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Sheryl Leach | |
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| Born | Sheryl Lyna Stamps December 31, 1952 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Author, television producer, television writer |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Known for | Creator of Barney & Friends [1] (1992–2010) |
| Spouse | James Edmond Leach (div. 2001) Howard Rosenfeld (m.) [2] [3] |
| Children | 1 |
Sheryl Lyna Stamps Leach (born December 31, 1952) is an American author and creator of the children's show Barney & Friends , along with Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer.
Leach holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Southern Methodist University (SMU) and a master's degree in bilingual education from Texas A&M University - Commerce. [4]
In the late 1980s, Sheryl Leach, along with Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer, came up with the concept for a children’s television show featuring a purple dinosaur named Barney. They believed that such a character could help young children learn important life lessons and skills in a fun and engaging way. Inspired by their own experiences as parents, they created the character and developed the show’s format. [5]
Leach, a former teacher, worked with Parker and DeShazer on what would become the TV show in 1987. Originally, the star of the show was envisioned as a teddy bear, but since her toddler son sparked an interest in dinosaurs, the character was changed to a dinosaur. Leach and her team created a series of home videos called Barney and the Backyard Gang . The videos were sold directly to the public. [6] In 1991, after Connecticut Public Television employee Larry Rifkin rented a Barney video for his daughter, he spoke with the creators about putting Barney on television. [7] In October of that year, production began on the new TV show, titled Barney & Friends , and in April 1992, it premiered on PBS. Barney went onto receive a number of awards and honors. [8]
Sheryl Leach’s contributions to children’s programming have garnered her numerous awards. Among other awards, Leach was nominated for the 20th and 23rd Annual [9] She holds an honorary doctorate from Texas A&M University–Commerce. [10]
Leach and her life partner Howard Rosenfeld have sponsored projects through their philanthropy organization the Shei'rah Foundation, including a number of documentaries [11] and several youth-based media projects. [12]
In 2007, Leach and Rosenfeld designed and built The Smithy, a specialty retail outlet in the village of New Preston in Litchfield County Connecticut, that sells local artisanal foods and handicrafts. [13]
Leach and Rosenfeld are also involved with community development, land conservation projects, and farming organizations in Litchfield County. They own and support two organic farms and were credited by Litchfield Magazine as one of the initiators of the "farm to table" movement in the area. [14] They also co-founded the Farmer's Table Dinner program in 2011 in couldn't with Partners for Sustainable Healthy Communities. [15]
The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television.
Barney & Friends is an American children's television series targeted at children aged 2–5, created by Sheryl Leach. The series first aired on PBS on April 6, 1992, and features Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude. The series ended on November 2, 2010, although new videos were still released on various dates after the last episode aired. Reruns aired on Sprout from 2005 to 2015, and from December 17, 2018 to January 25, 2020 on Sprout's successor network, Universal Kids. On October 6, 2015, the series was initially renewed for revival with a new season to premiere in 2017, but that season was cancelled. A CGI-animated series will air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito and stream on Max.
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius is an American animated television series created by John A. Davis for Nickelodeon. Based on the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the series serves as a direct sequel to the film. It originally aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons from July 20, 2002, to November 25, 2006. The show follows an 11-year-old genius from the fictitious town of Retroville, Texas, the eponymous character, as he goes on adventures with his best friends Carl Wheezer and Sheen Estevez. Throughout the show, various mishaps and conflicts occur on these adventures, as Jimmy's various inventions go awry. The series features voices of Debi Derryberry (Jimmy), Rob Paulsen (Carl), and Jeffrey Garcia (Sheen) for the three main characters.
Itzik Kol was an Israeli television and film producer considered by many to be a pioneer and originator of Israeli cinema. He died following complications from pneumonia.
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jim Cash, Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, and Jack Epps, Jr., and is the prequel to Levant's The Flintstones (1994), based on the 1960–1966 animated television series of the same name. It is set before the events of both the series and the first film, showing how Fred and Barney meet Wilma and Betty. The title is a play on the Elvis Presley song, Viva Las Vegas, also used as the title of an MGM musical film.
