Trivia

He got his start in the movie business when he became the chauffeur for producer Hal Roach. He convinced Roach to let him have a job as a prop man in his comedies, and he soon worked his way up to assistant director, eventually making his debut as a director in RKO Pictures' short-subject department.

His career had a lot in common with his slightly older contemporary, William Beaudine: both began in silents, starting out in menial positions and eventually working their way up to director. Beaudine was at least once considered a promising talent--he directed Sparrows (1926), one of Mary Pickford's biggest successes--but ultimately both became unabashed hacks, directing scores of cheap, shoddy quickies for cheap, shoddy studios and low-rent, often fly-by-night independent producers. While few if any of their films are considered to be anything but assembly-line dreck, it was their ability to bring assignments in on time and under budget--mostly by ignoring such "problems" as flubbed lines, historical anachronisms, continuity issues and gaping plot holes--that endeared them to potential employers. Both were strong proponents of "editing in the camera" and had an aversion to retakes--Beaudine's nickname in the industry was "One-Take" because of his refusal to shoot more than one take of a scene, no matter what unscheduled mishap or incident happened during shooting. Yarbrough served his directorial apprenticeship in RKO's short-subject division in 1936. He directed his first feature, Rebellious Daughters (1938), for fly-by-night Progressive Pictures--a "Poverty Row" studio headed by Ben Judell, who would later found what came to be the notorious no-budget studio Producers Releasing Corp., known as PRC--an ominous sign of things to come. By 1940 Yarbrough had taken up professional residence on Poverty Row, first for PRC, then largely for Monogram Pictures (later known as Allied Artists). He made several cheap musicals for Universal Pictures, and it was there that his career picked up when he hooked up with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, the studio's premier comedy team, in 1944. He would direct several of the team's lesser (but still extremely popular) features and would eventually direct 10 episodes of their TV series. He liked the rapid pace of TV production and his skills as a quickie director would later prove invaluable; along with Beaudine, he became one of the most in-demand television directors working in Hollywood. Both men would remain active well into their old age, occasionally dabbling in low-budget features but staying mostly with episodic TV series until their retirement.

Attended college at the University of the South.