Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty (12 page)

Over the next few days after my father’s death, I was busy making arrangements for my immediate family and me to fly back to Ohio for the funeral. It was always good to be back in my little hometown and be received by family and friends as a big Hollywood celebrity. Before we departed, I received an amazing fruit basket at my home from
The Price Is Right
staff and All American Television. I was so overwhelmed by the generous and thoughtful gesture from the people at the show and the new producers; there I was again, crying my eyes out, but for sentimental reasons this time.

I rarely missed a day of work, and now, it felt odd that I would not be there for at least four shows. I anticipated that my fans would be very curious as to what happened to the “Lovely Kathleen” (as Barker often referred to his Beauties). Holly called to check on me and the family while I was in Ohio. She also informed me that during the commercial breaks, the audience had inquired about my absence, and Barker had told them that I had a family emergency and reassured everyone that I would be back in a few days.

When my mother, brothers, and I were finally assembled in Daddy’s house, we shared our personal grief with each other privately in the study. The thought of our beloved father having departed this level of existence was devastating. His passing left a void in our lives. Daddy’s departure reminded us all of how temporary life is in this mortal world. Amidst all the sorrow, we found peace in knowing that Daddy had moved on to a higher plane, closer to God.

Throughout the funeral, I couldn’t help but notice the most beautiful, huge floral arrangement adorning my father’s casket. As I walked over to look down upon my father for the last time, I paused, and then reached over to read the card to see who it was from. My eyes swelled with tears of emotion as I read the card.
“We are all sorry for your loss. Our sincere condolences and love go out to you and your family. Most Sincerely, Bob Barker and The Price Is Right Productions.”

When Scotty walked over to bid Daddy a farewell, he placed a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of beer next to him in his casket. He said it was a tribute to the way Daddy lived and now a mark of respect in honor of his death.

When I returned to work, I was greeted with warm hugs and well wishes of sympathy and condolences from everyone on the set. I truly felt loved, and it was good to be back home—backstage at
TPIR
.

Smell has such a powerful ability to vividly bring back memories. It is definitely more important than we realize. To a large extent, smell is more personal than the other senses, as it brings back the memories of people, not just places or things. To this day, I have fond memories of my father while sniffing and folding my laundry.

Chapter 20

New Model Search,

Gena Lee Nolin

A
ll of the top modeling agencies were calling in favors to anyone connected with the show to try and get an edge for their Barker Beauty-hopeful. It was every agent’s dream to be able to have their young, aspiring starlet become a part of an American iconic show such as
The Price Is Right
, not to mention the benefits they would reap in getting their ten percent commission check for as long as their client worked on the show. Any model that was fortunate enough to land a spot on
TPIR
automatically felt a sense of security based on the history and long-running popularity of the show.

Production slowed considerably every time we had to train a new prospective model replacement for Dian. I could now relate to what the original Beauties had to endure during my long, dragged-out audition process. Since I was still the low model on the totem pole, I was expected to work with the new models more so than Janice or Holly. I didn’t really mind; I knew what they were going through and tried to help them the best I could, and I knew the long, tedious process was just beginning. Most of the prospective models were blonde, young, and had great bodies. The crew and stagehands were ecstatic to be able to gaze upon the new incoming talent; they had no problem going out of their way to lend helping hands to these lovely, young ingénues.

Janice, Holly, and I were a little concerned, though not worried, about the age-gap between the new models and us. We wanted to make sure that whoever was chosen was within a reasonable age range—relative to our age—so that it wouldn’t appear as though we were working alongside one of our daughters. There was nothing extraordinary that stood out from the multitude of models that auditioned, while sporting their skimpy bikinis and stiletto heels. I think some of the models were confused and thought they were auditioning for the next
Playboy
centerfold. I have never seen more breast implants and perky tits since Dian’s last
Playboy
issue. It was important to carefully choose the right model who would represent the show as the wholesome girl-next-door type, but who could keep the sparkle in every male’s eye.

It was a pleasant surprise to see a model/actress friend of mine trying out for the show. Cindy Margolis was a very charming and sweet young lady who would fit in quite well with the existing models. I had worked with her on a film called
Bikini Beach Party
several years ago, but we hadn’t seen or talked to each other since the filming of the movie. We spent a lot of downtime together during the shooting of the film. Downtime allowed us to go over lines and get better prepared for our scenes when we were not needed on the set for principal photography. It also allowed us to share some intimate girl talk. Cindy and I had created a special bond during the three days we’d spent filming the movie, so seeing her again was like reuniting with an old friend.