Moesha is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with her upper middle class family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was originally ordered as a pilot for CBS' 1995–1996 television season but was declined by the network. It was then later picked up by UPN, which aired it as a mid-season replacement. It went on to become the biggest success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits over the course of the network's entire run. The series was a joint production for UPN by Regan Jon Productions, Saradipity Productions, and Jump at the Sun Productions in association with Big Ticket Television.
Anti-Barney humor is a form of humor that targets Barney the Dinosaur, the main character from the children's television series Barney & Friends, and singles out the show for criticism.
Robert Matthew West 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.
Barney & the Backyard Gang is an American direct-to-video series produced by The Lyons Group and released in periodic installments from August 29, 1988, to August 1, 1991. The series led to the launch of the children's television show, Barney & Friends, which in its original run aired on PBS from April 6, 1992, to November 2, 2010.
Barney's Great Adventure is a 1998 musical comedy adventure film based on the children's television series Barney & Friends, featuring Barney the Dinosaur in his first feature-length film. The plot follows Barney, along with three young children named Cody, Abby, and Marcella, as they discover a magical egg in a barn. After learning that the egg is a dream maker, Barney and the gang must return the egg to the barn before it hatches. The film was written by Stephen White, directed by Steve Gomer, produced by Sheryl Leach and Lyrick Studios and released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment on March 27, 1998 at Radio City Music Hall in New York and worldwide on April 3, 1998 in the United States and Canada at the height of Barney's popularity.
Sheryl is a female given name. The similar name Sherill may be male or female.
Marvel Action Universe was a 1988–1991 weekly syndicated television block from Marvel Productions featuring animated adaptions of Dino-Riders and RoboCop, along with reruns of the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Lyrick Studios, formerly The Lyons Group, was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas best known for their flagship property Barney & Friends.
A Day in the Park with Barney was a live children's show at Universal Studios Florida based on the children's television show, Barney & Friends, that opened in 1995 on the former site of The Bates Motel Set used in Psycho IV: The Beginning. It also had a "Barney's Backyard" playground area with a chance to meet Barney in a meet and greet session after the main show in the Barney Theater. It was one of the few places where Barney's original voice actor Bob West was heard and one of Universal Studios' attempts to appeal to the younger generation.
Kathryn "Kathy" O'Rourke Parker is a children's educational television producer and writer, best known for being co-creator of the popular children's show Barney & Friends with Sheryl Leach and Dennis DeShazer. Kathy received her B.S. in Special Education in 1976 and an M.A. in Learning Disabilities in 1979, both from Eastern Michigan University. She taught in the field of special education in Michigan from 1976 to 1981, before moving to the state of Texas. From 1981 to 1987 she worked at DLM, Inc. of Allen, Texas marketing early childhood educational products and materials. Then, in 1987, personal friends Parker and Leach began working together on the idea that would become Barney & Friends.
David Eugene Joyner is an American actor. He is best known for physically portraying Barney from 1991 to 2001, and 2022 to present on the 2-part adult docuseries I Love You, You Hate Me, the successor children's television series Barney & Friends and its predecessor Barney and the Backyard Gang. Later on, he played the title character of Hip Hop Harry.
Leach is a surname, originally denoting a physician. Notable people with the surname include:
The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker are a pair of related Canadian television sitcoms, which premiered in 2021 on Super Channel. The shows both depict a blended family living in the suburbs of Chicago following the remarriage of widower Tony Parker and divorced single mother Cleo Anderson ; while they share interconnections of character and storyline, The Parker Andersons centres on the whole family, while Amelia Parker focuses more specifically on the particular experiences of Tony's teenage daughter Amelia, who is still coping with the death of her mother and struggling with the anxiety disorder of selective mutism.
Barney is an American media franchise targeted at children aged 2–7. Centering around the titular character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude, the franchise consists of three series: Barney & the Backyard Gang (1988—1991), a direct-to-video series consisting of only eight episodes; Barney & Friends (1992—2010), a television series that ran on PBS Kids; and Barney's World (2024), an upcoming, fully computer-animated series to air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito and to be streamed on Max. The franchise is currently distributed by 9 Story Media Group, under license from Mattel Television.
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