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Janice Maurine Pennington (born July 8, 1942) is an American former model and was one of the original "Barker's Beauties" models on The Price Is Right. As its longest-running model, Pennington was with The Price Is Right from the show's premiere in 1972 until 2000.
Aug 29, 2023 · Janice Pennington, who was a model on 'The Price Is Right' for 29 years, shares her memories of the late host and the show's popularity. She recalls Barker's humor, ad-libbing, love for the games and contestants, and his quiet life after leaving the show.
- 11 min
- Zach Seemayer
May 19, 2022 · Janice Pennington was one of the \"Barker's Beauties\" who showcased the prizes on the game show The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007. Learn more about her career, personal life, and other models who followed her footsteps.
- Amy Lamare
- Overview
- Early life and career
- The Price Is Right
- The serious injury on The Price Is Right set and litigation
- Her talk show and Husband, Lover, Spy
- Other TV appearances
- Price is Right Departure & Lawsuit
- Personal life
- Trivia
Janice Maurine Pennington (born July 8, 1942 in Seattle, Washington) is a former American model, actress and author. She is best known for being one of the original and the longest-serving Barker's Beauty on The Price is Right up to date: September 4, 1972 (series premiere)-December 13, 2000,
A native of Seattle, Washington, at the age of 19, Pennington landed her first job as a dancer was at the Seattle World's Fair. From there, she traveled to Las Vegas, where she worked as a dancer and showgirl with such show-business legends as Jimmy Durante and the late Eddie Fisher.
At just 23 years of age, she flew to New York to pursue a modeling career. There, she had signed with the famous Eileen Ford Agency and fashion photography and television commercials ensued. Pennington has appeared in over seventy commercials for such products as Dove, Chrysler, Max Factor, Whirlpool and Anacin.
Also while in New York, she formed a rock group called "The Models", which traveled to Europe with Liza Minnelli and performed at the Olympia Theater as one of Minnelli's opening acts. She was signed to the MGM Records label and recorded the famous song "Bend Me, Shape Me". Industrial films and small budget movies became a part of her growing career. For two years, she worked as an actress and a cast-mate of Orson Welles in his last film, The Other Side Of The Wind, with such notables as Dennis Hopper, John Huston, Peter Bogdanavich and other famous stars.
Pennington likewise appeared in many such episodic TV series as Ironside, The Courtship Of Eddie's Father, starring Bill Bixby and Lucas Tanner, in addition to appearing in cameo roles on other television series. She likewise acted alongside Elliot Gould in the film I Love My Wife. Moreover, she performed as an entertainer on variety shows like Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, the Bob Hope television specials and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. During her tenures on those shows, she worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett, among others.
In late August 1972, Pennington was hired to shoot the pilot for a planned revival of the CBS television game show The Price is Right (previously hosted by Bill Cullen from 1956-1965 on NBC and then ABC) which Bob Barker, who had been hosting Truth or Consequences since late 1956, was slated to be the new host.
On (airdate) September 4, 1972, The Price is Right made its nationwide debut at 10:30am on CBS, and the show immediately became ratings gold. At the start of more than 6,000 shows, Pennington handed Barker his microphone in the show's intro (Anitra Ford handed Barker the microphone on the series premiere episode in 1972, as she was partially seen on-camera while Pennington modeled the very first item up for bids which was a Fur Coat). She also handed off the microphone to Dennis James during his tenure on the syndicated nighttime version show from 1972 until his dismissal in 1977 (with Barker taking over until its end and cancellation in September of 1980), and also Tom Kennedy on the 1985-1986 syndicated version (Dian Parkinson handed Kennedy the mic on one show from 1985 while Pennington modeled the first item up for bids which was an Evening Gown) for the entire run.
On the (airdate) May 14, 1976, daytime episode, a special showcase was presented titled Janice Pennington, This is Your Strife. The showcase featured prizes (and clips) with which Pennington had had some mishaps: the Pop-Up bar that had refused to pop up, the overstuffed refrigerator that had nearly fallen on her, and a convertible whose bumper she had nearly crashed when driving it out on stage for the Lucky Seven game (Dian Parkinson drove the car out on stage during the actual showcase). During the rehearsal of that show, the staff actually rehearsed a fake showcase so that Pennington would have no clue on what was happening.
On a syndicated episode of The Price is Right that same year, during the Cliff Hangers Game, host Dennis James, had referred to the mountain climber as "Fritz." He was not aware of Pennington's heartbreaking personal crisis (detailed below) as her then second husband, Fritz Stammberger, had disappeared while mountain climbing in Afghanistan in the mid 1970’s. The contestant who had played Cliff Hangers had lost the game as the mountain climber tumbled off the cliff and James shouted, "There goes Fritz!" which sent an upset Pennington running backstage in tears. She did not appear on-camera or on air for the remainder of that show. (Dennis was actually referring to famous mountain climber Fritz Wiessner.) Dennis felt terrible about the incident and apologized to Janice and both put the incident behind them. This unfortunate incident marked first time Cliff Hangers would be played on the syndicated version during James' tenure (the game would be played many times through out its run and up until the series finale episode in September of 1980 with Bob Barker). This incident is also to be believed as to why Pennington was never present onstage with the game, modeling the three smaller prizes on the daytime version, with the exception of one time in November 1993.
In June 1988 (airdate: October 7th), Pennington suffered a serious injury after a cameraman swung his camera in the wrong direction during the opening sequence. The camera struck Pennington, knocking her off the stage and into the audience area, leaving her unconscious in front of horrified audience members. She was badly injured and was immediately rushed to the hospital for surgery.
