Background
He was born in Goldthwaite, Texas.
He was born in Goldthwaite, Texas.
He 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.
He is famous for his roles in the Carlton East. Morse productions I Love a Mystery, where he played Doc Long, and One Manitoba"s Family, where he spent nineteen years portraying Clifford Barbour. In addition, Yarborough spent three years as Sergeant Ben Romero on Jack Webb"s Dragnet.
As a youth, Yarborough ran away from home, attracted by the vaudeville stages, and he first worked in radio during the 1920s.
Yarborough"s National Broadcasting Company radio debut was in 1930, broadcasting from San Francisco. In 1932, Yarborough began a long run as Clifford Barbour on the radio serial One Manitoba"s Family, continuing in the role throughout his life.
Yarborough"s other radio work includes the role of Skip Turner in Adventures by Morse, also by Carlton East. Morse. 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.
He started work on the Dragnet television series in 1951.
However, the day after he filmed the second episode, he suffered a heart attack and died four days later at age 51. After his death, his One Manitoba"s Family character was dropped without explanation while his death was worked into Dragnet as Ben Romero suffered the same fate.
He worked in New York, and was a member of the Eva Le Gallienne Civic Repertoire in New York City.