Who Was Bob Barker's Wife? What to Know About the Late Dorothy Jo Gideon
Who Was Bob Barker's Wife? What to Know About the Late Dorothy Jo Gideon
Nicole Briese, Nicole PomaricoWed, March 18, 2026 at 5:15 PM UTC
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Bob Barker with his wife, Dorothy Jo BarkerCredit: Herb Ball/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank -
Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo Gideon first met in high school
They got married in 1945
The couple was together for more than 30 years before her death in 1981
It's been 45 years since Bob Barker's wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, died on Oct. 19, 1981.
The couple met when they were in high school and got married on Jan. 12, 1945. "I was married at 21; Dorothy Jo was 20," the The Price Is Right star told Esquire in June 2007.
From that point forward, the two were inseparable, working on commercial jingles together and sharing their lives. "She was with me all the time until she died," Barker told Esquire. "For some men, maybe a second or third marriage would work out fine. In my case, I had my marriage and she was the love of my life."
In the years following Gideon's death, Barker was linked to United Activists for Animal Rights founder Nancy Burnet. He was also accused of having an alleged affair with Dian Parkinson at the time he was dating Burnet.
Barker died of natural causes in August 2023. He was 99 years old.
So, who was Bob Barker's wife? Here's everything to know about Dorothy Jo Gideon and her relationship with The Price is Right host.
She met Barker when he was just 15 years old
Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo BarkerCredit: Elmer Holloway/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Gideon met her future husband when he was a 15-year-old student at Central High School in Springfield, Mo. "We fell in love as kids," Barker told PEOPLE in 1999. "And we stayed in love."
Having just moved to Springfield, Barker asked Gideon to accompany him to an Ella Fitzgerald concert for their very first date — and she said yes.
She and Barker eloped in 1945
The young couple eloped in St. Louis while Barker, who was training as a navy fighter pilot during World War II, was on leave. They exchanged vows on Jan. 12, 1945.
She was an animal rights advocate
Bob Barker with wife Dorothy Jo GideonCredit: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Barker credited Gideon with inspiring his own animal activism.
"She was ahead of her time," he told Good Morning America in February 2009 of his late spouse. "She really was. She stopped wearing fur coats before anyone was stopping."
According to the Happy Gilmore star, Gideon was also instrumental in his vegetarianism, to which Barker subscribed for more than four decades.
"My wife, Dorothy Jo, preceded me in becoming a vegetarian," he told the Vegetarian Times in October 2012. "She fixed beautiful dishes that I ate. Gradually, I became a vegetarian too. 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."
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She sang commercial jingles
Gideon, who appeared on 20 episodes of the 1970s game show Tattletales alongside her husband, got her start in commercial jingles.
"I had been working in a radio station," Barker told Good Morning America of the couple's early beginnings in show business. "And I finally got the opportunity to do an audience participation show. ... Dorothy Jo heard it. When I got home she said, 'That's what you should do.' "
Gideon "became his sidekick," PEOPLE reported in 1999, and she lent her vocal talents to radio talent show commercial jingles in Los Angeles.
She and Barker never had kids
Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo GideonCredit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty
The couple never had children during their decades-long relationship.
"We didn't have time for children," Barker told Esquire, adding that they never second-guessed their decision. "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."
She died of lung cancer
Gideon was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 1981. She died at age 57 on Oct. 19, 1981, just six months after her diagnosis.
Her death affected her husband deeply. "Bob went into this deep depression and was a totally different person for two or three years," his half-brother Kent Valandra later told PEOPLE.
"I immersed myself in [work]," Barker said of that time period. "I just tried to stay busy."
In the March 2026 E! documentary Dirty Rotten Scandals: The Price Is Right, those who were close to Barker at the time said he experienced suicidal thoughts after Gideon's death.
"Bob really went into a funk after that. He was ready to take his own life. That's what he shared with me," one of the show's producers, Barbara Hunter, said.
One of Barker's Beauties, Holly Halstrom, added, "He was devastated, really, by her death. There was a long period of mourning."
Barker established a foundation in her honor
Bob Barker and Dorothy Jo GideonCredit: CBS Photo Archive/Getty
Barker founded the DJ&T Foundation in 1995 in honor of his late wife and his mother, Tilly. Though it has since closed, the foundation focused on aiding low-cost spay and neuter clinics to control animal overpopulation.
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