Who Was Bob Barker's Wife? All About Dorothy Jo Gideon

Bob Barker met his late wife Dorothy Jo Gideon when he was 15 years old

Bob Barker's wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, died on Oct. 19, 1981, after spending more than four decades with the game show host, but he still held her memory dearly.

"I'll never marry again," Barker told PEOPLE in 1999. "Dorothy Jo was the love of my life."

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 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."

Though Barker has had other notable relationships since Gideon's death — he's been linked to animal rights activist Nancy Burnet since 1983 — he remained true to his word, never marrying and keeping his late wife's memory alive. He was spotted visiting her grave on the 36th anniversary of her death on Oct. 19, 2017, with a bouquet of daisies, in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.

Nearly six years later, Barker died of natural causes in August 2023. He was 99 years old.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce that the World’s Greatest MC who ever lived, Bob Barker, has left us," his longtime publicist Roger Neal said in a statement.

Here's everything to know about Dorothy Jo Gideon and her relationship with Bob Barker.

She met Barker when he was just 15 years old

Gideon met her future husband when he was a 15-year-old student at Central High School in Springfield, Missouri. "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

Barker credits Gideon with inspiring his own animal activism. "She was ahead of her time," he told Good Morning America in 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 has subscribed for more than four decades. "My wife, Dorothy Jo, preceded me in becoming a vegetarian," he told the Vegetarian Times in 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."

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

The couple never had children during their decades-long relationship. "We didn't have time for children," Barker told Esquire in 2007, 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 told PEOPLE.

"I immersed myself in [work]," Barker said of that time period. "I just tried to stay busy."

Barker established a foundation in her honor

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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