The production of this taping was stopped for almost an hour, until the staff was assured that Pennington would survive. The taping finally resumed with only Holly Hallstrom and Dian Parkinson modeling (with Hallstrom passing the microphone to Bob Barker in the intro). Over the next several weeks while Pennington recovered from her injuries, substitute model Kyle Aletter filled in for her until she was well enough to return to the series.
Pennington made her much-awaited return to the show come mid-November and although she made a full recovery, she could no longer wear swimsuits as her surgeries left some damaging scars and one shoulder shorter than the other. Later come February 1989, Pennington filed suit against CBS, citing negligence.
The case went to trial, and in March 1992, a jury awarded her $1.3 million for injuries she sustained on the set of The Price is Right.
During the 1991-1992 TV season, Pennington hosted a weekly half-hour talk show called Breaking In where she revealed the real Hollywood, the stars and the stars behind the stars. She taped and broadcasted 45 shows.
In May 1992, Pennington took a leave of absence from The Price is Right and it was during this time period that she flew to Russia to investigate more into the disappearance of her second husband, Fritz Stammberger and it was there she learned that he was helping the CIA establish mountain bases along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and in 1984, Fritz died during a battle with ISSR (Information Systems Security Representative) forces. Finally able to find closure, Pennington returned to the United States and to the set of Price as well (airdate: May 27th).
In 1968, Pennington appeared on an episode of To Tell the Truth hosted by the late Bud Collyer (along with her former first husband Glenn Jacobson) where she was the subject while her husband acted as a central character. In the same year, she appeared in a commercial for the tortilla chips brand Doritos where she was on the beach.
In 1970, Pennington played as a wife on an episode of the crime drama series Ironside called "Noel's Gonna Fly".
In 1971, Pennington appeared as a guest performer on the sketch comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
In 1972, the same year The New Price is Right debuted on CBS, Pennington appeared on an episode of the revival of I've Got a Secret hosted by Steve Allen, where she was getting her body painted by future late Match Game panelist Charles Nelson Reilly.
In 1974, Pennington appeared in an episode of the drama series Lucas Tanner titled "Merry Gentlemen" as Lottie Garland.
In the mid-1970s, Pennington once appeared as a celebrity panelist on Match Game, hosted by Gene Rayburn and announced by Johnny Olson, appearing the same week with original Price is Right host Bill Cullen (Anitra Ford has also appeared on the series that same year while Bob Barker and Holly Hallstrom have appeared occasionally as panelists).
In 2000, Pennington's world was rocked by some devastating and heart-shattering news.
After having been with The Price is Right for 28 years and over 6,300 shows, she was abruptly and unjustifiably dismissed from the series. Fellow model Kathleen Bradley (since December 1990 officially) and several of the show's staffers (Linda Riegert, Sherrill Paris, Sharon Friem and director Paul Alter) were also terminated that day. Though no reason was ever given for their dismissal, it was believed that both Pennington and Bradley refused to testify against ex-Barker's Beauty Holly Hallstrom, who was abruptly dismissed back in October 1995 in her wrongful termination suit against Bob Barker and as a result, both ladies were dismissed from their modeling duties.
Neither Pennington nor Bradley were given a proper formal send-off from the show as their unannounced final appearances aired on December 13th (the next day until sometime in 2002, Nikki Ziering assumed the duties of handing Barker his microphone at the start of each show) which left die-hard fans of the show angry and outraged. There was more hurt and anger over Pennington's abrupt dismissal, due to her longevity with the series, dating back to its September 4, 1972 premiere. Shortly after their firings, Pennington and Bradley both sued for wrongful termination but later settled out of court for undisclosed amounts.
Pennington's settlement contained a hush clause in which she was prohibited from publicly out speaking against Bob Barker for possibly legal reasons (However, she later stated in a Myspace post in 2002 that she & Bradley were let go by CBS, rather than Barker himself). Bradley's settlement on the other hand, did NOT contain a hush clause and has gone on record stating that her termination was "abrupt" and unjustifiable, "unexpected" and as an event that she wasn't prepared for. As for former production assistant (and one-time substitute model) Sharon Friem, she too filed suit against for wrongful termination and in addition to her court claims, she also sued for sexual harassment, revealing that she became a target of many inappropriate sexual remarks and gestures.
Pennington has married three times. She was first married to a man named Glen Jacobson in 1964, they divorced in 1973.
The following year, she married her second husband, Fritz Stammberger on May 12, 1974. The very next year, as stated above, Fritz disappeared while mountain climbing in Afghanistan in 1975. He was declared legally dead in the early 1980s.
Pennington posed nude for the cameras of Playboy magazine, appearing in the May 1971 issue (several other Barker's Beauties have also posed nude for the popular men's magazine including Dian Parkinson, Nikki Ziering, Cynthia Brimhall, Heather Kozar, Teri Harrison and Gena Lee Nolin).
Her younger sister, Ann, occasionally appeared as a substitute model on the syndicated version of Price (most likely during Dennis James' tenure on the show) and later went on to appear as one of the two card dealers on the 1978-1981 version of Card Sharks, in its first year on NBC, the series was hosted by the late Jim Perry.
Sep 30, 2023 · Janice Pennington was one of the longest-running models on The Price Is Right, appearing on more than 5,000 episodes from 1972 to 2000. She also wrote a book about her husband's disappearance in Afghanistan and shared her memories of working with Bob Barker.
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Subscribed. 112. 23K views 1 year ago TELEVISION CITY. Bob Barker announces Janice Pennington has returned to The Price is Right after a serious life-changing injury from being knocked by a...
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