Cindy was aware that I was on the show and said that she wanted to surprise me when she came in for her three-day audition.
She filled me in on what she had been doing over the last several years as an actress and a high-fashion model, specializing in calendar and bikini shots. Little did either of us imagine that by 1999, only five years later, those shots would lead to her being named “The Most Downloaded Woman on the Internet
,”
a title recorded the following year in
Guinness World Records 2000
.

I went above and beyond the call of duty to try and help Cindy get prepped for the part of the newest Barker Beauty. After all, I knew her demeanor and how incredibly sweet and kind she was, which would make it much more enjoyable for all concerned on the set. We didn’t need any more drama between models.

Cindy admitted that she was a little nervous and concerned about doing the first show. It was a Christmas show, and she was dressed in a Santa’s helper outfit, to present a fully-decorated Christmas tree as the first item up for bid in the back of the audience. Cindy managed to do a good job on her debut presentation. Immediately afterward, Barker introduced her as one of the newest Barker Beauty-hopefuls who would be with us for the week.

She managed to get through the week of taping and felt good about her work. I reassured her that I would put in a good word to the producers and the people who would be instrumental in making the final decision. On the last day of taping, Cindy gave me a gift as a token of appreciation for being so kind and supportive. It was a beautiful silver makeup case. I hugged her and thanked her for making my week a special time and wished her well. We exchanged numbers, and I promised Cindy that I would keep her abreast as to what was going on behind the scenes and what her chances were for becoming the next Barker Beauty.

The general consensus from the producers was that they really liked her on screen but she was too over the top with her hand gestures. She also exuded too much sexuality and appeared a little awkward and uncomfortable at times. However, these weren’t issues that couldn’t eventually be worked out if, in fact, they decided to go with her. I told Cindy what was conveyed to me and suggested that she hang tight, as the process was narrowing down, and I would surely look out for her as a favorite. Cindy was, of course, disappointed, but with her ever-growing Internet popularity, she was busy cashing in as a solo beauty without
TPIR’s
help.

The door was wide open during the audition period, and the producers didn’t want to narrow it down to a blondes-only tryout. Even the lovely, voluptuous
Price
staffer Sharon Freim tried out for the Barker Beauty position. Sharon was the editorial consultant for the show and an assistant to the producers for the contestant selection process. She was a very attractive, well-built brunette, who knew how to turn heads. I always admired her style of clothing: understated, but sexy and form-fitting, just enough to make you take notice. My husband was among the admirers of the Sharon Freim fan club, and I couldn’t blame him.

Sharon appeared as a Barker Beauty only one day, and later shared with the models, “Now, I realize what you girls have to go through. As easy as it may seem, it is a lot of work and a little nerve wracking. I would much rather keep working behind the scenes.”

After many years as the faithful substitute model, Kyle, also brunette, asked the producers to give her the opportunity to officially try out. She was excited about the possibility of finally becoming a permanent Barker Beauty. Unfortunately, she was literally no substitute for the sexy, sassy, blonde dynamite Dian.

Several other models that were being considered were called back to tape a series of shows. This was to be a four-week period known as “Barker Beauties Month
,
” in which a different finalist would appear on the show each week. One by one, they were eliminated, and one fortunate model was closer to becoming the newest Barker Beauty.

Everyone was eager to bring this process to a close and move on with the production of the show. One day, out of the blue, in walked a young lady who was undeniably perfectly suited and capable of replacing Dian. She was the last model allowed to get in under the radar as we were drawing closer to making a decision and had cut off the auditions. Her name was Gena Lee Nolin. Gena was young, fresh, and green, a picture of perfection and beauty, with a body to match. We all recognized it right away and felt relieved to know that the audition period could conceivably be over; we may have finally found our newest Barker Beauty.

Gena had previously been making her mark as an aspiring fashion model while pursuing TV commercials and acting, as had we all at one time or another. Gena was newly married, for about a year in November of 1993, to her very supportive second husband, Greg Fahlman, and they had no children. Everything about her seemed to fit into our scope of what was needed to get on with the show and have a semblance of normalcy once again—whatever that meant!

After her performances during the three-day work week, doing two shows a day, it was unanimous that Gena would be the newest addition to join ranks with the Barker Beauties. She possessed every aspect of what was missing from the show after Dian had left, and then some. She was charming and easy to get along with. She was almost too good to be true. A few weeks after she was hired, some of us were waiting for her fangs to appear or for her diva side to kick in, but they never did.

