John Barbour has sadly passed away at the age of 93. He was the man behind the smash-hit NBC series Real People. According to his family, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, Barbour passed away of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas.
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Real People is arguably the grandfather of modern-day reality television. It ran between 1979 and 1985. The show featured a hosting panel, which included Barbour. The hosts would introduce pre-taped segments about people with quirky hobbies, who were viewed as strange.
Sarah Purcell, Bryan Allen, Skip Stephenson, Mark Russell, Peter Billingsley, and Fred Willard were the other members of the judges' panel on the show at various points. The show has stood the test of time, too. IMDb has given Real People a 7.1-star rating. In total, 37 episodes of the show aired.
Furthermore, IMDB ranks the April 10, 1982, episode as the best in the show's history, giving it a 9.1/10 rating.
"The show's popularity and flexible format sparked inspiration for countless other reality TV series, such as That's Incredible!, America's Funniest Home Videos, and even MTV's long-running Ridiculousness," Suggest reported.
John Barbour Carved Out an Impressive Career
While Real People was arguably the crown jewel in Barbour's career, it wasn't the only successful project that he worked on.
Barbour also worked on episodes for My Mother The Car and Gomer Pyle: USMC. He also had two comedy albums, the first in 1965 and the second in 1978.
"Barbour was the pilot host for The Gong Show in 1976 before Chuck Barris took over, a writer and performer on the rebooted Laugh-In in 1977-78 and an actor on such TV series as Get Smart, Ironside, The Odd Couple, Sanford and Son, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Breaking Bad," The Hollywood Reporter noted.
More recently, Barbour released an autobiography titled "Your Mother's Not A Virgin: The Bumpy Life And Times Of The Canadian Dropout Who Changed The Face Of American TV."
Barbour leaves behind his wife, Sarita and their son, Christopher. Currently, there is no information regarding his funeral. Those details will likely remain private for family and close friends.
