Bob Barker Receives the L.A. Press Clubs Inaugural Legend Award
Legendary game show host and animal rights activist Bob Barker will accept the Los Angeles Press Club’s inaugural Legend Award at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards Gala on December 6 at the Biltmore Hotel, in downtown Los Angeles. Mr. Barker will be introduced by the current host of “The Price is Right,” Drew Carey.
“There is perhaps not a more beloved television icon than Bob Barker, a true living legend who continues, even at the age of 91, to be an exemplary symbol of the very best the entertainment industry has to offer,” said Press Club President Robert Kovacik.
The Legend Award is instituted to honor an individual within the entertainment industry for their venerable contributions to the industry and to society.
When Bob Barker retired from “The Price is Right” in 2007 he had hosted the show for 35 years and the show had been one of the highest rated daytime shows for the entire Barker run. Time Magazine named him the greatest game show host of all time.
Since his retirement, Barker has been busy on a number of animal rights-related issues. He was instrumental in having a Spay-Neuter ordinance adopted by the City of Los Angeles and lobbied Chicago and the State of California to adopt similar laws. He is involved in ongoing efforts to rescue elephants from zoos in Los Angeles and Canada and he donated $5,000,000 the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to underwrite its cost of anti-whaling internationally.
In addition he has established endowments for the study of animal law at eight of the nation’s top law schools, including Harvard, and has provided financial support for a number of other projects, including $3 million to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund towards construction of a treatment center for traumatic brain injuries suffered by military personnel – just to mention a few of his contributions.
