Old Radio

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!

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!