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Bob West

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Robert Matthew "Bob" West (born June 25, 1956 in Finleyville, Pennsylvania) is an American voice actor and graphic designer, who is best known as the original voice of Barney, first starting in 1988 in Barney & The Backyard Gang. Then he continued on in 1992 as the voice of Barney in Barney & Friends until 2000. A native of Pennsylvania and he grew up in Baytown, Texas, he is also known for voicing Pasqually and Jasper for Chuck E. Cheese, which he both voiced them in 1986 until 1998.

Career[]

Barney[]

Barney & The Backyard Gang[]

Audition[]

West auditioned for the role of Barney in 1988 for Barney & The Backyard Gang. He didn't get the description of the character until a few minutes before the audition. West had to create the voice on the spot. West got called for the only callback for Barney & The Backyard Gang. The voice West auditioned with was how Barney sounded in Barney & Friends, however the crew had him bring it down for Barney & The Backyard Gang.[2]

Barney & Friends[]

After Barney & the Backyard Gang ended, the video series was spun into a television series titled Barney & Friends. For the show, the crew had West bring his voice up to how he sounded during his audition.[2] During West's run with the series, his Barney voice changed throughout the years. Due to West's voice getting higher as years went on Dennis DeShazer, one of the co-creators of Barney & Friends, would have to tell West to bring the pitch down every couple of years.[3] In late 1999, West retired from voicing Barney due to being bored as a performer, however the episodes he did for season six of Barney & Friends would continue to air until 2000. In 2005, West reprised his role as Barney at the PBS Kids Sprout Launch event in 2005 as Dean Wendt, the voice of Barney during that time, was unavailable.

Post-Barney[]

In 2019, West began appearing at pop culture conventions discussing his time on Barney and meeting fans. In 2022, West appeared in the documentary I Love You, You Hate Me recounting a bit of his time with Barney & Friends and its predecessor Barney & The Backyard Gang. West expressed interest in wanting to return as the voice Barney for the relaunch by Mattel Television and Nelvana.[4] However, West later confirmed on his April 16, 2023 livestream, that he would not be returning as the voice of Barney for the relaunch, but has expressed interest in doing something for the show. West would also appear in the 2024 podcast Generation Barney.

Personal Life[]

Bob West and Barney in Liverpool

Bob West and Barney the Dinosaur in Liverpool.

Barney[]

During West's time with the Barney franchise, his email address got leaked into the directory of K-12 schools. West started getting emails from middle school students who were explicit and violent towards West. Some of those emails were death threats towards West due to him being the voice of Barney the Dinosaur.

Credits[]

Barney[]

Barney the Dinosaur[]

  1. The Backyard Show
  2. Three Wishes
  3. A Day At The Beach
  4. Waiting for Santa
  5. Campfire Sing-Along
  6. Barney Goes To School
  7. Barney in Concert
  8. Rock with Barney

  1. Season 1
  2. Season 2
  3. Season 3
  4. Season 4
  5. Season 5
  6. Season 6

  1. Barney's Magical Musical Adventure
  2. Love to Read, with Barney
  3. Barney Live! In New York City
  4. Imagination Island
  5. Barney Songs
  6. Barney's Talent Show
  7. Barney's Fun & Games
  8. Barney's 1-2-3-4 Seasons
  9. Once Upon a Time
  10. Barney's Sense-Sational Day
  11. Barney's Musical Scrapbook
  12. Camp WannaRunnaRound
  13. Barney's Adventure Bus
  14. Barney's Good Day, Good Night
  15. It's Time For Counting
  16. Barney's Great Adventure
  17. Barney in Outer Space
  18. My Party with Barney (singing only)
  19. Barney's Big Surprise
  20. Barney's Halloween Party
  21. Sing and Dance with Barney
  22. What a World We Share!
  23. Walk Around the Block with Barney
  24. Let's Play School!
  25. Barney's Night Before Christmas
  26. More Barney Songs
  27. Barney's Dino Dancin' Tunes (archival, uncredited)
  28. Barney's Rhyme Time Rhythm
  29. Barney's Musical Castle
  30. Barney's Pajama Party (archival, uncredited)
  31. You Can Be Anything (archival, uncredited)
  32. The Best of Barney (archival, uncredited)

  1. Barney in Concert
  2. Barney Street Celebration
  3. Kids' Playfest (1993)
  4. Barney Live! In New York City
  5. A Day in the Park with Barney
  6. Barney at Grand Ole Opry (September 16-17, 1995)
  7. Barney's Big Surprise
  8. Barney's Musical Castle
  9. Barney's Greatest Hits - Live On Stage (Act 1 only, archival recording)

