Sheryl Lyna Stamps Leach (born December 31, 1952) is an American author and creator of the children's show ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

'', along with Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer.

Education

Leach holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

(SMU) and a master's degree in bilingual education from

Texas A & M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

Career

Leach created Barney the Dinosaur in the mid-1980s. Together with co-creators Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer, she developed and launched the Barney property worldwide. Barney became one of the highest-rated children's television series and a best-selling children's brand globally. 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

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, the character was changed to a dinosaur. Leach and her team created a series of home videos called ''

Barney and the Backyard Gang ''Barney and the Backyard Gang'' is an American direct-to-video series produced by The Lyons Group and released in periodic installments from 29 August 1988 to 1 August 1991. The series led to the launch of the children's television show, ''Bar ...

''. The videos were sold directly to the public. 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. In October of that year, production began on the new TV show, titled ''

'', and in April 1992, it premiered on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Barney went onto receive a number of awards and honors.

Awards

Among other awards, Leach was nominated for the 20th and 23rd Annual

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

. She holds an honorary doctorate from

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...

Philanthropy

Leach and her life partner Howard Rosenfeld have sponsored projects through their philanthropy organization the Shei'rah Foundation, including a number of documentaries. The Foundation also supported several youth-based media projects. In 2007 Leach and Rosenfeld designed and built The Smithy, a specialty retail outlet in the village of New Preston in

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

Connecticut, that sells local artisan foods and handicrafts and supports local farmers and producers. Leach and Rosenfeld are also involved with community development and land conservation projects 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. Leach supports several farming causes and organizations, including Partners for Sustainable Healthy Communities in Litchfield County. The mission of the organization is to "cultivate better communities by nurturing and supporting programs that connect and support sustainable agriculture, local food and active, healthy lifestyles". One of their programs is the Farmer's Table Dinner program co-founded by Leach and Rosenfeld, in 2011, along with friends and neighbors. Over the past eleven years, the Farmer's Table program—that began as an annual dinner—has expanded to support the growth of farming in the community through a variety of events and programs.

References

External links

*
Startup Nation - Thinking Big, Really Big: Sheryl Leach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Sheryl 1952 births Living people Barney & Friends People from Dallas Television producers from Texas American women television producers American television writers American women television writers Screenwriters from Texas