David Joyner won’t be essentially the most recognizable identify to tv followers, however his work because the actor contained in the swimsuit of Barney actually is. Joyner performed the benevolent purple dinosaur on “Barney & Mates” for a decade from 1991 to 2001. On a current episode of the “Technology Barney” podcast (through Leisure Weekly), he remembered a time when the Ku Klux Klan banned their youngsters from watching “Barney” as a result of Joyner is Black. The actor laughed at such ludicrousness.
“I get a name once I’m doing ‘Barney’ from my hometown information reporter, from the Decatur Herald & Overview, and he requested me to touch upon an article that was in Esquire journal,” Joyner stated. “I had no thought what he was speaking about, so he requested me if I’d go get the journal after which give him a name with a remark. Properly, within the journal, the Klan had discovered that the man within the Barney costume was African American, in order that they banned their children from ever watching Barney once more.”
“I stated, ‘Properly really, once I learn it, I laughed.’ And he says, ‘What do you imply?’” Joyner continued. “I stated, ‘Properly, it’s the Klan and I can’t change their opinion.’ I stated, ‘Plus what we’re attempting to do is characterize love. If somebody’s attempting to characterize hate, the very last thing they need is to like. And if my pores and skin colour then adjustments that opinion for any individual, I can’t do something about it as a result of that’s what it’s.’”
Whereas Joyner was the actor who was bodily within the Barney swimsuit for a decade, the dinosaur was voiced by Bob West for almost all of Joyner’s tenure. Joyner additionally performed the dinosaur in different “Barney” specials comparable to “Barney’s Nice Journey: The Film.”
“Our dad and mom inspired us, earlier than you stroll exterior, look within the mirror and say, ‘I like you,’ so that you simply’re strolling exterior with love,” Joyner added about not feeding into the KKK’s outrage over his casting. “Now little did I do know that I’m actually coaching for this character, with the ability to stroll exterior with love in my coronary heart. So then once I additionally bought the position, it wasn’t like I needed to placed on a dressing up and a facade and develop into the character.”
Barney will quickly be reintroduced to a brand new era of children due to Max’s “Barney’s World,” the Mattel character’s first TV present in 14 years. Per the synopsis: “Via action-packed, music-filled adventures, Barney helps the youngsters and audiences discover massive preschool feelings, displaying them love themselves, others, and their communities.”
