Bruce Yarnell
Bruce Patane Altomari Yarnell was an American film, television, theatre actor and singer. He was known for playing the role of Deputy Marshal Chalk Breeson in the final season of the American western television series Outlaws. As a baritone, he performed in musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel, and Oklahoma!.
Life and career
Yarnell was born in Pasadena, California, the son of Marie and Harold, a police officer. He was the older brother of dancer and actress Lorene Yarnell. He studied opera and later sang at the Earl Carroll Theatre in Los Angeles. He also sang in Reno, Nevada, where he was later joined by the Mormon Choir in numerous musical productions. Yarnell made his theatre debut in 1960 on Broadway, in Camelot as Sir Lionel.His film and television career began soon afterwards, when he joined the cast of the western television series Outlaws in 1961, for its final season, playing the role of Deputy Marshal Chalk Breeson. That same year, he starred in the Broadway musical The Happiest Girl in the World as General Kinesias, for which he won the 1961 Theatre World Award. Yarnell continued to appear in films and television programs, including Irma la Douce, Bonanza, and Hogan's Heroes. He also starred as Billy Bigelow in the 1966 New York City Center Light Opera Company production of Carousel, as Frank E. Butler in the same year's Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, as Curly McLain in the 1969 Little Theatre's production of Oklahoma! – both at the New York State Theater; and as Matt Reedy in the 1968 action film The Road Hustlers.
Yarnell later played leading roles at the San Francisco Opera House. His last credit was in a tour of Bye Bye Birdie at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in November 1973.