Although Gena had taped several shows in the spring, she wasn’t officially announced as the permanent Barker Beauty until we resumed taping in the fall of 1994, the beginning of Season 23. It wasn’t long after Gena became the newest Barker Beauty that her fame began to rise swiftly. The fans and press ate her up. She was definitely television’s newest it girl. The media showed Gena an overwhelming interest and love that none of the other models had ever received. Even four years prior, when I became the first African-American model on the show, I never got that kind of love and star pampering.

When the time came to shoot the latest group photo, it seemed a little odd not having Dian there to stand next to Barker, Rod, and the other Beauties. The positioning had changed and seniority took its place as Janice and Holly flanked Barker in the middle. The photo session was fun and refreshing as we were all instructed to give big smiles and strike poses. There was a sense of relief because there was no longer any tension in the air amongst the Beauties when it came time to touch and stand next to each other.

Soon afterwards, the casting directors from our neighbors across the hall,
The Young and the Restless
spotted Gena in the CBS lobby. They gave her a small role as a top model named Sandy. We were all very excited for her, but I must admit, a little smidgen of envy ran through my veins.
Y&R
just happened to be my all-time favorite soap opera. I would have killed to be on that show—in a walk through, a run through, a drive by, anything, even as a corpse.

Gena was becoming more popular on
TPIR
and was getting offers to do small acting roles on other TV shows and commercials. Her agent was really pleased by the high level of attention and the responses that the exposure from the show presented for her. Unfortunately, as all the models knew and had experienced in the past, it was highly frowned upon if one of the Beauties wanted to take time off to go to an audition or work on another job while we were taping. Barker and the producers weren’t having it. We could have easily done the show with three models. We always had to sneak out to an audition or have our agents do their best to arrange it when we were on a short break or if we just happened to be lucky enough to be off. If we landed another gig, we had to call in sick. That didn’t happen often, but it became an option if and when the time arose.

Chapter 21

Dian’s Revenge

D
ian loved
TPIR
and despised the fact that she was given the ultimatum to leave amicably with a nice severance package or to be let go with nothing. She really didn’t have any definitive plans for her future other than perhaps finding something alongside the entertainment industry or hooking up with a wealthy suitor to take care of her and her lavish lifestyle as she had been accustomed.

She was hot property and in great demand, busy traveling and promoting her latest
Playboy
issue and Celebrity Centerfold Playboy video. Though everyone backstage knew of the past relationship between Barker and Dian and many outsiders highly suspected there was something going on between them, it had not become public knowledge at this point.

During an interview on Howard Stern’s raunchy radio show, the shock-jock asked Dian if she ever had a sexual relationship with Bob Barker and she replied, “I’m not going to comment on that.” But Howard, being the aggressive, arrogant, and filthy-minded person that he is known to be, kept pressing the issue and asked, “Did your relationship with Bob blossom into an affair?”

Dian responded, “It was not an affair. An affair is when two people are attracted to each other. It wasn’t like that with Bob and me. It’s a very personal thing, and I still can’t talk about it. Howard wasn’t satisfied with her answer and tried to push her button to get the low-down on their alleged sexual relationship. But Dian held her ground and took a pass on spilling the beans.

Most of Dian’s interviews were much of the same; inquiring minds wanted to know what her relationship was with Barker. Dian would always avoid commenting about their past relationship and would politely change the subject. She would merely reflect that Barker was a great guy and fun to work with and she was happy and thankful to have been able to work on such a long-running, popular show for so many years. Prior to all of her interviews, Dian and her agent made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t going to answer any questions that suggested any type of romantic involvement with Barker, or she would walk out.

After six months or so, there was no onslaught of job opportunities for other TV shows and feature films being offered to Dian as she had hoped. The personal interviews and special appearances were becoming less frequent as the newest, sexiest
Playboy
models were featured in the latest issues. Her phone was not ringing off the hook, except for offers to do some X-rated movies and more nude layouts by some cheesy magazines and porn production companies. Her severance pay was not plausible for her lifestyle, and the harsh reality of no longer being a Barker Beauty was not setting in well.

After she had left the show, she and I remained in communication via phone. She was always curious about what was going on backstage and how the model search to replace her was going. She wanted to know if the audience had asked about her, and, if so, what they were saying. What was the mood and tone like backstage? How did the crew compare the other models to her? She still had a few other close confidants on the set besides me that she would speak with to keep her posted on the latest happenings backstage.

