Bruce Yarnell

Singer and actor Bruce Yarnell was born on 28 December 1935 in Los Angeles, California, the son of a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Bruce Yarnell had a varied career in radio, television, stage and screen. Bruce got his first professional job singing with the famous Mitchell Boys' Choir in Hollywood. He worked afternoons at KCBH radio station in Los Angeles, and then moved to San Diego for a time. He appeared in many operatic productions, including David, Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Boheme and Carmen. He starred in New York in a production of Hit the Deck, and in California productions of such famous musical successes as The Pink Jungle, Oklahoma, Wonderful Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Rosalinda, South Pacific, and California Story.

A rugged 6 ft. 5 in. actor, he co-starred as the character Chalk Breeson in the Outlaws television series on the NBC network in 1961-1962. His role in Outlaws was the first non-singing part he attempted, having appeared in numerous Broadway musical shows, in Hollywood cabaret and taking the lead roles in many light-opera productions. After Outlaws left the air, he continued acting with guest roles in Hogan's Heroes, The Wide Country, and a couple of appearances in Bonanza before he once again turned to singing with Annie Get Your Gun and Irma la Douce. Winner of the 1960-61 season Theatre World Award for his portrayal of General Kinesias in the Broadway musical comedy The Happiest Girl in the World, Bruce Yarnell also portrayed Sir Lionel in Camelot, another New York musical stage hit. In the late 1960's, he appeared in a special television presentation of Annie Get Your Gun, which starred Mary Martin and John Raitt. He also appeared with Cyril Richard in Rosalinda.

His night club appearances took him to New York's Latin Quarter, Hollywood's Moulin Rouge, the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas and the Beverly Hills Country Club in Cincinnati. He had two records issued, one entitled House of the Lord and the other Bruce Yarnell Sings.

Bruce Yarnell married a former fashion model and they had two children. He had his life tragically cut short in a Los Angeles County, California airplane crash on 30 November 1973.