our ages, so I said, ‘What would people think here?'” she says. “And he said, ‘Oh, I don’t care what they think.’ He was interested in doing it anyway. He didn’t care.”
The two would occasionally go out, but enjoyed spending time at home, playing chess “until I beat him one time and he wouldn’t play with me anymore,” she quips.
Bob Barker and Nancy Burnet attend the Animal Defenders International Gala on October 13, 2012.Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic
Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic
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They had a glass of wine most evenings, discussing their interests: his love for golf and the shooting range, her affinity for animals.
“He once said to me, ‘I could be happy with you in Dubuque, Iowa,'” she recalls. “I said, ‘Dubuque, why would you say that?’ He says, ‘I don’t know. It came to me, and I don’t think there’s a lot going on there.’ Just having that mutual humor, finding each other amusing, that helped pass the time.”
Bob Barker.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Barker will also be remembered in the years for his adamant support of animal rights, from his unique sign-off message at the end ofThe Price Is Right,reminding viewers to get their pets spayed and neutered to his work through his organizations.
“He liked the idea that people found joy in watching these shows,” Burnet says. “He used to receive letters from some of them saying, ‘We try to schedule our classes so that we can watch the show.'”
“But the thing I think he’d like to be remembered for most of all would be his work for animals,” she adds. “He changed America and maybe some other countries. He educated people and raised their awareness so that they started asking questions. His message, I think, brought that home.”
source: people.com
