Shields and Yarnell
Encyclopedia
Shields and Yarnell were an American
mime
team, formed in 1972, consisting of Robert Shields (born March 26, 1951) and Lorene Yarnell (March 21, 1944, Inglewood, California – July 29, 2010).
, California, and at the age of 18, while working as a street mime and performing at the Hollywood Wax Museum
was seen by Marcel Marceau
, who offered Shields a full scholarship to his school of mime in Paris
. Shields soon returned to California, working in Union Square, San Francisco.
" The Carol Burnett Show
and off-Broadway
musicals before she met Shields, in San Francisco. Yarnell later appeared as Claudine in a spectacular 1983 outdoor production of Can-Can
at The Muny in St. Louis, starring Broadway's Judy Kaye
, John Reardon, John Schuck
, Beth Leavel
and Lawrence Leritz
, her dance partner, to excellent reviews.
On film, Yarnell played Dot Matrix in the 1987 Mel Brooks
movie Spaceballs
.
Their dance and mime performances were featured in 1977-78 on their own CBS
television comedy-variety program, The Shields and Yarnell Show. They appeared on 400 national television shows in the US, including The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
, The Red Skelton Show
, The Muppet Show
(1979), and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
. They performed in the unsuccessful Broadway musical production Broadway Follies in New York City
, which shuttered after several performances. Career highlights included shows for two American Presidents and a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, as well as a tour of China with comedian Bob Hope
.
Their TV special Toys On The Town, written by Shields, earned an Emmy.
They won an award as Las Vegas
"Entertainer of the Year," dual Georgie
s for "Rising Stars of the Year" and "Special Attraction of the Year" from the American Guild of Variety Artists
.
, while Yarnell remarried and moved to Norway
. they still reunited periodically to tour with their act.
Yarnell appeared in the 1987 Mel Brooks
movie Spaceballs
as the body of the robot Dot Matrix. Joan Rivers
provided the voice for the character.
In 2002, Shields met Laurie Burke, a singer-songwriter in Sedona, and the two were married on September 25, 2006. Burke was diagnosed with a brain tumor
the next spring, and died April 25, 2007. Shields married Jennifer Griffiths in December 2009 at The Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada
. The couple currently resides in Sedona, Arizona
where Shields creates paintings, sculptures and jewelry design.
on July 29, 2010, at the age of 66.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mime
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
team, formed in 1972, consisting of Robert Shields (born March 26, 1951) and Lorene Yarnell (March 21, 1944, Inglewood, California – July 29, 2010).
Shields
Shields was born in Los Angeles and went to Morningside High School in InglewoodInglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
, California, and at the age of 18, while working as a street mime and performing at the Hollywood Wax Museum
Hollywood Wax Museum
The ' is located in the heart of the tourist district of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA and in Branson, Missouri, USA.The museum, the brainchild of entrepreneur Spoony Singh, was opened in 1965, and claims in promotional literature to be the only wax museum dedicated solely to celebrities...
was seen by Marcel Marceau
Marcel Marceau
Marcel Marceau was an internationally acclaimed French actor and mime most famous for his persona as Bip the Clown.-Early years:...
, who offered Shields a full scholarship to his school of mime in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Shields soon returned to California, working in Union Square, San Francisco.
Yarnell
Lorene Yarnell (also a native Angeleno) had become a tap dancer and actress in television shows including, "Shindig!Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
" The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
and off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
musicals before she met Shields, in San Francisco. Yarnell later appeared as Claudine in a spectacular 1983 outdoor production of Can-Can
Can-Can
The Can-can is a dance. It may also refer to:* Popularly, the Galop Infernal movement of Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, commonly associated with the dance* Can Can , a 2007 fragrance by Paris Hilton...
at The Muny in St. Louis, starring Broadway's Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:...
, John Reardon, John Schuck
John Schuck
Conrad John Schuck Jr. is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best-known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster...
, Beth Leavel
Beth Leavel
-Biography:Leavel was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She attended Meredith College, earning a degree in social work. She completed a graduate theatre degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1980. She acted during college, appearing in productions such as Cabaret and Hello,...
and Lawrence Leritz
Lawrence Leritz
Lawrence Leritz is an American dancer, singer, actor, producer, fitness expert and choreographer.-Life and career:...
, her dance partner, to excellent reviews.
On film, Yarnell played Dot Matrix in the 1987 Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
movie Spaceballs
Spaceballs
Spaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
.
As a duo
The Shields and Yarnell comedy act originated in their partnership. Their specialty was taking on the personae of robots, with many individual, deliberate motions (as opposed to normal smooth motion) stereotypical of robots and early animatronics, enhanced by their ability to refrain from blinking their eyes for long stretches of time. They called themselves The Clinkers.Their dance and mime performances were featured in 1977-78 on their own CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television comedy-variety program, The Shields and Yarnell Show. They appeared on 400 national television shows in the US, including The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show based on the married couple of American pop-singer Cher and her husband, Sonny Bono. The show ran on CBS in the United States, when it premiered in August 1971...
, The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as...
, The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(1979), and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. They performed in the unsuccessful Broadway musical production Broadway Follies in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which shuttered after several performances. Career highlights included shows for two American Presidents and a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, as well as a tour of China with comedian Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
.
Their TV special Toys On The Town, written by Shields, earned an Emmy.
They won an award as Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
"Entertainer of the Year," dual Georgie
American Guild of Variety Artists
American Guild of Variety Artists is an American entertainment union representing performers in variety entertainment, including circuses, Las Vegas showrooms and cabarets, comedy showcases, dance revues, magic shows, theme park shows, and arena and auditorium extravaganzas. It awards the "Georgie...
s for "Rising Stars of the Year" and "Special Attraction of the Year" from the American Guild of Variety Artists
American Guild of Variety Artists
American Guild of Variety Artists is an American entertainment union representing performers in variety entertainment, including circuses, Las Vegas showrooms and cabarets, comedy showcases, dance revues, magic shows, theme park shows, and arena and auditorium extravaganzas. It awards the "Georgie...
.
Post-divorce
Shields and Yarnell were married in 1972 and divorced in 1986. Shields opened a jewelry and art business in Sedona, ArizonaSedona, Arizona
Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona...
, while Yarnell remarried and moved to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. they still reunited periodically to tour with their act.
Yarnell appeared in the 1987 Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
movie Spaceballs
Spaceballs
Spaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
as the body of the robot Dot Matrix. Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
provided the voice for the character.
In 2002, Shields met Laurie Burke, a singer-songwriter in Sedona, and the two were married on September 25, 2006. Burke was diagnosed with a brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
the next spring, and died April 25, 2007. Shields married Jennifer Griffiths in December 2009 at The Little Chapel of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. The couple currently resides in Sedona, Arizona
Sedona, Arizona
Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona...
where Shields creates paintings, sculptures and jewelry design.
Death of Lorene Yarnell
Lorene Yarnell moved to Norway in 1998 with her fourth husband Bjørn Jansson. She died of a ruptured cerebral aneurysmCerebral aneurysm
A cerebral or brain aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel.- Signs and symptoms :...
on July 29, 2010, at the age of 66.
External links
- Robert Shields's website, featuring images from S&Y's career
- Robert Shields's page at the Internet Movie Database
- Lorene Yarnell's page at the Internet Movie Database
- About Shields and Yarnell (Scott Stander and Associates)