David Joyner

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David Eugene Joyner (born on July 4th, 1963 in Decatur, Illinois) is an American actor. Joyner is best known to have portrayed as the costume of Barney, first starting in 1991 in Barney & the Backyard Gang. He then continued on in 1992 and performed as the original body performer of Barney on, Barney & Friends, until 2001. After his time on the series he would later continue to do occasional appearances as Barney until 2005.^[1] He'd later go on to portray as the titular character Hip Hop Harry during the television series and after the show ended.

Early Life

Joyner was born to the proud parents, Roscoe and Mary Joyner. He is the 5th out 6 children. His nickname growing up was "Preacher". He graduated in 1981, with Honors, from MacArthur High School in Decatur at the age of 17.

Career

Beginnings

In 1982 he became known as "The Mannequin Man". David was hired to stand in store windows in malls as a mechanically moving mannequin. Hundreds of people would stand outside the window and watch with amazement. In 1984 he was hired by (TI) Texas Instruments and moved to Dallas, Texas, where he worked for six years as a Software Analyst.

On September 28, 1990 he resigned to pursue his entertainment career on a full-time basis. While working for TI, he performed during evenings and weekends at various clubs, malls, Churches, Civic Organization, and on local TV Talk Shows. He was known as "Mr. Entertainment-David E. Joyner-The Mannequin Man". He became a Professional Motivational Speaker in 1988, and is in great demand all over the country.

In 1990 he became an Acting Coach at "The Dallas TV & Film Workshop, now known as "The Dallas Young Actors Studio & Performance Center, under the direction of Linda Seto.

Barney the Dinosaur

While working at Texas Instruments, David began teaching in an acting school for children in Dallas. Shirley Abrams, a local casting director, had asked David to be in "World's Most Wanted," playing a drug dealer. The criminal the character was based on was caught and, despite being picked for the role, the episode was never filmed.

On September 21, 1990, a fax comes in from Shirley Abrams asking for a performer to play Barney. David Voss, Barney's original costume actor, had left to join the military and the company was looking to film two more Barney & the Backyard Gang videos. Joyner was unsure about being in a costume, having no prior experience in the field. In a phone call, Shirley said he was perfect, as he worked well with kids and was energetic. In an interview, he says that she sent him the first six videos of the Barney series and he would fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.

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The night before the audition, Joyner had a dream that Barney passed out and that he (Joyner) gave the purple dino mouth-to-mouth CPR. While driving to the audition, he noticed a bilboard that said "Breathe Life Into Your Vacation," which made him think about breathing life into Barney and he decided to be as energetic and animated as possible.^[2]

After five auditions, he was passed over for a woman. She ended up not being able to handle the kids, so Abrams called Joyner and asked if he would still be interested in playing Barney. Joyner, excited inside, calmly accepted the role.

In April 2001 he left the television show, which is taped in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing his acting career outside the costume. After moving to LA, the Barney Special Events Dept came calling offering him the opportunity to continue traveling around the US making Barney appearances, and training new Barney's in other countries. All the while, allowing him to continue an acting career in LA as himself.

Hip Hop Harry

In 2002 while guest-starring on the TV series, "That's So Raven", word got around the set that he was Barney. Later that day he was approached by a young lady asking him to meet with a producer named Claude Brooks, who was developing a new children's character named Hip Hop Harry, a rapping teddy bear. Thinking he was only meeting him to give him some great advice as to how to get Hip Hip Harry going, he was then offered the role as Hip Hop Harry to shot 2 pilots for a direct to DVD series.^[3] The two pilots were shot in August 2002, with the show lasting from 2006-2008. Joyner still continues to performer as Harry's in-suit performer after a resurgence in popularity within the 2020 decade.

Personal Life

Joyner has been a tantra message specialist since 2005, after his divorce in 2004.^[4]

Appearances

As Barney the Dinosaur

The Today Show (February 1993)
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1994, 2001)
The Oprah Winfrey Show (November 19, 1998)
Live! with Regis and Kelly (2003)
Imagination Library press availability at Dollywood (2004)

Videos

Interviews

LIVE with Aaron and Kelly featuring David Joyner AKA Barney The Dinosaur Part 2

David Joyner On Playing 'Barney' for 10 Years & Tantric Energy! - Out Loud With Claudia Jordan

References

[1] Hello my name is David Joyner and I played Barney the Dinosaur for over a decade on the Hit TV Series, Barney and Friends. AMA!

[2] This man played Barney the dinosaur for 10 years — here's what it was like

[3] David Joyner - Biography - IMDb

[4] TANTRA MASSAGE - Episode 26 - What The Fockery? | Himalaya

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