Outlaws from Television Star Book

Every avid TV fan can list the names of television Western heroes who have turned singers.  Now meet someone who reversed the process.

Bruce Yarnell, the rugged 6 ft. 5 ins. co-star Chalk Breeson in the Outlaws series, took the opposite path to his contemporaries -- Robert Horton and Hugh O'Brien -- who later tried their hand at singing.  Bruce is a singer turned actor.  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.  In August of this year (1962), he topped the bill of an ATV Sunday Show.

The son of a retired detective with the Los Angeles Police, he got his first professional job singing with the famous Mitchell Boys' Choir in Hollywood.

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 color television presentation of Annie Get Your Gun, which starred Mary Martin and John Raitt.  He also appeared with Cyril Richard in Rosalinda.

He starred in New York in a production of Hit the Deck, and in Californian productions of such famous musical successes as The Pink Jungle, Oklahoma, Wonderful Town, Annie Get Your Gun, Rosalinda, South Pacific, and California Story.

Bruce Yarnell has appeared in many operatic productions, including David, Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Boheme and Carmen.  His night club appearances have taken 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 has two records on issue, one entitled House of the Lord and the other Bruce Yarnell Sings.

He is married to a former fashion model and they have two children.

With the promotion in this latest Outlaws series of Will Foreman from Deputy to Chief U. S. Marshal of the Oklahoma Territory, the series told of the lives and work of the law officers whose job it was to maintain order in the former Indian lands thrown open to the settlers.

A handyman-drifter named Slim and restaurant proprietress Connie Masters -- not forgetting the dog which won a big following as Old Yeller in the Walt Disney film of the same name -- were the other "regulars" whose lives were interwoven with Will Foreman and his Deputy, Chalk Breeson.

Blond, 6 ft. Don Collier, brought long experience from touring shows and repertory work to the role of Will Foreman.  His first full-length film 12 Hours to Kill was seen last year.

Veteran character actor Slim Pickens played his namesake, Slim, in the series and Judy Lewis, daughter of long-reigning Hollywood favorite, Loretta Young, had the part of Connie Masters.

A Western needs action, excitement and a story in which good will always win through to ensure that those attracted to this type of entertainment feel that they have been satisfied.  Outlaws is one of the best.

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