The more that Dian sat idle, the more irritated she became. She talked about a lot of different things that happened to her on the set over the past years that she was still very unhappy about. Her blood was brewing, and she was becoming frustrated. I could hear the resentment growing in her voice each time we talked, especially when the model search had ended with the drop-dead gorgeous Gena Lee Nolan. Gena was twenty-six years younger than Dian and a more refreshing version. While Gena received praise and accolades from the press, media, Barker,
TPIR
cast, crew and production staff, Dian was becoming even more disturbed and annoyed.

Dian never really got over the break up between her and Barker. She constantly bitched about how pissed off she was by the way Barker had ended the relationship. Dian was a woman scorned, and she was gearing up for serious retaliation. She asked me several times if I thought she should go after Barker,
TPIR
producers, Janice, and Holly to sue them.

“Sue them for what?” I asked.

“They were all in some way responsible for causing my bleeding ulcer, which led to my poor health, which resulted in me having to leave the show, forcing me into an early retirement. I am too young to retire from anything.” Dian continued, “I should let everybody know how Barker forced me into doing certain sexual acts and made me feel like his sex slave.”

I was astonished and taken aback by Dian’s false allegations regarding her relationship with Barker. Who in the hell did she think she was talking to? I had to stop her in her tracks and remind her that I was fully aware of every little detail that had transpired during her and Barker’s consensual relationship. I also refreshed her memory that all of the
TPIR
production staff, stagehands, cast, and crew knew the
real truth
. I asked her, “Why in the world would you even make up some trash like that when we both know full well that he never forced you into any sexual acts?” Her ranting and raving was unwarranted, and she would never have a leg to stand on if she went public with these false allegations and pursued a lawsuit against Barker for sexual harassment.

Dian said, “I swear to God, I will let everyone know how upset and distressed I was the time Barker climaxed and came in my mouth and there was blood in his semen.” It was later reported to the
Price
family that Barker had a problem with his prostate and had to undergo treatment. Dian made it a point to remind me, for the third time, of that unpleasant incident.

“Well, I am sure he never meant for that to happen, and he was probably more embarrassed about it than you.”

Surviving the woes of show business includes having a sense of humor sometimes, even at the oddest times. I thought Dian could use a good laugh, so I told her this joke: “Did you hear the one about the husband who brings home a cock-sucking frog and gives it to his wife? The wife asks, ‘What the heck am I supposed to do with that?’ The husband replies, ‘Teach it to cook, then fuck-off!’” I laughed and waited to hear her do the same; however, there was silence at the other end of the phone—Dian was not amused.

A call for help from my dear friend Dian had prompted me to respond, but with careful consideration of the ramifications of such outlandish allegations as sexual harassment, I strongly discouraged her plan of action. However, I suppose my friendly advice meant nothing to her. Several weeks after my last conversation with Dian, the news came out, and the proverbial shit hit the fan. In the fall of 1994, Dian filed her lawsuit for sexual harassment against Barker. I made several attempts to contact her, but she never responded. Her legal team wanted to make sure she had no contact with anyone from the
Price
family and Barker’s camp and instructed her to cut off all communication with anyone associated with the show, and that included me.

Dian slowly began to add fuel to the fire in preparation for the lawsuit that would tarnish Barker’s image and change his life forever. Barker had never threatened Dian or stated that she would lose her job if she didn’t perform sexual favors as she had reported to
Star Magazine
. Dian had worked on
TPIR
for eighteen years; why in a year and a half would she have to give Barker sex or lose her job?

It has been said that
The Price Is Right
isn’t just a show; it’s an event, but now, sadly, the pending lawsuit became the event. As soon as Barker was slapped with Dian’s sexual harassment suit, Mark Goodson Productions and the CBS executives took immediate action and prepared a statement for a press conference, so that Barker could tell his side of the story before too much damage was done. Barker found himself in the middle of an ugly sex scandal, and all the gory details were about to be revealed to the world. Barker was angry, outraged, and embarrassed to think that Dian had gone so far as to accuse him of such a vile and unjustifiable act. Dian asked for $8 million to settle out of court, but Barker denied sexually harassing or exploiting her and vehemently refused to give in to her preposterous demands.

Barker stated in an interview, “She is not telling the truth. I think it’s an injustice to the women who really are suffering when a woman comes along and files a cynical lawsuit for personal gain.”

