John Bryant (August 10, 1916 – July 13, 1989)Charles Briton Yonts Jr in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, retrieved from Ancestry.com was a prolific American actor active from 1944 through 1969. He performed in the famous G.I. version of Hamlet, both in the Central Pacific Theater during World War II and later on Broadway. He also acted in films, but was most prevalent on television, playing many lead and character parts including a five-year recurring role as Dr. Carl Spalding on The Virginian.
Early life He was born Charles Briton Yonts Jr. in Dixon, Illinois on August 10, 1916. His parents were C. B. Yonts Sr. and Mary E. Monaghan. His father, a power company manager, moved the family to LaCrosse, Wisconsin while Bryant was still a toddler.1920 United States Federal Census for Charles B. Yonts, Wisconsin > LaCrosse > LaCrosse Ward 0004 > District 0093, retrieved from Ancestry.com By 1930, the family had moved again, to Milwaukee, where his father was now president of an electric utility company.1930 United States Federal Census for Charles B. Yonts, Wisconsin > Milwaukee > Milwaukee (Districts 237-351) > District 0293, retrieved from Ancestry.com Bryant appears to have been an only child.1940 United States Federal Census for Charles B. Yonts, Wisconsin > Milwaukee > Milwaukee > 72-341, retrieved from Ancestry.com
He attended Washington High School in Milwaukee.U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 for Charles Yonts, Wisconsin > Milwaukee > Washington High School > 1932 > page 108, retrieved from Ancestry.com In September 1934, at age 18, he arrived at the Port of New York from Hamburg, Germany.New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957, Date > 1934 > Sep > 03 > St. Louis, retrieved from Ancestry.com The reason for this trip is not known, but having been made at the height of the Great Depression, points up the comfortable circumstances of his upbringing.
Bryant applied for his social security card in March 1938 under his birth name. He was still living at home in April 1940 when the US Federal Census for that year showed him as having completed three years of college. In October 1940, he registered for the draft, giving his parents' home in Milwaukee as his address while indicating he was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, for Charles Briton Yonts, retrieved from Ancestry.com The draft registrar recorded him as being , , with black hair, blue eyes, and a slight scar under his right eye.
Military service Bryant enlisted in the US Army at Milwaukee, under his birth name, in August 1941.Charles B Yonts Jr in the U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, retrieved from Ancestry.com His enlistment papers noted he was married, had completed three years of college, his civil occupation was "Actor", but recorded a much lower height, , and weight, .
By May 1944 he was a first lieutenant, in a Hawaiian-based Army Entertainment Section attached to the Signal Corps. (Performers assigned to these units were often given officer rank if they had some college or formal professional training). The unit to which Bryant was assigned was commanded by Major Maurice Evans, one of the foremost interpreters of Shakespeare on the pre-war American stage.
During October 1944, Bryant played Horatio to Evans's Prince Hamlet in a famous G.I. version of Hamlet. Reviewer Edna B. Lawson said "Capt. C.B. Yonts portrayed Horatio with quietness, strength, and poise". The production was performed for both military and civilian audiences in Hawaii during October and November 1944 then taken on tour to bases throughout the Central Pacific region for the remainder of the war.
Career Early career The "G.I. Hamlet" was so successful that following the war's end Michael Todd decided to mount a Broadway revival, with Maurice Evans reprising the title role. Bryant, on terminal leave from the Army, flew from Hawaii to New York in November 1945 to audition and was given the part of Francisco. Notably, the newspaper reporting this identified him as "Capt. John Bryant". For both the one week tryout in Boston and the four-month run on Broadway his billing was John Bryant. There is no public record of him ever using his birth name again.
From April 1946 to November 1950 there is a gap in the record of Bryant's performing career. The 1950 US Census records him as living in a rooming house in Los Angeles, working part-time as a bus boy in a restaurant.1950 United States Federal Census for John Bryant, California > Los Angeles > Los Angeles > 66-646, retrieved from Ancestry.com Later that same year he began getting uncredited bit parts in films at several different movie studios. The first one released was Dial 1119, followed in 1951 by four more minor films.
With 1952 Bryant's career began to blossom. He had his first credited film role in Red Snow, his first known television roles on episodes of Big Town and The Lone Ranger, and played the lead in an original play Willow Whistle at the Laguna Beach Playhouse. Bryant was cast as a psychopathic killer in another original production, Nightshade, at the Pasadena Playhouse in March 1953, for which he received high praise from the Los Angeles Times critic.
Bryant had a minor uncredited part in From Here to Eternity. He returned to summer stock at Laguna Beach in July 1953 with a co-star role in Lo and Behold. He did another original play, Music in the Distance, at Laguna in September 1953, in which he most favorably impressed the reviewer.
Television and film 1954–1958 With 1954 the focal point of Bryant's performances swung permanently to television, while his film career remained negligible, a string of uncredited bit parts. He did a dozen TV episodes that year, including three for The Loretta Young Show, and two for Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. He also handled leading roles in three week-long productions at the Laguna Beach Playhouse during the summer. The following year he had fourteen appearances on television, all but three for anthology series. He also performed on stage in My Three Angels for a weeklong run in Phoenix.
