‘Real People’ Creator and Co-Host Dies at 93

Walt Disney Television Photo Arc / ABC John Barbour, the creator and co-host of NBC’s reality show Real People , died Sunday at 93 from natural causes in his Las Vegas home, a family spokesperson announced . The series, filmed before a live studio audience, aired from 1979 to 1985 and profiled everyday Americans with unusual jobs, talents, and hobbies. Born in Toronto in 1933, Barbour dropped out of high school at 15 after his father abandoned the family, then immigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s. He broke into the mainstream as the first host of KABC-TV’s AM Los Angeles , where he won his first Emmy. Barbour later picked up four more Emmys as critic-at-large for Los Angeles’ KNBC and made scripted appearances in Get Smart , Sanford and Son , and Breaking Bad . He later pivoted to writing, releasing his 2019 autobiography Your Mother’s Not A Virgin: The Bumpy Life and Times of the Canadian Dropout Who Changed the Face of American TV! Barbour is survived by his wife, Sarita, and their son, Christopher. Read it at Hollywood Reporter Read more at The Daily Beast.

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