Anitra Ford (born Anitra Joy Weinstein on September 3, 1942 in California) is a former American model, former actress, photographer and artist. She is best known for being of the two original Barker's Beauties on the revamped version of The Price is Right from its debut on September 4, 1972 to December 28, 1976.
Early Life, Acting & Modeling Career[]
Born Anitra Joy Weinstein in California.
Ford began her career as a model in the 1960s. Her first acting gig was a small, uncredited role as a model in the 1971 film The Love Machine. From there, she went on to appear in other films such as The Big Bird Cage, Invasion of the Bee Girls, and Messiah of Evil. But her best known movie role is appearing opposite Burt Reynolds in the opening scenes of the 1974 film The Longest Yard where she played Reynolds' wealthy girlfriend, Melissa Gaines.
Ford has also landed roles on various TV shows which include The Odd Couple, Wonder Woman, Starsky and Hutch, and The Streets of San Francisco.
The Price is Right & later Departure[]
Although she's already had an impressive acting resume, Anitra's greatest enduring popularity came in August 1972 when she was hired to shoot a pilot for a planned revival of the television game show The Price is Right (previously hosted by Bill Cullen from 1956-1965 on NBC and then ABC) in which Bob Barker, who had been hosting the television series Truth or Consequences since 1956 (until 1974) was slated to be the new Host. Television veteran Johnny Olson signed on as the show's announcer while Anitra and Janice Pennington were signed on to appear as the two original prize models, known as the original Barker's Beauties, showing off the merchandise.
On September 4, 1972 (airdate), The Price is Right made its national televised debut at 10:30am on CBS and instantly, the show became ratings gold. While working as a Barker's Beauty, Anitra still worked as an actress as she continued to land roles in TV and movies. Beginning in August until late October of 1975, she took a leave of absence from the series to devote more time to her acting career and it was during this time period, Dian Parkinson (first appearing in mid-April, as a substitute for Anitra for three episodes) stepped in as the temporary replacement (even donning a brunette wig as an attempt to look like Anitra) and in September, during a special hour-long trial week, Dian and Janice Pennington were joined by a third model Barbara (the first expansion of Barker's Beauties), who only appeared for this week of shows. Come November 3rd, The Price is Right, after receiving positive feedback from the trial week hour-long shows, expands to the hour-long format permanently and the show's on-camera expanded as well with Dian (ditching the brunette wig) officially joining Anitra and Janice as the show's third permanent model.
In December 1976, after more than four years as a model on The Price is Right, Ford decided to call it quits; becoming the first model to leave the program as her final appearance aired on the 28th. After her departure, the show began to hold auditions to find a permanent replacement and among the potential candidates were Mary Poms, (who frequently substituted for Anitra earlier that year) and Linda Serine. After a few weeks of the rotating guest models, come (airdate) February 14, 1977, Anitra's permanent replacement was found: former college student & part-time model Holly Hallstrom. Almost instantly, Holly garnered even further popularity on the show and immediately became a fan favorite; notably known for her mishaps, blunders, and bloopers with various prizes and set pieces.
Anitra was the first and one of VERY few permanent models from the Bob Barker era to have left the series on with good terms (the only other permanent models to leave on their own accord were Chantel Dubay, who exited the series on the 28th Season Premiere which aired on September 20, 1999 and Gena Lee Nolin, who left the series in the fall of 1995 to join the tv series, Baywatch), and was also the only one mentioned by name in his memoir "Priceless Memories", (the others were referred to collectively as "models" or "beauties"). She also handed Barker his microphone (partially seen on-camera) on the September 4, 1972 series premiere while Janice Pennington (who would hand Barker the mic from the second episode all the way up to her abrupt departure from the series in mid-December 2000), had modeled the very first item up for bids, which was a fur coat, (the episode has never aired on the Game Show Network nor Pluto TV due to the Fur Coat ban, made by Barker).
Later Career in Photography and Real Estate, Other TV Appearances & Trivia[]
Anitra also decided to call it quits on her acting career as she was wanted a change in her professional career. In addition to going into real estate, she went on to become an accomplished photographer, a published poet, and a very successful artist as her artwork has been displayed in various art galleries in Santa Barbara, California.
In the spring of 1976, Anitra appeared as a celebrity panelist on Match Game, hosted by Gene Rayburn (Janice Pennington also appeared on the series that same year with original Price is Right host Bill Cullen, while Bob Barker and Holly Hallstrom appeared as semi-regular panelists).
In recent years, Anitra was seen on the revival of the classic Game Show To Tell the Truth (hosted by Anthony Anderson) in which the celebrity panel (Ross Matthews, Oliver Hudson, Kal Penn and Full House/Fuller House actress Candace Cameron Bure) had to guess which one of the three imposters was the real original "Price is Right" model.
After Anitra later stood up and revealed herself as the original Barker's Beauty, a montage of clips of her (but beforehand, the same clips were shown but with her face blurred) from the show's first year on the air were shown.
Gallery[]
