Born in Darrington, WA, Barker grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Within a year he was hosting his own radio show out of Los Angeles. Barker made his national television debut as host of the popular Truth or Consequences , which he hosted for 18 years totaling 3,524 consecutive episodes. Barker has won 12 Emmys, including the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for Daytime Television in 1999.
Barker is very active in the movement to prevent animal cruelty.
He resigned after 21 years as the Miss USA Pageant host because the producers refused to remove fur coats from the prize packages. He refuses to do commercials for some sponsors because of the animal cruelty involved in the development and manufacture of their products.