For 1956 Bryant again did fourteen episodes of television, a large number for any actor not playing a regular on a series. For most of these appearances he was either the lead or a featured performer. His tally of TV episodes dipped slightly in 1957, as he had a flurry of film roles that year. Three were uncredited, one was a short subject, but Courage of Black Beauty marked his first lead film role. The following year he had his second lead film role, albeit for an independent Christian-themed production with a limited distribution, I'll Give My Life. He also did nearly a dozen television episodes in 1958, and the play Dream Girl.
Television and film 1959–1962 By 1959 anthology shows share of television had diminished in favor of narrative series with continuing casts. Bryant also rode this trend, doing three episodes of Perry Mason, playing a different character on each. He did six other television shows that year, as well as a film, The Bat.
His only other film role of consequence during this period was as a neglectful husband to Kim Novak in Strangers When We Meet. His mainstay was television; he did twenty-five episodes on nearly as many series from 1960 through 1962.
The Virginian and later television Beginning in 1963 Bryant had a long-running recurring role on the top-rated series The Virginian. For five years he played Dr. Carl SpaldingThe show was inconsistent about the spelling of the last name in credits, sometimes rendering it as "Spaulding". However, the nameplate on the outside of the doctor's office on the set had "Spalding". in this 90-minute western, performing in two dozen episodes. He had other television work during these years, appearing on Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., My Three Sons, Run for Your Life, Dragnet 1967, and The Mod Squad among others. During the fall of 1969 he appeared in the pilot episode of a new series called The New People. This was his last screen performance for nearly twenty years, until he appeared in a single episode of Highway to Heaven during early 1988. However, he continued to act in stage productions in the Southern California area, and had completed a run in Very Nearly a Pinter just two months before his death from cancer on July 13, 1989.Charles Briton Yonts in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997, retrieved from Ancestry.com
Personal life While studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Bryant met a model named Janet Remick, who was from Massachusetts.1950 United States Federal Census for Janet B. Yonts, New York > New York > New York > 31-750, retrieved from Ancestry.com They were married in 1941, and initially lived with Bryant's parents in Milwaukee. The couple had a daughter Brittony in 1942, but divorced in 1946.
Stage performances + Listed by year of first performance (excluding student productions) Year Play Role Venue Notes 1944Hamlet Horatio Military Touring Company This was an Army production of the famous G.I. Hamlet, devised by and starring Major Maurice Evans. 1945Hamlet Francisco Boston Opera HouseColumbus Circle Theater The G.I. Hamlet was commercially produced by Michael Todd, with Maurice Evans, Lili Darvas, Thomas Gomez, Walter Coy, Alexander Lockwood, Frances Reid, Thomas Chalmers, and Emmett Rogers. 1952Willow Whistle Robert Tomlin Laguna Beach Playhouse Original summer fantasy by Frances Wetmore. Bryant starred, with David Stollery, Betty Paul, Michael Hayes, Bach Mantell, Glenn Wells, and Maryanne O. Neil. 1953Nightshade Pasadena Playhouse Original chiller by Ken Englund and Sidney Fields. Bryant, Paula Raymond, and George Reeves starred, with Jack Hill, Evelyn Scott, Louise Lorimer, Natividad Vacío, George Truitt, and Harris Brown. Lo and Behold Dr. Robert Dorsey Laguna Beach Playhouse Broadway comedy in its West Coast premiere, starred Douglas Wood, with Bryant in the co-star role. Also with Regina Gleason, Sandra Stone, Joseph Paul, and Stephen Coit.Music in the Distance Laguna Beach Playhouse Original play by Patterson Greene; starred Bryant, Charlotte Fletcher, Sandra Stone and Maury Hill, with Louise Lorimer and Stephen Coit.1954The Deep Blue Sea Freddie Page Laguna Beach Playhouse Erin O'Brien-Moore starred, supported by Bryant and Glen Wells, with Stephen Coit, Connie Wells, Robert Hafner, Charleen Ward, and Skip Fickling. The Moon Is Blue Donald Gresham Laguna Beach Playhouse Joan Evans and Edward Ashley co-starred, with Bryant featured in this four-character play.The Little Hut Henry Brittingham-Brett Laguna Beach Playhouse Bryant, Elizabeth Paul, and Maury Hill starred, with Fred Nilsoon and Jack Beavers.1955My Three Angels Paul Sombrero Playhouse Starring Thomas Gomez, Henry Brandon, Liam Sullivan, with Carl Harbord, Margaret Wells, Elinor Donahue, Louis Martin, Barbara Morrison, Mark Herron. 1958Dream Girl Clark Redfield Palm Springs PlayhouseIn 1958 it was located on South Sunrise Way at Ramon Road Starring Julia Meade, with Loyal Lukas, Jesse Glendining, John Bonitz, Lynn Bailey.1987Jitters Gnu TheaterThis was located at 10426 Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood. Backstage comedy by David French has Bryant and others as feuding professionals in a Toronto theater.1989Very Nearly a Pinter Actors Alley TheaterThis was located at 4334 Van Nuys Blvd in Sherman Oaks. One act drawing room parody by Maximilian Bocek has Bryant playing a semi-senile English eccentric.
Filmography