Barker made his feelings perfectly clear during a major televised press conference: “She was the seductress, out for money and revenge, and I will not give her so much as a penny. As God is my witness, I have never forced her to do one thing that she did not want to do. Dian came on to me and said, and I quote, ‘It’s time for some hanky-panky in your life. You are too straight-laced.’”

The CBS studios were abuzz once again. A feeding frenzy of curiosity is difficult to control. The news media and tabloids were having a field day with the hottest new scandal. Everyone backstage at
TPIR
was walking on eggshells, in fear of being overheard while voicing their opinions one way or the other. I was very disappointed in my friend for making this case such a full-blown, ugly scandal. Everyone backstage knew that her allegations were twisted lies.

Shortly after Dian filed the lawsuit, Barker made a point of visiting each of the three remaining models—Janice, Holly, and me—separately and privately in our dressing rooms to discuss the upcoming deposition for
Parkinson vs. Barker
. He wanted reassurance that we were on his side and would attest, under oath, to the fact that Dian was the aggressor and seductress and a willing participant in the relationship. I thought to myself,
Okay, so you want to schmooze up to your Beauties again now that it suits your personal needs.
Barker was especially interested to hear
my
point of view since Dian and I were such close friends. I soon realized that he had also devised a strategy to make sure that I was on board to help discredit any false accusations made by Dian that would damage his reputation. Over the years of our working together, I had confided in Dian and shared some of my innermost secrets. That was a big mistake! When Barker met with me, I learned that she had shared many of our confidential conversations with him during their private moments. He actually told me a few things that she had said about me when he came to my dressing room. He clearly wanted me to know that she was not the close, personal friend that I thought she was.

Curiously, after Dian had left the show, I discovered that she would make physical comparisons from the Polaroid photos of her and me that were taken backstage by stagehand, Richard Arthur, asking various guys in the crew which of us they thought looked better and why. Was she jealous of the new Barker Beauty? Did she need assurance that she was still the reigning swimsuit queen? Was she beginning to feel inadequate because there was, in fact, a new model on the scene, specifically hired to be a swimsuit model and with a built-in tan? Had she really manipulated me by keeping me close at hand as a sympathetic friend in need, or was I her puppet on a string—her little black Barbie doll?

A lot of what Dian truly thought about me began slowly surfacing from information I had gathered from Holly and some of my closest and trusted friends on the
TPIR
staff. She had mentioned that my speech wasn’t very good and that I talked like I was from Down South and sounded ignorant at times. Hell, maybe I did. I’m from Ohio, and we have our own dialect. We know what we want to say, but sometimes don’t finish the ends of the words and have the tendency to talk fast
.
She also allegedly said that I should be grateful that I got the position on the show because there were several other models whom she wished had gotten the job instead of me. I heard about more of Dian’s Kathleen bashing, true or not. There were some things she’d told in the strictest of confidence that she chose to share with others in an attempt to defile my name and my good graces. It was but a shallow pierce to my heart for a short period of time; my hurt feelings would quickly dissipate just like Dian’s fleeting popularity. Karma is a bitch.

Barker would spend the next several months defending himself on TV and radio talk shows, on newscasts, and through various magazine interviews. (This would serve to be the first of many lawsuits brought by numerous
Price Is Right
models and employees, spanning the course of more than a decade.)

Many of the staff, crew, and models were asked to give their depositions to Barker’s high-powered legal team, Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, on the nineteenth floor of a high-rise building on Constellation Boulevard, in the high-rent district of Century City.
Anticipation became nervousness
, which was
ever more prominent as I pulled into the parking lot and looked straight up at the top of the 24-story high rise. I wished that I had visited my specially stocked bar at home and talked this over with my friend Jack Daniels over ice to lessen the tension.

Attorney Patricia Glaser would be at the helm as head of litigation. Glaser graduated from Rutgers University School of Law in 1973, and early on in her career, established a reputation as a tough, take-no-prisoners litigator. “I have always said that I would like people to respect me, but beyond that, I really don’t care if they like me,” she had told a writer for
California Lawyer.
“It’s not my job to be liked. I’m in it to win and win honorably.” Patty Glaser was hard hitting, the kind of person you would love to have on your side of the courtroom—if you could afford her.

I was a bit uneasy during the whole deposition process, but I managed to sit still, listen carefully to the line of questioning, and answer cautiously and as honestly as possible. Patty never exerted any pressure; however, the line of questioning was solely intended to discredit Dian and take Barker out of the line of fire. This, in reality, was not difficult to achieve.