October 2: Happy Birthday, Barton Yarborough

On this day in 1900 was born a rough-and-ready jack of all trades, Barton Yarborough.  He was one of the warhorses who put together a very long career on radio show after radio show, playing a wide variety of characters.  Perhaps not one to garner the fame and glory, Yarborough turned in a long-term performance on One Man's Family and also contributed to I Love a Mystery, Adventures By Morse, and Dragnet.

He died at just 51, causing his characters to be written out of both One Man's Family and Dragnet.

Here at oldradio.org, we love to salute the character actors who helped make our favorite shows so entertaining.  Happy birthday, Barton!

October 2: Happy Birthday, Barton Yarborough

Though he lived just fifty-one years (1900-51), actor Barton Yarborough racked up an awful lot of mileage with appearances on a variety of programs.

Joe Friday's partner Ben Romero on Dragnet; Doc Long on Dragnet, and Clifford Barbour on One Man's Family: jeez, Barton, save some parts for someone else.

Yarborough was born in Goldthwaite, Texas, and early on decided that he wasn't going to be a cowpoke.  He ran away and joined the vaudeville circuit.  Just like a computer software reviewer or recipe expert experiencing a boon with the advent of the blog, Yarborough flourished when radio was invented for him.

And we're glad he did! Happy Birthday, Big B!