Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty (8 page)

Chapter 13

Fan Letters,

Prisoners of Love

“
N
o, we do not get to keep the clothes
,
and no, Bob Barker never tried to hit on me” was the standard reply to two of the most frequently asked questions from my fans.

Now that I had made a name for myself and had arrived at a certain level of fame, I began receiving tons of fan mail and had a large following from prison inmates as well as your everyday dedicated Midwestern and Bible Belt aficionados. It is bizarre what goes on inside the human mind and the lustful thoughts that develop from seeing someone on television or on the silver screen, how people can imagine, with every fiber of their beings, that they’ve got to have that person and are willing do whatever it takes to get them.

There were many such fans that wrote letters to me over the ten years that I was on
TPIR
. Fans related to me on various levels. Many minority fans were proud of me for being the first black Barker Beauty. Parents wrote that they wanted their daughters to grow up and be like me. Then there were many fans that just lusted after me and wanted me to be their sex goddess. But not all of my mail was from loving or caring fans. There were many hate letters addressed to me from dozens of disconcerting viewers who were upset that a black Beauty had been added to the all lily white cast. I was not given these letters but was made aware of them from my contacts in the Goodson office long after I had gotten there. Over time, the hate mail began to lessen.

Once a week, on the set of
TPIR
, the production office handed the models fan mail. Some models had more fan mail than others
, but
no one was really counting how many pieces of mail we each received—except Dian. She was quite popular throughout the years and admired for her sexuality. She would, by far, always receive more fan mail than anyone else. Conversely, when I arrived on the scene, things began to shift. I had created a new minority viewing audience and attracted what seemed like half the prison population.

The office had a policy of going through all of the fan mail prior to giving it to the models, Rod, or Barker. A lot of the letters merely requested an autographed photo of one of us or a group photo. The production company took the liberty of fulfilling the fans’ requests by sending them autographed photos of their choice. We would pre-autograph fifty to a hundred photos during the rehearsals or between tapings. The photos were kept on file at the office to help expedite mailing to the fans. Often, we were given a list of names so we could personalize the photos before they were mailed out.

The staff intercepted certain letters addressed to the models because the content was too threatening, suggestive, or raunchy
,
especially letters from a number of prison inmates. The residents of correctional institutions have been huge fans of
TPIR
for many years. Most of the television programming in these institutions is limited, based solely on the content of the program. Why feed fuel to the fire?
TPIR
has always been revered as one of America’s most wholesome family TV shows
.
It is entertainment for everyone
,
no matter the race, age, faith, or gender. How corrupting could a daytime television show be? The fact that
TPIR’s
theme-based attire resulted in the models showcasing prizes in scantily clad, cleavage-baring dresses, one-piece swimsuits or bikinis, mini-dresses, short shorts, negligees, or, at times, while wrapped only in towels didn’t seem like a valid reason to ban the show. After all, the Beauties were a big contributing factor to the overall success of the show and the reason that many male viewers tuned in every day. It was the models’ job to enhance the prizes
;
although, at times, the prize became invisible or insignificant to the eyes of the beholder. And it was scary to think what some men had admitted to
holding
and doing while watching their favorite Beauty.

Since the prison inmates were incarcerated, they never really posed an immediate threat
;
it was the radical fan—the free man who promised to pay one of us a visit to claim what was rightfully his—who was the imminent danger. This was the person to look out for and for whom we had to watch our backs every step of the way. Worst of all, at times, a stalker was born.

The fear of being stalked is one that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The production office and CBS security had been alerted that there was a crazy person on the prowl for me—even before I was notified. When I found out that there was a person of interest who had been sending me obscenely suggestive fan mail
(
some of which I never received), I became a little alarmed. This person was obsessed, mentally unstable, and would stop at nothing to get to me. The production office took all necessary measures to make sure that I was fully protected. To ensure the safety of any performer/artist, CBS security would post photos and names of all known stalkers at the guard stations and main entrances. The studio took every precaution and issued a full alert to make sure that these dangerous people did not obtain entry into the building at any time, under any circumstances. I was personally escorted into the building upon my arrival, and accompanied to my car after the last show. I was told to make sure I called the CBS security station to let them know when I’d gotten home safely. My husband was also put on high alert, because many times, the letters made mention of doing away with him in order for the stalker to get to me. Eventually, the letters ceased, and the studio didn’t hear from that particular person anymore.

In 1993, a very deranged man named Malcom B., from the Douglas County Correctional Center in Omaha, Nebraska, wrote so many disturbing letters to Holly and me that the production staff held them back from us for several months, so they could have him investigated before passing them on to us. When they felt certain that he was not a threat to our well-being and that he would remain incarcerated for a long time, they gave copies of his letters to Holly and me, which totaled well over 200 pages. The content of the letters and the manner in which they were written was so eerie and dark that I didn’t want to touch the copies, let alone bother to continue to read them.Two such letters from an obsessed fan:

Letter 1: Albert P.

