Bob Barker is a beloved, jovial TV emcee who entertained us with quiz programs, game shows, and competitions for over 50 years. As the game show host nears his 98th birthday, we take a look at his long career in broadcasting.

Barker was born on December 12, 1923, in Darrington, Washington. He graduated from high school in the early ‘40s and earned a basketball scholarship to Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. He got a degree in economics in ’47, then moved to Florida to work at a radio station. Not long after that, he headed west to California to pursue his career in broadcasting. For six years in the early ‘50s, he hosted his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show. Making the move to television, Barker started hosting the daytime TV quiz show Truth or Consequences in ’56 and remained until the show ended in ’74.

Near the end of working on that show, he began hosting The Price is Right in ’72. Three years later it became the first hour-long game show ever on TV and in ’90 it set the record for longest running daytime game show, beating Truth or Consequences, the very program Barker used to host.

His popularity on The Price is Right led to appearances on other programs and specials. Barker hosted the Pillsbury Bake-Off from 1969 to ’85 and the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade from ’69 to ’88. He hosted the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from ’66 to ’88, but the animal rights activist quit because the hosts refused to remove fur coats from the prize packages.

In ’95 he founded the DJ&T Foundation in Beverly Hills to help reduce the overpopulation of cats and dogs by offering free or inexpensive spay and neutering services.

Barker had a memorable film role in ’96 when he played himself in the Adam Sandler comedy, Happy Gilmore. They are teamed up in a celebrity golf tournament which ends with Barker (as himself) and Sandler (as Happy Gilmore) in a fist fight.

In 2007, he retired from The Price is Right after 35 years as the host. Six years later he was in the news for spending $1 million to get three African elephants removed from the Toronto Zoo and relocated to an animal sanctuary in California where they’d have more room. Then in 2015 he made a surprise appearance on The Price is Right as an April Fool’s joke.

Throughout his career, Barker was a 16-time Daytime Emmy winner. In ’76 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2007, Time Magazine named him the greatest game show host of all-time.