Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty Read Online Free Page B

certain they didn’t want to hear any of those lame excuses. Excuses weren’t readily tolerated by the producers and it would be the kiss of death. During this short intervention, they asked if I thought this job was too much for me to keep up with, and if so, there were many other young ladies waiting in the wings to take my place. I cringed when I heard those words and began to plead my case. I promised that it would never happen again — and it never did.
    After those meetings, there were still times when I was hard pressed to make a mad dash onto the stage without breaking my neck or position myself behind the doors before they opened and appear as though I was cool and calm. Holly was famous for making mad dashes to get behind the doors on time or for sliding into Contestants’ Row, where the bidders were eagerly waiting to bid on the next item. She would literally slide to a halt as soon as the doors opened and would appear poised and calm , no one would suspect the contrary.
    The show was shot and taped in real time with short breaks for commercials. There was no going back if you flubbed something, unless it was under extreme circumstances. It was rare to stop tape and do things over. There were a few occasions when we had to stay after the last show to do a pickup shot, which would later be inserted and edited into the original show. This might have occurred through no fault of the models, perhaps a technical problem. The professionalism on TPIR was phenomenal, and the show ran like clockwork.
    After being enlightened by my conversation with Debbie regarding the usage of the N-word within the confines of the Green Room, I noticed a twinge of racial prejudice hovering backstage, which made me feel a little uncomfortable at times. But for the most part, the hard-working stagehands and crew showed me a lot of love and respect.
    There was a period when the set of TPIR was a place where offensive and discriminatory remarks , including those against blacks, women, gays, and other minorities , were tolerated. Actually, the main culprit was a black man named Richard Auther. Thank God they threw away the mold after Richard was born. Richard was a high yellow, light bright, almost white Louisiana Creole boy. You might not suspect that he was black until he opened his mouth. Richard was the stage right head prop master and he had worked for TPIR for many years. He was quite a character, the backstage clown, who was always joking around, pulling pranks, and flirting with the models. He was the type of guy who wouldn’t think twice about belching or farting in anyone’s presence — and he’d brag about it. More than anything, he was annoying and loud as hell, extremely obnoxious, and had a bad habit of touching the models inappropriately.
    Initially, he was too overbearing for me to put up with, so I decided to report him to the producers for sexual harassment, but a lot of good that did. I later found that there was a list of other models and female employees who had the same complaints against Richard. The higher ups never took action, and he was merely given a slap on the wrist for his bad behavior. The Price Is Right Productions leases space from the CBS Studios, which employs all the camera operators, crew, and stagehands. The sexual harassment rules and regulations weren’t heavily enforced during the early eighties and nineties. I’m certain that if the rules had been imposed back then, probably half of the stagehands, crew, and several members of the production staff would have been fined or fired for their actions.
    If anyone could appreciate the thin line between sexual harassment and a good old-fashioned compliment , it was me. Who wouldn’t be tempted to stare at a beautiful woman in a one or two-piece swimsuit, standing right in front of them with a 36-DD bust, a twenty-four-inch waist, and thirty-six-inch voluptuous hips? I had always been a little flirtatious and enjoyed a good, strong hug from those I