Audience members were called upon to answer strange questions or shopworn jokes . The penalty for a wrong answer was an absurd stunt. Many contestants chose to throw their turn for a moment to do something silly on national TV.guiding contestants, who were plucked from a studio audience, through a series of “bids” in which they guessed the retail price of merchandise and other prizes — cars, furniture, stoves, vacations. Mr.
“I used to describe the Rose Parade for CBS and there were various broadcast booths all along the top of the bleachers, and as I’m walking by, a guy from up in a booth that said ‘Samoa’ across it yelled down at 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day, ‘Hey, Bob! I’ve got a woman up here who wants to pick you up.’ I walked faster and got away from there.”Robert William Barker was born on Dec. 23, 1923, in Darrington, Wash., where his father was a foreman on a power-line project.
The most prominent lawsuit, in 1994, was brought by Dian Parkinson, who alleged in a claim that she had been coerced into a sexual relationship with Mr. Barker and that she had no option but to quit her job as a result. A judge dismissed her wrongful termination claim but allowed her to proceed with claims of sexual harassment and emotional distress.