David Joyner (actor)
David Eugene Joyner (born July 4, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for physically portraying Barney (with Bob West and then Duncan Brannan and Tim Dever voicing the character)[1] from 1991 to 2001 on the children's television series Barney & Friends and its predecessor Barney and the Backyard Gang (in the last two videos).[2] Later on, he played Hip Hop Harry.[3]
David Joyner | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Eugene Joyner July 4, 1963 Decatur, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Early life
Joyner was born to Roscoe and Mary Joyner. He attended MacArthur High School and graduated with a degree in electronic engineering technology from the ITT Technical Institute in Indianapolis.[4][5] He worked as a software analyst for Texas Instruments for six years.[6]
Career
Joyner once stated that he had a dream the night before he auditioned to play the role of Barney. In the dream, Barney passed out and Joyner had to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation. And on the day of the audition, Joyner stopped at a red light and noticed a billboard above him for Southwest Airlines. It said "Breath life into your vacation." Joyner decided that "If [he] could breath life into this character, [he] was going on vacation."[7]
Joyner originally auditioned for the role in 1991, replacing Barney's original costume actor, David Voss.[8][6] Joyner was originally cast as the back-up performer, but took over the role after the actress originally chosen had difficulty staying in the costume for long periods of time.[9]
Joyner was originally cast to play Barney in two Barney & The Backyard Gang home videos, but continued to play Barney in the TV series Barney & Friends during the first six seasons, as well as in live performances.[9] After the fourth season episode "Let's Eat", he left to film Barney's Great Adventure and was replaced with Josh Martin and Maurice Scott for the rest of the season. Joyner returned to perform Barney in Barney in Outer Space in 1998. After he left the series, he also continued to play him for occasional appearances until 2005.
At that time, he was replaced with Carey Stinson who also performed the character during birthday parties in 1991 and then for public appearances starting in 1992. He also started to perform him in stage shows such as Barney Live in New York City in 1994 as a peanut salesman and for his balcony scenes, Barney's Big Surprise, and Barney's Musical Castle Live!. Then he portrayed him full time in the TV series starting with the seventh season.
Outside of acting, Joyner also works as a therapist.[10]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Barney's Magical Musical Adventure | Barney (in-suit performer) | Direct-to-video |
| 1998 | Barney in Outer Space | ||
| Barney's Great Adventure | |||
| 2006 | I'll Be there with You | Sheriff | |
| 2007 | All Lies on Me | Tin Man | |
| 2009 | The Adventures of Umbweki | Village Leaper | |
| 2010 | Kontrolled | Mr. Peterson |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Barney and the Backyard Gang | Barney (in-suit performer) | |
| 1992–2001 | Barney and Friends | 104 episodes | |
| 2001 | General Hospital | Garland | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | The Wayne Brady Show | Barney (in-suit performer) | 1 episode |
| 2002–2003 | Today | 2 episodes | |
| 2003 | What Should You Do? | Steven Johnson | Episode: "New York Bar Hostage Situation" |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | The Teddy Bear | Episode: "Four's a Crowd" |
| Crossing Jordan | CSU Tech | Uncredited Episode: "Is That Plutonium in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?" | |
| 2004–2006 | ER | Dialysis Tech | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | House | Cardiac Surgeon #2 | Episode: "Control" |
| That '70s Show | Jazz Musician | Episode: "Long Away" | |
| The Inside | Good Samaritan | Episode: "Aidan" | |
| 2006 | 24 | Agent Jones | Episode: "Day 5: 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m." |
| 2006–2008 | Hip Hop Harry | Hip Hop Harry (In-suit performer), Chef Rob | 26 episodes Also producer |
| 2007 | Identity | Himself | 1 episode |
| American's Next Producer | Shelby | Episode: "Late Night with Carson Daly" | |
| 2008 | The Young and the Restless | Keith Joyner | 6 episodes |
| 2009 | The Closer | Uni #1 | Episode: "Strike Three" |
| 2010 | Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster | Sinister Clown | Television film |
| 2012 | My Choice | God | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2013 | Southland | Detective Flynn | Episode: "Off Duty" |
| Wendell and Vinnie | Ernesto | Episode: "Fathers of Fathers & Sons" | |
| Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 | Business Man #2 | Episode: "Monday June..." | |
| Switched at Birth | Gavin | Episode: "Mother and Child Divided" | |
| 2014 | Hart of Dixie | Supervisor Greene | Episode: "Back in the Saddle Again" |
| According to Him + Her | Reenactment | 13 episodes | |
| 2015 | Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn | Police Officer | Episode: "Family Matters" |
| Cry Wolfe | Carl | Episode: "Hot for Teacher" | |
| Murder in the First | Reporter #2 | Episode: "Oh, Mexico" | |
| 2016 | Shameless | Tod | Episode: "The F Word" |
| Hip Hop Harry: Mini Episodes | Hip Hop Harry (in-suit performer) | ||
| Angel from Hell | Security Clerk | Episode: "Funsgiving" | |
| Veep | Congress Clerk | Episode: "Kissing Your Sister | |
| 2018 | Just Add Magic | Victor | Episode: "Just Add Fluffy" |
| Animal Kingdom | Nelson 'Pilot' | Episode: "Incoming" | |
| 2019 | S.W.A.T. | Leon | Episode: "Track" |
| Unknown Encounter | Joshua | Television film |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Hip Hop Harry Toy Review | Hip Hop Harry (in-suit performer) | |
| 2019 | ABC Harry | Recurring role |
Theater
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Barney Live in New York City | Barney (in-suit performer) |
References
- "Bob West - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- Epstein, Leonora. "10 Things You Never Knew About The Man Who Played Barney". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- Vorel, Jim (19 August 2011). "Energetic David Joyner a natural TV talent as Barney, Hip Hop Harry". Herald & Review. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- Vorel, Jim (19 August 2011). "Energetic David Joyner a natural TV talent as Barney, Hip Hop Harry". Herald & Review. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- Monifa, Akilah (4 July 2017). "Black History 'Erryday': Happy Birthday David 'Barney' Joyner". Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- Snyder, Chris. "This man played Barney the dinosaur for 10 years — here's what it was like." Business Insider. 2 Jun 2017. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-man-who-played-barney-the-purple-dinosaur-for-10-years-david-joyner-interview-2017-5, 24 Jan 2018.
- Tech Insider. "What It's Like To Play Barney For 10 Years". YouTube. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- "On the set of Barney". ew.com. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- "UTG INTERVIEW: David Joyner, The Man Inside Barney". Under the Gun Review. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- https://time.com/5116627/barney-actor-is-now-tantric-sex-therapist/
External links
- David Joyner on IMDb
- "What It's Like To Play Barney For 10 Years". Tech Insider. 2017-06-08. - Interview of David Joyner