# Bob West

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 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 episodes Video series |
| 1992–2000 | Barney & Friends | Barney (voice) | 128 episodes |
| 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 | |
| 1997 | Fun on the Farm with Barney | Barney | |
| 1997 | Barney Under the Sea | Barney | |
| 1997 | Barney Goes to the Circus | Barney | |
| 1997 | Barney's Fun on Imagination Island | Barney | |
| | Take-Two Interactive | Demo voices | E3 video game demos |

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

## Note

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