David Joyner might not be the most recognizable name to television fans, but his work as the actor inside the suit of Barney certainly is. Joyner played the benevolent purple dinosaur on “Barney & Friends” for a decade from 1991 to 2001. On a recent episode of the “Generation Barney” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), he remembered a time when the Ku Klux Klan banned their children from watching “Barney” because Joyner is Black. The actor laughed at such ludicrousness.
“I get a call when I’m doing ‘Barney’ from my hometown news reporter, from the Decatur Herald & Review, and he asked me to comment on an article that was in Esquire magazine,” Joyner said. “I had no idea what he was talking about, so he asked me if I would go get the magazine and then give him a call with a comment. Well, in the magazine, the Klan had found out that the guy inside of the Barney costume was African American, so they banned their kids from ever watching Barney again.”
“I said, ‘Well actually, when I read it, I laughed.’ And he says, ‘What do you mean?’” Joyner continued. “I said, ‘Well, it’s the Klan and I can’t change their opinion.’ I said, ‘Plus what we’re trying to do is represent love. If someone’s trying to represent hate, the last thing they want is to love. And if my skin color then changes that opinion for somebody, I can’t do anything about it because that is what it is.’”
While Joyner was the actor who was physically in the Barney suit for a decade, the dinosaur was voiced by Bob West for the majority of Joyner’s tenure. Joyner also played the dinosaur in other “Barney” specials such as “Barney’s Great Adventure: The Movie.”
“Our parents encouraged us, before you walk outside, look in the mirror and say, ‘I love you,’ so that you’re walking outside with love,” Joyner added about not feeding into the KKK’s outrage over his casting. “Now little did I know that I’m literally training for this character, being able to walk outside with love in my heart. So then when I also got the role, it wasn’t like I had to put on a costume and a facade and become the character.”
Barney will soon be reintroduced to a new generation of kids thanks to Max’s “Barney’s World,” the Mattel character’s first TV show in 14 years. Per the synopsis: “Through action-packed, music-filled adventures, Barney helps the kids and audiences explore big preschool emotions, showing them how to love themselves, others, and their communities.”