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

Robert Matthew West (born June 25 1956) is an American voice actor, singer and graphic designer, who is best known as the original voice of Barney in the PBS children's television series Barney & Friends. West, a native of Pennsylvania and grew up in Baytown, Texas, has also appeared in several Barney-related shows such as concert tours.

Contents

• 1 Career
  • 1.1 1988-2000: Sing-Alongs & Barney the Dinosaur
  • 1.2 2000-present: Post-Barney
• 2 Filmography
  • 2.1 Film
  • 2.2 Television
  • 2.3 Video games
  • 2.4 Other work
  • 2.5 Commercials and Ads
  • 2.6 Production staff
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Career

West's first voice over job were the characters Jasper T. Jowls and Pasqually in the Chuck E. Cheese's animatronic stage show from 1986 to 1998.

1988-2000: Sing-Alongs & Barney the Dinosaur

West became the voice of Barney in 1988, his first voice work as Barney was for the direct-to-video series Barney and the Backyard Gang. He went on and continued voicing Barney in the television series Barney & Friends and would reprise the role again in a 70 market radio show, on Multi-Platinum and Multi-Gold albums, Barney's Great Adventure, for CBS and NBC primetime specials, for touring performances, as a Daytime Emmy presenter, for toys, for educational games, and for "personal appearances". He also voiced interviews on The Today Show, LIVE! with Regis & Kathie Lee, Oprah, The Donahue Show, John & Leeza From Hollywood, Marilu, and appearances around the world.

In 2000, he retired from voicing Barney, citing that he wanted "new challenges" with his life. He was temporarily replaced from Barney by voice actor Duncan Brannan, who met him through their affiliation, and Tim Dever. In 2002, Dean Wendt replaced Brannan and Dever as the purple dinosaur's voice and Carey Stinson replaced David Joyner as the character's body performer. However, West's pre-recorded 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 due to his retirement. Some other archival recordings of his voice are still heard in some of HIT Entertainment's The Little Big Club live stage shows.

2000-present: Post-Barney

The last time West also reprised the voice for Barney in April 2005 during the PBS Kids Sprout Launch. Back in 2019, he was not reprised to voice again for reunion shows and charity fundraisers. However, West also provided voices for TV and radio ads for Pepsi, Bud Light (English and Spanish), Coors Light, Frito-Lay, KFC, Armour Meats, Circuit City, Texas Monthly Magazine, and Texas Lottery.

West now works as a graphic designer for film and television.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other work

Commercials and Ads

• Pepsi - Narrator
• Bud Light - Various voices (English and Spanish)
• Coors Light
• Frito-Lay - Narrator
• KFC - Narrator
• Armour Meats
• Circuit City
• Texas Monthly Magazine
• Texas Lottery - Narrator

Production staff

References

External links

• Bob West at IMDb
• Official website
• Bob's website on Archive.org