Bruce Yarnell
Encyclopedia
Bruce Yarnell was an American actor who co-starred in the second season (1961-1962) of NBC
's Western
television series Outlaws, set in the lawless Oklahoma Territory
. He was also a noted Broadway and opera baritone.
Yarnell played Deputy U.S. Marshal Chalk Breeson, having replaced Jock Gaynor
(1929-1998) in the role of deputy Heck Martin. Yarnell's principal co-star, Don Collier
(born 1928), played Marshal Will Foreman. Slim Pickens
played the role of "Slim". In the first season, Barton MacLane
(1902-1969) had appeared as Marshal Frank Caine, and the episodes had been related from the outlaws' viewpoint. In the second season, the narrative reflected the judgment of the lawmen.
Among the segments in which Yarnell appeared were "Horse of a Similar Color", "The Outlaw Marshals", "Masterpiece", "The Cutups", "Chalk's Lot", and "The Connie Masters Story".Connie Masters, the proprietess of a restaurant
, was played by Judy Lewis
(born 1935), daughter of Loretta Young
and Clark Gable
.
The character Chalk Breeson was the then 25-year-old Yarnell's first recurring television role. He subsequently appeared in 1963 as Tom Kidwell in the NBC rodeo
drama The Wide Country
, starring Earl Holliman
and Andrew Prine
, and in 1964-1965 as Muley Jones in two episodes of NBC's powerhouse western Bonanza
. In 1965, he appeared as Captain Jeb Winslow in one episode of CBS's Hogan's Heroes
military
comedy
with Bob Crane
. He also guest starred in CBS's The Smothers Brothers Show
. His last television role was as Little John in the 1968 series The Legend of Robin Hood, not to be confused with a British series of the same name seven years thereafter.
Yarnell was born in Los Angeles
, California
. A week after finishing an engagement as Marcello in La Boheme
at San Francisco Opera, he and two passengers, David and Teri Wirsching, were killed when the small-craft airplane that Yarnell was piloting went down over Los Angeles. Yarnell had radioed prior to the crash that he had lost electrical power and was disoriented.
Prior to his television career, Bruce Yarnell made his 1960 Broadway debut as Sir Lionel in the original cast of Camelot
and soon left that show to star opposite Cyril Ritchard in The Happiest Girl in the World. He returned to Broadway in the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of Annie Get Your Gun
playing marksman Frank Butler opposite Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley
. His rich, burnished baritone may be heard on the original cast recordings of those three shows.
His widow
, singer and voice instructor Joan Patenaude-Yarnell (born in Ottawa, Canada, on September 12, 1941), began the Bruce Yarnell Scholarship to honor young baritone
s. As stated above, Yarnell made a successful transition from Broadway to opera and sang principal roles at the San Francisco Opera
from 1971 until his death. His interpretations of Dr. Falke in SFO's Die Fledermaus
and Sharpless in SFO's Madama Butterfly
are preserved on rare recordings. Yarnell also produced two solo albums, House of the Lord and Bruce Yarnell Sings.Joan Yarnell has been a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music
since 1997.
Yarnell is interred at the Roman Catholic-affiliated San Fernando Mission Cemetery
north of Los Angeles.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television series Outlaws, set in the lawless Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...
. He was also a noted Broadway and opera baritone.
Yarnell played Deputy U.S. Marshal Chalk Breeson, having replaced Jock Gaynor
Jock Gaynor
Jock Gaynor was an American actor, producer, and writer, whose work was confined primarily to television...
(1929-1998) in the role of deputy Heck Martin. Yarnell's principal co-star, Don Collier
Don Collier
Donald Collier is an American radio personality and a former actor, particularly known for his role in television westerns during the 1960s. He played U.S. Marshal Will Foreman in the 1960-1962 NBC series Outlaws, with Barton MacLane , Jock Gaynor , and Bruce Yarnell...
(born 1928), played Marshal Will Foreman. Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
played the role of "Slim". In the first season, Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. Although he has appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, he was known for his role as Gen...
(1902-1969) had appeared as Marshal Frank Caine, and the episodes had been related from the outlaws' viewpoint. In the second season, the narrative reflected the judgment of the lawmen.
Among the segments in which Yarnell appeared were "Horse of a Similar Color", "The Outlaw Marshals", "Masterpiece", "The Cutups", "Chalk's Lot", and "The Connie Masters Story".Connie Masters, the proprietess of a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, was played by Judy Lewis
Judy Lewis
Judy Lewis was an American actress, writer, producer, and therapist, and the secret biological daughter of actor Clark Gable and actress Loretta Young.-History:...
(born 1935), daughter of Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
and Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
.
The character Chalk Breeson was the then 25-year-old Yarnell's first recurring television role. He subsequently appeared in 1963 as Tom Kidwell in the NBC rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
drama The Wide Country
The Wide Country
The Wide Country is an American Western television series which aired on NBC from September 20, 1962 to April 25, 1963.-Synopsis:The series stars Earl Holliman and Andrew Prine as brothers, Mitch and Andy Guthrie, respectively, who are traveling rodeo competitors...
, starring Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman
-Early life:Earl Holliman was born at Delhi in Richland Parish of northeastern Louisiana. Holliman’s biological father died before he was born, and his biological mother, living in poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at birth...
and Andrew Prine
Andrew Prine
Andrew Lewis Prine is an American film, stage, and television actor.-Early life and career:Prine was born in Jennings, Florida. After graduation from Andrew Jackson High School in Miami, Prine made his acting debut three years later in an episode of CBS U.S. Steel Hour...
, and in 1964-1965 as Muley Jones in two episodes of NBC's powerhouse western Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
. In 1965, he appeared as Captain Jeb Winslow in one episode of CBS's Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
with Bob Crane
Bob Crane
Robert Edward "Bob" Crane was an American actor and disc jockey, best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E...
. He also guest starred in CBS's The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show is an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965 to September 9, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing products and American Tobacco...
. His last television role was as Little John in the 1968 series The Legend of Robin Hood, not to be confused with a British series of the same name seven years thereafter.
Yarnell was born in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. A week after finishing an engagement as Marcello in La Boheme
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
at San Francisco Opera, he and two passengers, David and Teri Wirsching, were killed when the small-craft airplane that Yarnell was piloting went down over Los Angeles. Yarnell had radioed prior to the crash that he had lost electrical power and was disoriented.
Prior to his television career, Bruce Yarnell made his 1960 Broadway debut as Sir Lionel in the original cast of Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
and soon left that show to star opposite Cyril Ritchard in The Happiest Girl in the World. He returned to Broadway in the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun may refer to:*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1946 musical play*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1950 film version of the 1946 musical*Annie Get Your Gun , 1946, with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton...
playing marksman Frank Butler opposite Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley , born Phoebe Ann Mosey, was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Oakley's amazing talent and timely rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.Oakley's most famous trick is perhaps...
. His rich, burnished baritone may be heard on the original cast recordings of those three shows.
His widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
, singer and voice instructor Joan Patenaude-Yarnell (born in Ottawa, Canada, on September 12, 1941), began the Bruce Yarnell Scholarship to honor young baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
s. As stated above, Yarnell made a successful transition from Broadway to opera and sang principal roles at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
from 1971 until his death. His interpretations of Dr. Falke in SFO's Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
and Sharpless in SFO's Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
are preserved on rare recordings. Yarnell also produced two solo albums, House of the Lord and Bruce Yarnell Sings.Joan Yarnell has been a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
since 1997.
Yarnell is interred at the Roman Catholic-affiliated San Fernando Mission Cemetery
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
north of Los Angeles.