Richard C. Leach was an executive who was in charge of producing the Barney franchise from the beginning up until 2000. In 1987, Leach's daughter-in-law, Sheryl leach approached him with an idea of a home video series premeised on combining entertainment and education together for young children which would later become Barney and the Backyard Gang. Richard financed the first three videos with a check of $1 million. The success of the videos led to the PBS television series Barney and Friends Which debuted in 1992, and became a smash hit for children. Richard became the executive in charge for the television series, home videos, stage shows and a feature film. In March of 2001, Barney was sold to HIT Entertainment. Richard sadly died of a heart attack on May 29,2001, a month after Barney was sold.
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