Janice Pennington

Janice Maurine Pennington (born July 8, 1942) is an American former model and was one of the original "Barker's Beauties" models on The Price Is Right. As its longest-running model, Pennington was with The Price Is Right from the show's premiere in 1972 until 2000. She was also Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the May 1971 issue. She is the older sister of fellow model Ann Pennington^[1] and the cofounder of the Hollywood Film Festival.

Pennington was born in Seattle, Washington. She has been married three times, and her first marriage was to Glenn Jacobson, with whom she appeared in a Spring 1967 episode (exact date unknown) of the daytime version of To Tell the Truth.^{[2][citation needed]}

Her second husband was German mountain climber Friedrich "Fritz" Stammberger, who disappeared in Afghanistan in 1975 while mountain climbing. After years of searching, Pennington speculated that Fritz had been helping the CIA establish mountain bases along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and was killed during a battle with Soviet forces.^[3]

In 1984, Pennington married writer Carlos de Abreu, a native of Mozambique.^[4]

Pennington was a member of a music group called The Models who released a single in 1967.

For 29 years, Pennington served as a model on The Price Is Right, handing the microphone to Bob Barker at the start of more than 5,000 shows. She also handed off to Dennis James and Tom Kennedy while the show was in syndication in 1972–77 and 1985–86, respectively.

During a 1976 syndicated episode, host Dennis James called the mountain-climber character in the Cliff Hangers game Fritz, unaware that Pennington's husband Fritz Stammberger had disappeared while mountain climbing the previous year. As the contestant lost the game and the mountain-climber figure tumbled over the cliff, James shouted "There goes Fritz!," causing Pennington to run from the stage in tears.^{[citation needed]}

In June 1988, a camera hit Pennington, knocking her unconscious. She was taken to a hospital and taping of the episode resumed after 45 minutes. Pennington's resulting surgery left her with scars and one shoulder shorter than the other; as a result, she could no longer wear swimsuits on the show. A substitute model took Pennington's place during her recovery from the injury.^[5]

Pennington's last episode of The Price Is Right was the December 13, 2000, episode following the show's takeover by Pearson Television earlier in the year. She signed a confidential settlement agreement.^[5]

Pennington and Barker were generally on better terms with each other than Barker was with the other models, who were both involved in lawsuits against him. Barker praised Pennington for her defense of him following a sexual harassment lawsuit from fellow model Dian Parkinson in a 2002 interview with Larry King Live.^[6] The few positive words he had in regard to the classic Barker's Beauties during a USA Today interview discussing his retirement centered around Pennington, in which he expressed empathy for her in the wake of Stammberger's disappearance and praised her as "very brave;" he then asked to change the subject, not wanting to address the "disgusting" lawsuits against him.^[7] In an interview with Entertainment Tonight following Barker's death in August 2023, Pennington noted that she had not spoken to Barker since her departure, but that she held no ill will toward him and spoke positively of her tenure on the show and her experience with Barker.^[8]

• List of people in Playboy 1970–1979

• Janice Pennington at IMDb

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