Tunney Barrett

Tunney Barrett - Santa Claus NOLA Bio Tunney Barret, a New Orleans native, studied Theatre at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and has appeared on stage all over the United States. In 1983 he began a career in the Hotel Business as a Director of Sales & Marketing. Then in 1992, at a meeting for Holiday Inn Sales Directors & General Managers, met a beautiful young woman, who a year later, would become his wife. When Tunney learned that his younger brother had kidney disease and he and his wife, Carolyn, went to work with the Kidney Foundation. He received a call one day, in 2013, from the Kidney Foundation, asking if he would do Santa Claus for an event for Kids with Kidney Disease. It sounded like it could be a great way to bring joy to children with this disease. People saw the pictures and heard from people who had been there, and it became the beginning of a whole new adventure in Tunney & Carolyn’s lives. Tunney has since retired from the hotel industry and says now he “works full time” for Carolyn. He enjoys being recognized in the grocery and in restaurants by people who have taken pictures with him or who they have visited when their child was in the hospital.