  1. Barney's Favorites, Volume 1
  2. Barney's Favorites, Volume 2
  3. Barney's Sleepytime Songs
  4. Run, Jump, Skip and Sing
  5. Barney's Big Surprise! Live on Stage
  6. Happy Holidays Love, Barney
  7. Barney's Great Adventure: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  8. Barney's Great Adventure Sing Along
  9. Barney's Sing Along: Halloween Party
  10. Barney's Great Adventure Sing Along
  11. Songs in the Key of Purple
  12. I Love to Sing with Barney
  13. Barney's Sing Along: In Outer Space
  14. Barney's A Great Day for Learning
  15. Barney's Sing Along: Night Before Christmas
  16. Barney For Baby: Love and Lullabies
  17. Barney's Greatest Hits: The Early Years (archival recordings)

  1. Barney's Hide and Seek Game
  2. Fun on the Farm with Barney
  3. Barney Under The Sea
  4. Barney Goes to the Circus
  5. Barney's Fun on Imagination Island

Audio books[]

  1. A Tent Too Full
  2. What Can It Be?
  3. Barney's Wonderful Winter Day
  4. Just Like You
  5. Barney & Baby Bop's Band
  6. The Turtle Who Lost His Shell
  7. Zoomba in Toyland
  8. Barney's Christmas Surprise
  9. Barney's Great Adventure
  10. Barney's ABC Animals!
  11. Barney's Count to 10

Sound books[]

  1. Barney Through the Seasons
  2. Barney, BJ, and Baby Bop sound books (1997)
  3. Backyard ABC
  4. You Can Count!
  5. Hide & Seek
  6. Barney's Great Adventure (Smart Pages book)
  7. Best Manners Show (Press the Page book)
  8. Farm Fun (Press the Page book)
  9. Barney's First Telephone Book
  10. Good Night Barney
  11. Let's Imagine (archival)

  1. Bedtime with Barney
  2. Storytime with Barney

  1. Barney's Talking Phone (1993)
  2. Talking Barney (1993-1998)
  3. Talking Barney figures (Child Dimension, 1993)
  4. Barney's Animal Keyboard (1993)
  5. ActiMates Barney (September 1997)
  6. I Love You Barney (1998, 2002)
  7. Play Along Barney (1998)
  8. Singing ABC Barney (1998)
  9. Barney's Learning Laptop (1999)
  10. Sing 'N Strum Barney (1999)
  11. Twinkle 'n Dream Barney (1999)
  12. Silly Hats Barney (2001, archival recording)
  13. Magical Friend Barney (2002, archival recording)
  14. Hospital Pals Barney
  15. Barney's Musical Truck

  1. The Today Show (February 16, 1993; 1999)
  2. Barney & Friends Family Marathon (March 1993)
  3. 20th Daytime Emmy Awards (May 26, 1993)
  4. A Day at Shea with BJ (September 27, 1993)
  5. National Press Club on C-SPAN (November 17, 1993)
  6. Entertainment Tonight (1994)
  7. Donnahue (1994)
  8. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1994-1998)
  9. Kids for Character (1996)
  10. The Oprah Winfrey Show (November 19, 1998)
  11. PBS Kids Sprout Launch (2005)

Trivia[]

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Bob West signings autographs.

  • West's favorite Barney episode, Home Video and song are "Four Seasons Day", Barney Live! at Radio City and "Just Imagine" respectively.
  • The best thing West likes about Barney is that he's very inclusive and he just loves everybody.
  • In My Party with Barney, Bob West shared the role with Duncan Brannan. West would sing and Brannan supplied the speaking voice.
  • West was the narrator on the radio show in the episode "Grandparents Are Grand!".
  • After West retired from voicing Barney on Barney & Friends and relocated to California, the crew inquired if West would be interested in flying back and forth to continue doing the role, however, West wanted to move on at the time.[5]
  • At one point, West and the producers of Barney & Friends discussed the potentiality of West directing some episodes of Barney & Friends, especially given that West had directing experience (though, single-camera). Dennis DeShazer, a co-creator of the series, was very supportive for West to be a director, however due to the show being filmed in multi-camera format, and the director called the camera shots/switching in real time, it would've been complicated for West to direct and voice Barney at the same time.

Absence[]

Barney & The Backyard Gang[]

  • West wasn't confident that Barney & The Backyard Gang would gain attention.[6]
  • During production of Barney & The Backyard Gang, West was considered to be both the body and voice of Barney, however he was too tall for the costume the crew already made.

Videos[]

Interviews[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Bob West ’78
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Exclusive Interview: Voice Actor Bob West Explains Why Barney Touched Children’s Hearts Worldwide
  3. ↑ Stuuuuuuuu-pen-dous! It’s the original voice of Barney - Purple Tales Podcast Episode 13
  4. ↑ Barney Voice Actor Hopes to Return for New Animated Series February 19, 2023 Retrieved February 19, 2023
  5. ↑ Slick: A Better You--Fred Holmes (Director Barney & Friends) February 25, 2023 Retrieved March 13, 2023
  6. ↑ INTERVIEW: Stephen White - Writer from Barney & Friends
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