Bob West

This article is about the voice actor. For radio host and ethnomusicologist, see Bob West (radio host).

Bob West
West at GalaxyCon 2019
Born
Robert Matthew West

(1956-06-25) June 25, 1956 (age 68)
Finleyville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupations
  • Voice actor
  • graphic designer
Years active1979–present
Websitebobwest.com

Robert Matthew West (born June 25, 1956) is an American voice actor and graphic designer.[1] He is best known as the original voice of Barney in the PBS children's television series Barney & Friends, and its preceding home video series "Barney & the Backyard Gang".[2]

Career

1979–1988: Early voice work career

After graduating from Trinity University in San Antonio with an art degree, West began his voice acting career in 1979.[1]

In 1986, he was cast as the voices of Jasper T. Jowls and Pasqually in Chuck E. Cheese's animatronic stage show. He voiced the characters for ten years, until 1998.[1][3][4]

1988–2001: Barney

West became the voice of Barney the Dinosaur in 1988. His first voice work as Barney was for the direct-to-video pilot series Barney & the Backyard Gang. He continued voicing Barney in the television series Barney & Friends and the 1998 film Barney's Great Adventure, as well as live performances, toys, and music. In addition, West voiced Barney for appearances on radio shows, CBS and NBC primetime specials, the Daytime Emmy Awards, and several talk shows, such as The Today Show, Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Phil Donahue Show, John & Leeza from Hollywood, Marilu, and appearances around the world.[3]

In 2001, he retired from voicing Barney after 13 years, saying that he wanted "new challenges" in his life.[5] He was temporarily replaced by David Franks and Duncan Brannan, who met him through their affiliation with Chuck E. Cheese,[citation needed] then by Tim Dever (father of Kaitlyn Dever) and Dean Wendt.

However, West's voice could still be heard in A Day in the Park with Barney at Universal Studios Florida until the attraction's closure in February 2021, as it was recorded in the mid-1990s. Archival recordings of West as Barney were also used in some of HIT Entertainment's The Little Big Club live stage shows until October 12, 2022.[citation needed]

2001–present: Later career and graphic design

West provided voices for TV and radio ads for Pepsi, Bud Light (in both English and Spanish), Coors Light, Frito-Lay, KFC, Armour Meats, Circuit City, Texas Monthly Magazine, and Texas Lottery.[3] He also worked as a creative director, writer, producer and director in various radio and television commercials.[1]

In 2022, West appeared in I Love You, You Hate Me, a Peacock documentary miniseries about the negative reactions to Barney.[6][7]

West now works as a graphic designer for film and television.[8][1]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Barney's Great Adventure Barney (voice) [9]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1988–1991 Barney & the Backyard Gang Barney (voice) 8 episodes
Video series[9]
1992–2000 Barney & Friends 128 episodes[10]
2022 I Love You, You Hate Me
  • Barney (voice, archive recordings)
  • Himself
 2 episodes
Documentary miniseries

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Barney's Hide & Seek Game Barney [9]
1997 Fun on the Farm with Barney
Barney Under the Sea [11]
Barney Goes to the Circus
Barney's Fun on Imagination Island

Other work

Year Title Role Notes
1986–1998 Chuck E. Cheese
  • Jasper T. Jowls (1986–1994, 1996–1998)
  • Mr. Munch (1995–1996)
  • Pasqually P. Pieplate (1986–1994, 1995–1998)
 Animatronic stage show[1]
1995–2021 A Day in the Park with Barney Barney Theme park attraction; archive recordings

Commercials and ads

Production credits

Year Title Position Notes
1997 Still Breathing Art director Film
1999 Thick as Thieves Graphic designer Uncredited
2000 Picking Up the Pieces
Thirteen Days
2001 Jurassic Park III Uncredited[a]
2003 Down with Love Uncredited
The Italian Job
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2005 Be Cool
Herbie Fully Loaded
House of the Dead 2
2006 10 Items or Less
Schools for Scoundrels
2007 October Road Episode: "Pilot"; uncredited
Hustle 2 episodes; uncredited
2009 Black Dynamite Uncredited
The Proposal
2009–2015 Community 34 episodes
2011 Hop Uncredited
2012 90210 2 episodes; uncredited
2013 Anatomy of Violence Uncredited
2014 Chef
2014–2015 Castle 4 episodes
2015–2016 The Muppets 8 episodes
2016 The Sweet Life Film
Aztec Warrior
2016–2019 Speechless 62 episodes
2017 Wish Upon Film
Raised by Wolves TV movie
2017–2018 The Mick 20 episodes
2018 Three Rivers TV movie
2018–2020 Single Parents 18 episodes
2020 9-1-1: Lone Star Episode: "Yee-Haw"
2021 The Rookie 5 episodes
2022 Swimming with Sharks 6 episodes
Love, Victor Graphic artist Episode: "You Up?"

Note

  1. ^ A clip from a videocassette copy of Barney's Musical Castle (with The Wiggles sometimes) is shown on a television set.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "What About Bob?".
  2. ^ Petit, Stephanie (June 8, 2017). "Barney Unmasked! Meet the Man Who 'Loved' Playing the Iconic Purple Dinosaur for a Decade". People. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c West, Bob. "Resumé". Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "Bob West". Voice Chasers. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  5. ^ "CelebWorx Live Episode #12 With Bob West (The Original Voice of Barney the Dinosaur)". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2020 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Petski, Denise (November 15, 2021). "Barney The Dinosaur Documentary From 'Queer Eye' Producers Greenlighted At Peacock". Deadline Hollywood.
  7. ^ "Peacock Launches First-Ever Virtual "DocFest" with Original Documentaries to Premiere Weekly" (Press release). Peacock. August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via The Futon Critic.
  8. ^ "Alumni Profile: Bob West '78". Archived from the original on September 27, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Bob West". Behind the Voice Actors.
  10. ^ "Barney & Friends (TV Series 1992–2010)". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Barney Under the Sea (1998) Windows credits". MobyGames. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
Preceded by
N/A
 Voice of Barney
1988–2001 		Succeeded by