June 27
th
, 1993

Hi Lovely Lady:

Kathleen, it’s me again. Hope you aren’t tired of all the letters. I was wondering if you would marry me for love and for nothing else and for a newly birth family. I be sick a lot sometime. I be in a lot of pain, and my body hurt with pain, and my eyes never closes, and I hardly ever get any sleep in this town after county police have one of the most sickest ghost homosexual white boys on me. He in my eyes and I can’t get him out of my eyes. He’s always reading my mind and telling the sheriff what I am thinking at Akien County Jail. He always doing things to my picture that make me very sick, putting bad medicine on my picture, eating shit on my picture every day. He’s been doing it a very long time. I’ll give anything in this world to get my hands on him. I would love to see him sit in the electric chair and fried, etc. Kathleen, my beautiful love, I be in L.A. no later than August. Please pick me up from L.A. airport. It probably be a Sunday when I fly out there. See if you can take my pictures to a healer to fight these ghosts out of my eyes, etc.

Love you dearly,

Dr. Albert P.

P.S. Kathleen, if you will marry me and pick me up from the airport, please hold two fingers up all next week, a peace sign, using your hand in the showcase, two fingers up. Don’t forget, throw up a peace sign or okay sign. Send for some tickets later, ok. Thanks.

Love, Albert

4ever is a long time

**

Letter 2: Albert P.

Sept. 12, 1993

Dear Kathleen Missing Love:

Sweet, lovely lady, I miss you on TV for a few days because I been locked up in a courthouse being judged, but never the less, what I have for you will never change because you are a goddess of love and a gift inexcusable. I know it been a long time since you heard from me, but nevertheless, my love for you kept getting stronger. I don’t know if you are already married or not. I honest don’t know. I wish you could reply on that subject. I wish you are single and you could make room in your life for me. Kathleen, the things I do for you in and out of the bedroom, honey. I just wanted to be with you every sex act that can be performed on one another. Eating you don’t even come close. I need your love to get me through life, honey. You are a knock out, sexy to bone honey. I am not feeling super. Give me one more chance at a sweet, sexy love. I wish you could send one more photo to just prove something to me, cause I am a man highly emotional when it comes to you, doll baby. I am only a plane ride away. Try to imagine life with me please, Kathleen. Let me be your husband and you be my wife.

Love you Forever, Albert

Hard Dick

Hard Penis

Iron Cock

**

On the brighter side
,
there were many emotionally moving fan letters that I received from young girls who admired me and wanted to be like me when they grew up. I also received many letters from charitable organizations, asking me to be a guest speaker or mistress of ceremonies for their fundraiser events. Far too often, I didn’t receive some of these letters until after the event had taken place, and I felt awful that I or my personal assistant was not able to respond to their requests in time; it was as if I had intentionally let them down. No matter how much time had passed, I made it a point to respond to them and acknowledge their requests with my sincerest regrets. Letter of inspiration:

July 2, 199-

Dear Kathleen,

My name is Juana (Wan-na) F. I’m a 30-year-old black female and mother of two boys, who once dreamed of becoming the first black Barker Beauty. Because of my two young ones, I was unable to beat you to the punch. Good thing I couldn’t because I don’t think I could have done as great a job as you do. You are my inspiration. You’re a very beautiful lady. I think you’re doing a fabulous job representing black women. Thank you.

Now that my youngest is one year old, I’m getting ready to begin following my dreams again. My dream is to become a host or hostess on a television show, whether it’s an entertainment reporter or host for a television talk show. I’m a little scared but motivated. Could you please send me a photo of yourself to hang in my home office to inspire and motivate me?

If time permits, and I pray it does, will you include some words of wisdom, some advice on where to start, what to do, or who to see? I’d really, really appreciate it. I am a college graduate with a degree in journalism and amateur experience behind the camera.

Thanks in advance for the photo. Much continued success to you always.

Juana F.

**

When I received this letter from the production office, I was told that an autographed photo had already been sent to Juana. Regrettably, I never got a chance to respond to her personal request because the office had discarded the envelope with her return address.

Giving back to the community has always meant a great deal to me
,
beginning with the biggest and most faithful fans
:
the elderly. I would always arrange for a visit to a nearby senior citizen home or skilled nursing facility while traveling to different cities for special events or speaking engagements. My reward was seeing the smiles on their faces as I walked around to give them individual attention
,
a touch, a hug, and especially when I would call out their names to “come on down!”

Realizing the decline of hope in the spirit of inner-city youths due to drugs, violence, lack of adequate housing, poor education, and scarce financial resources
,
anything that I could do to help support the younger generation was of paramount importance. I encouraged young girls to strive for high self-esteem, to be proud of who and what they are
,
and above all, not to allow the male gender and their genitals to control or dictate their lives. I advocated a message to enhance the conscious awareness of our inner-city youths of the importance of human dignity, education, equal opportunity, as well as social and economic advancement.