Bob Parker, philanthropist

He's no longer the host of The Price Is Right, but Bob Barker is still giving away major money. The venerable game-show host and animal activist said Wednesday that he is donating $1 million to his alma mater, Drury University, in Springfield, Mo., to establish an undergraduate animal-ethics program.

"It's incredible that I ever was able to go back to Springfield and give them a million dollars, because when I was there, I didn't have 15 cents," said Barker, who graduated from the school in 1947. "What I'm hoping is that this will become a model for other undergraduate schools."

Over the past decade, Barker has donated millions to establish animal-rights curricula at law schools nationwide, including Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern. He created those programs to encourage aspiring lawyers, judges and politicians to consider animal rights in their work, he said.

Since taping his last Price Is Right episode in June, the 84-year-old TV star has devoted himself to animal activism, his pet cause for almost 30 years. Barker is behind legislation to make the spaying and neutering of pets mandatory in Los Angeles and statewide.

After 50 years on television, Barker said he is "a complete success at retirement."

"I'm so busy, I don't know how I ever had time to do The Price Is Right," he said.

BRITNEY LEAVES HOSPITAL WITH NO FANFARE

Britney Spears was released Wednesday from the psychiatric ward at the UCLA Medical Center, where she had been undergoing evaluation since she was forcibly hospitalized the night of Jan. 30-31.

Brit's departure was a low-key affair, very different from her tumultuous admission to the hospital, when a phalanx of more than a dozen L.A. cops conducted her through a paparazzi feeding frenzy.

Her incognito getaway from UCLA Medical Center required no police, said Capt. Sharyn Buck, commander of the North Hollywood police station. "There was no media, no paparazzi, and no need for public safety protection."

The pop star's destination Wednesday was unclear, but sources told the Los Angeles Times that Spears might be heading to one of her residences before seeking further treatment.

A reunion with her young sons may also be in the offing. E!News reports that she may be allowed to have monitored visits with the boys once she is stabilized.

ACTRESS SENTENCED

Rebecca De Mornay, who took Tom Cruise's innocence in Risky Business, was sentenced to three years' probation in Los Angeles Superior Court after she pleaded no contest to misdemeanor drunken-driving charges stemming from her Oct. 30 arrest in Beverly Hills.

De Mornay, 48, must also complete a three-month program for DUI offenders and pay more than $350 in fines.

THE DOCTOR'S RECOVERING

Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane tells OK! magazine (via the New York Post) that he is recovering nicely after docs removed cancerous skin from his lips. He said he was told that the malignant tissue was caused by sun damage.

---