Irene Corey

Irene Lockridge Corey (October 27, 1925 - October 13, 2010, born in Givin, Iowa) was an American costume and theatrical makeup designer.

Early Career

After graduating from Baylor University in 1949 with a degree in art, she moved to London where she studied costume design for a semester. She taught at Baylor University during her graduate program through 1952 at which time she was recruited to teach at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky.

An original costume/makeup design by Irene (1967)

Irene entered the theatrical costume design field where she pioneered animal makeup and costume techniques. Her makeup and costume techniques paved the way for Broadway musicals such as Cats, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Irene and her husband, Orlin produced more than 50 productions most notably, the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production, The Book of Job. She moved to Dallas in 1970 where she began working at Peter Wolf Design (who later build the sets for Barney & Friends).

Irene Corey Design Associates

In 1983, Irene opened Irene Corey Design Associates (ICDA) along with her niece, Suzanne Lockridge. The duo specialized in designing and fabricating walk-around foam characters. Over the years ICDA built costumes for Chick-Fil-A, Fire Fox, Hershey Park & HP.

Barney the Dinosaur

Irene, Suzanne, & a Baby Bop costume head

In 1988, The Richards Group, a Dallas based ad agency put Sheryl Leach in touch with Irene Corey, who was seeking someone to help design a purple dinosaur character for what would become Barney and the Backyard Gang. Irene's initial attempts to design a suitable costume for the show were rejected by the producers. Irene's vision of Barney was that of a traditional dinosaur with fangs and claws. After her designs were rejected, Irene moved on to other projects, leaving Barney in the hands of her niece, Suzanne Lockridge. After Barney began taking off, Irene took more interest in the character by helping to transition from spray painted foam to fleece costumes.

Irene and along with her niece Suzanne built the Barney, Baby Bop and BJ costumes for the PBS show during its 18 year run on television.

Retirement

Irene retired from costume design in 1995 and pursued a third career in painting. She sadly passed away in 2010 at the age of 84.

Trivia

• In her senior year of college at Austin College, Julie Johnson took a class on makeup and costume design from Irene. A few years later, they were working on Barney together.