1. William Barton Yarborough was an American actor who worked extensively in radio drama, primarily on the NBC Radio Network.
14 Facts About Barton Yarborough
1. 2.
Barton Yarborough is famous for his roles in the Carlton E Morse productions I Love a Mystery, in which he played Doc Long, and One Man's Family, spending 19 years portraying Clifford Barbour.
3.
Barton Yarborough attended college at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Southern California, where in 1925 he became a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.
4.
One of Barton Yarborough's earliest reported activities in acting was in November 1922, when he was a member of the cast of a Rebekah and Odd Fellows lodges production of The Prince Chap in Reno, Nevada.
5.
Barton Yarborough was active in dramatic productions at the University of California, including a one-act play on radio station KLX in 1924.
6.
Barton Yarborough was a member of the Eva Le Gallienne Civic Repertoire in New York City.
7.
In 1932, Barton Yarborough began a long run as Clifford Barbour on the radio serial One Man's Family, continuing in the role throughout his life.
8.
Barton Yarborough appeared as Doc Long in three feature films for Columbia Pictures, based on the radio series I Love a Mystery: I Love a Mystery in 1945, The Devil's Mask and The Unknown.
9.
Barton Yarborough adopted a Southern accent for the Doc Long character, and would retain the dialect for Dragnet.
10.
Barton Yarborough started work on the Dragnet television series in 1951.
11.
Barton Yarborough married radio actress Barbara Jo Allen.
12.
Barton Yarborough died of a heart attack in Burbank, California, at age 51.
13.
Dragnet was in production at the time, and the radio episode "The Big Sorrow", which aired eight days after Barton Yarborough's death, portrayed Joe Friday dealing with the sudden death of Ben Romero and being assigned a new partner.
14.
Barton Yarborough is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.