Kathleen Bradley said she always knew she wanted to be in show business, but it was a childhood friend’s move to California for college that provided the motivation she needed to pursue her dream.

Bradley, 71, a 1969 graduate of Girard High School, spoke Thursday to the Monday Book Review Club at Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield. Most of her talk focused on her 2014 memoir, “Backstage at The Price Is Right.”

She was the first black model for the CBS game show, appearing on the show as one of “Barker’s Beauties” from 1990 to 2000. Before that, she was named Miss Black California in 1971, and sang and danced as a member of the Love Machine disco act for eight years. She appeared as Mrs. Parker in the 1995 comedy “Friday” with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in the middle of her stint on “The Price is Right.”

She went to Vietnam on a USO Tour in 1971 as Miss Black California.

But being the first black model on the game show hosted by Bob Barker was not the only first for Bradley. She was the first black Girl Scout in Girard, the first black cheerleader at Girard High School and among the first black gymnasts to compete in the Junior Olympics.

“I broke through many barriers,” Bradley told the 100-member audience.

Her best friend since age 12, Terrie Scott, moved to California for college after graduating from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1968. After Bradley graduated, Scott invited her to come live with her so she could pursue a career in show business.

“Neither of us had a sister, so we became like sisters,” Bradley said.

She said she encountered many obstacles on her way to fame, but always counted on the support of family to get her through. She was the only girl in the family, and had four brothers.

Bradley said she visited 86 countries as a member of Love Machine, and the group opened for acts such as Sammie Davis Jr., Julio Iglesias, BB King and The Temptations.

“France was our second home, but we travled to Japan, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, you name it,” Bradley said.

She said she and the other performers wore racy costumes that showed a lot of skin, which prepared her for “The Price Is Right,” where the models were expected to wear tight dresses, short skirts, spike heels and two-piece bathing suits while showing off the prizes.

Bradley said she was “devastated” after being fired from the game show after 10 years.

“I cried all the way home on the last day,” she said.

She said she was never given a reason for her termination and the producers offered her a role in a model search reality series, but it never came to fruition.

Bradley was under a gag order from CBS for several years after her departure and was given a settlement in a wrongful termination lawsuit. She said working as a model on the show meant keeping her weight down, doing her hair a certain way and wearing clothes that often were chosen for her by the producers.

And even though her time on the show was marred by controversy (rumors of Barker’s affair with model Diane), she said she is grateful for the opportunities it presented her later.

One chapter of her book is called “Meeting Oliver Stone” and in it she recounts how Stone tried to cast her as Coretta Scott King in a biopic about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 2014. She said she turned it down because she didn’t think she had the acting chops for it and considered herself “too pretty” to play the role. Stone never made the film.

She has had small parts in several feature films, has starred in commercials and has made guest appearances on television series such as “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Bradley wrote the memoir herself and found out several years after it was published that CBS had told all of its affiliates not to promote the book. She said even though it was published eight years ago, interest in the book remains strong.

She said Barker is now 98 and she has not spoken to him in the past 22 years, although she has kept in touch with some of the models from the show.

Bradley was married to actor Bill Overton from 1980 to 1984. She has been married to mechanical engineer Terrence Redd since 1988. She has two children: a daughter, Cheyenne Overton, from her first marriage, and a son, Terrence Redd II. She also has two grandchildren.

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