Robert Matthew West (born June 25, 1956) is an American voice actor, and graphic designer. He is best known as the original voice of Barney the Dinosaur in the PBS children's television series Barney & Friends, and its preceding home video series Barney & the Backyard Gang.
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.
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.
West has also done voice work for various television commercials and ads.
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.
In 2001, he retired from voicing Barney after 13 years, saying that he wanted "new challenges" in his life. He was temporarily replaced by David Franks and Duncan Brannan, who met him through their affiliation with Chuck E. Cheese, 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.
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. He also worked as a creative director, writer, producer and director in various radio and television commercials.
In 2022, West appeared in I Love You, You Hate Me, a Peacock documentary miniseries about the negative reactions to Barney.
West now works as a graphic designer for film and television.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1998 Barney's Great Adventure Barney (voice)
Television Year Title Role Notes 1988–1991 Barney & the Backyard Gang Barney (voice) 8 episodesVideo series 1992–2000 Barney & Friends 128 episodes 2022 I Love You, You Hate Me 2 episodesDocumentary miniseries
Video games Year Title Role Notes 1993 Barney's Hide & Seek Game Barney 1997 Fun on the Farm with Barney Barney Under the Sea Barney Goes to the Circus Barney's Fun on Imagination Island Take-Two Interactive Demo voices E3 video game demos
Other work Year Title Role Notes 1986–1998 Chuck E. Cheese Animatronic stage show 1995–2021 A Day in the Park with Barney Barney Theme park attraction; archive recordings
Commercials and ads Title Notes Pepsi Bud Light (English and Spanish) Coors Light Frito-Lay KFC Armour Meats Circuit City Texas Monthly Magazine Texas Lottery
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 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 HopUncredited 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
References
External links Official website Bob West website on Archive.org