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Born in Goldthwaite, Texas, Barton Yarborough ran away from home as a youngster to join vaudeville. In the 1920s, he got involved in radio, and 1932 began a long run as Cliff Barbour on the hugely famous drama One Man's Family, which he continued until his death. Other outstanding radio roles came along the way, such as 1938 Doc Long in I Love a Mystery (1945), but his most significant success would have been as Sgt. Ben Romero in The Human Bomb (1951) in 1949. Both of these also moved to TV, and Yarborough appeared in 3 I Love Mystery movies between 1945 and 1946 and the TV version of The Human Bomb (1951) in 1951. But, sadly, he was only able to film two episodes; the day after filming the second, Barton fell ill and died four days later. Though Yarborough appeared in several films, his radio work contains his most memorable roles.