John Barbour, the “Godfather of Reality TV,” has died at the age of 93.
The reality tv creator and host died over the weekend in his home surrounded by family. Barbour is best known for creating, producing and co-hosting the NBC show “Real People” in the 1980s.
Barbour was born in Toronto, Canada but emigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s after dropping out of high school at 15. He began his career doing stand-up comedy and went on to make appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “The Dean Martin Show” while he put out two comedy albums – one in 1965 and the other in 1978.
He pulled in five Emmy awards across his career for hosting a variety of shows. His first Emmy came while at “AM Los Angeles” for interviews with anti-Vietnam War guests like Jane Fonda and Muhammad Ali. His other four statues came from his news work for the Los Angeles local affiliate KNBC on their “Critic-At-Large” series. On top of all that, he was also the pilot host for “The Gong Show.”
Along with his hosting duties, Barbour also appeared on a slew of TV shows. His credits include “Breaking Bad,” “Get Smart,” “CSI,” “Sanford and Son” and “The Liars Club.”
Barbour also dipped his toe into the documentary space during his career. He wrote, produced and narrated the documentary film “Ernie Kovacs: Television’s Original Genius” and earned praise at the San Sebastian Film Festival for “The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes” in 1992 and its sequel, “The American Media and the Second Assassination of John F. Kennedy,” in 2017.
Barbour is survived by his wife, Sarita, and son Christopher
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