Patricia Gerilyn "Patty" Wirtz (born July 31, 1959 in Manhattan, Kansas) is an American voice actress who is best known as the original voice of BJ on Barney & Friends.
Career[]
Wirtz started out as a stage actress. She first worked at the Casa Mañana Theatre in Forth Worth, Texas with the children's theater program for seven years. Through her agent in the Dallas area, she segued into voice over work.
Barney & Friends[]
Patty Wirtz received a call from her Dallas agent who stated that they were casting for a new season of Barney & Friends, with a new boy dinosaur character who would appear alongside Barney and Baby Bop. Wirtz went to the ColorDynamics studio that was located in Allen, Texas to audition for the role. Wirtz was the last person to audition as she auditioned in front of Dennis DeShazer and Jim Rowley. Prior to her audition, she sent an audition cassette tape to ColorDynamics but never heard anything back. At the audition, DeShazer wanted a specific voice that was on her tape to sound like the new character.[1]
Wirtz voiced BJ from 1993 up until 2010 with a numerous amount of voice tweaks and changes.
Credits[]
Barney & Friends[]
BJ[]
- Barney Live! In New York City
- Imagination Island
- Barney Safety
- Barney Songs
- Barney's Fun & Games
- Barney's 1-2-3-4 Seasons
- Barney's Sense-Sational Day
- Barney's Musical Scrapbook
- Camp WannaRunnaRound
- Barney's Adventure Bus
- Barney in Outer Space
- My Party with Barney
- Barney's Big Surprise
- Barney's Halloween Party
- Barney's Great Adventure
- Sing and Dance with Barney
- What a World We Share
- Walk Around the Block with Barney
- Let's Play School
- Barney's Night Before Christmas
- More Barney Songs
- Barney's Rhyme Time Rhythm
- Super Singing Circus
- Come on Over to Barney's House
- Be My Valentine, Love Barney
- Barney's Dino Dancin' Tunes
- Let's Go to the Zoo
- Barney's Musical Castle
- Barney's Pajama Party
- You Can Be Anything
- Barney's Beach Party
- Round and Round We Go
- Barney's Christmas Star
- Barney Songs From the Park
- Read with Me, Dance with Me
- Barney's Best Manners: Your Invitation to Fun!
- Barney's Colorful World!
- Let's Go to the Farm
- The Land of Make Believe
- Can You Sing That Song?
- Let's Make Music
- Let's Go to the Fire House
- Barney's Dino-Mite Birthday!
- Celebrating Around The World
- Barney's Animal ABC's
- Hi! I'm Riff!
- The Best of Barney
- Once Upon a Dino-Tale
- Barney's Top 20 Countdown
- Let's Go on Vacation
- Barney's Jungle Friends
- Let's Play Outside
- A-Counting We Will Go
- Barney's Best Fairy Tales
- A Very Merry Christmas
- I Love My Friends
- Kids' Playfest (1993)
- Barney Live! In New York City
- A Day in the Park with Barney
- Barney's Big Surprise
- Barney's Musical Castle
- Barney
- Barney's Colorful World!
- Christmas Fun with Barney & Friends
- Barney Live! - The Let's Go Tour
- Barney's Christmas Star
- Barney's Let's Imagine
- Christmas with Barney & Friends
- Barney's Dino-Mite Birthday! - Live On Stage
- Barney's Space Adventures
- Barney's World of Imagination
- Barney Live in Concert - Birthday Bash!
- Sing and Dance with Barney
- Barney's We're All Friends Show (archival)
- Barney & Friends Favourite Hits (archival)
- Barney's Greatest Hits - Live On Stage (archival)
- Barney's Birthday Surprise (archival)
- Barney & Friends: Party Time (archival)
- Barney's Magical Christmas (archival)
- Barney's Favorites, Volume 2
- Run, Jump, Skip and Sing
- Barney's Big Surprise! Live on Stage
- Happy Holidays Love, Barney
- Barney's Sing Along: Halloween Party
- Barney's Great Adventure Sing Along
- Songs in the Key of Purple
- I Love to Sing with Barney
- Barney's Sing Along: In Outer Space
- Barney's A Great Day for Learning
- Barney's Sing Along: Night Before Christmas
- Barney Rocks!
- Barney's Greatest Hits: The Early Years (archival)
- Start Singing With Barney
- Barney's Colorful World! LIVE!
- The Land of Make Believe
- Sing Along with Barney & Friends
- Let's Go to the Beach
- Let's Go to the Farm
- Music for Me!
- Perfectly Platinum: 30 Dino-Mite Songs
- Barney Live in Concert - Birthday Bash!: Original Cast Recording
- A Day at Shea with BJ (September 27, 1993)
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1994, 1997, 1999-2004)
- Barney at Grand Ole Opry (September 16-17, 1995)
- Kids for Character (1996)
- Live with Regis and Kelly (January 23, 2006)
Gallery[]
Barney[]
Behind the scenes[]
Trivia[]
- Prior to her casting on Barney & Friends, Wirtz had already known Julie Johnson, the voice of Baby Bop, for years as they've both worked at Casa Mañana. She has also known Bob Lavallee before as well.
- "A Rock N Roll Star" was the most challenging song for Patty Wirtz to sing due to its range and high energy.
- Wirtz was meant to be interviewed for the documentary of I Love You, You Hate Me, but she had COVID‑19 when the crew was filming in Texas.[2]
- Wirtz made a cameo in the episode "Bunches of Boxes" as a women sitting on the idea bench during the song "A Tisket, A Tasket".
Videos[]
Interviews[]
References[]
- ↑ The Body and The Voice of BJ - Purple Tales Podcast Episode 7
- ↑ “I LOVE YOU, YOU HATE ME” DIRECTOR TOMMY AVALLONE | Film Threat Interviews October 15, 2022 Retrieved October 16, 2022