Popular American kids' show Barney and Friends was created by Sheryl Leach. The show which targeted children aged 2-7 years conveyed important values through songs and dance routines with a friendly approach. Barney and Friends premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992, and came to an end on November 2, 2010, although new videos were still released on various dates after the last episode aired.
Barney opened children's eyes to the joys of learning and discovery, the wonders of make-believe, and the beauty of unconditional love. With its educative yet fun approach, Barney caught the attention of several children around the world. But even more interesting about the show is the long list of actors who got to play Barney. Based on their net worth, here's a look at all the stars who have voiced Barney over the years.
8 Daniel Lesourd
Daniel Lesourd, a Canadian actor is best known for his role as the voice behind Barney in the French dubs for Barney and Friends. In addition to being Barney's French voice, Lesourd is also the French voice talent for Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". He has also featured in other Hollywood films like Batman, the 2002 film adaption of Scooby-Doo, and Doc Hollywood. Currently, Lesourd has a network estimated at $700,000, which he is believed to have amassed during the course of his career.
7 Bob West
Bob West was the original voice of Barney from 1988-2000 and can be said to have set the precedent for those who came after him. In 2000, West retired from voicing Barney and was replaced by voice actor Duncan Brannan. The super talented voice actor is reportedly worth an estimated $950,000 as of today.
6 Dean Wendt
Dean Wendt is best known as the second voice actor for Barney. He took over from Brannan and ended up playing the role for seven years between 2002 and 2009. Apart from Barney and Friends, Wendt's has also been featured in other Barney media including tours like Barney's Colorful World and Barney Live Around the World. The American voice actor, host, and DJ has a net worth of about $1.5million.
5 David Joyner
David Joyner portrayed the costume of Barney, first starting in 1991 in Barney & the Backyard Gang. He continued in 1992 and performed as the original body performer of Barney on Barney & Friends until 2001. Joyner now runs a tantra massage business, Tantra Harmony where he charges $350 for a 4-hour session. As of today, the actor has a reported net worth ranging betwee $1 million to $2 million.
4 Duncan Brannan
Duncan Brannan provided voices for numerous mainstream children's entertainment characters, English-language dubs of Japanese animes, and other commercial properties. He played the role of a voice actor for Barney between 1997 and 2000 following Bob West’s departure. Duncan who is also a writer, teacher and minister is worth between $1 million and $5 million, most of which he garnered from his successful voice acting career.
3 Josh Martin
Josh Martin wore the Barney suit between from 1996 to 2009. He was also the Blue-Jay puppeteer in Come on Over to Barney's House and the polar bear in Riff's Musical Zoo. He performed Barney in most of the last episodes of Season 4 and It's Time For Counting when David Joyner and Bob West both left to film Barney's Great Adventure. Outside of the Barney franchise, he is known for his work in the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball where he voiced Majin Buu and Kid Buu. Today, Martin is estimated to be worth about $7 million.
2 Carey Stinson
Carey Stinton was the third person to pefrorm in the costume of Barney and for 22 years, he maintained that role. After exiting the show, Carey picked up a career as a photographer and a podcast host. His podcast show, Purple Tales Podcast premiered on March 5,2019 and came to an end on August 6,2019. The show featured several people who worked on Barney and saw many behind-the-scenes stories being shared. Carey is currently reported to have an estimated net worth of $11 million, most of which come from his multifaceted career in entertainment.
1 Tim Dever
American actor, Tim Dever served as a voice actor for Barney for three years between 1999 and 2002. He worked alongside Duncan Brannan providing the voice role of Barney while Duncan provided the singing voice. However, despite doing what many thought to be a great job, Dever did not last too long on the show According to an interview with Dean Wendt, the creators of Barney were not too happy with Dever as the voice of the purple dinosau; so they hired Dean Wendt in his stead.
Apart from his work on Barney and Friends, Dever is also known for You Can Be Anything, Barney: Let's Go to the Beach! and Barney: Let's Go to the Zoo. He is happily married to his wife Kathy with whom he shares three kids. Today, Dever reportedly has an estimated net worth of $20million.