Celeste Yarnall

{{short description|American actress}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Celeste Yarnall 1967.jpg

| caption = Yarnall in 1967

| birth_name = Celeste Jeanne Yarnall

| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=y|1944|7|26}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=y|2018|10|7|1944|7|26}}

| birth_place = Long Beach, California, U.S.

| death_place = Westlake Village, California, U.S.

| known_for = {{hlist|The Apple (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Live a Little, Love a Little}}

| resting_place =

| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|model|real estate|author}}

| yearsactive = 1962–2018

| spouse = {{unbulleted list

|{{marriage|Sheldon Silverstein|1964|1970|end=div}}

|{{marriage|Robert Colman|1979|1990s|end=div}}

|{{marriage|Nazim Nazim
|2010}}

}}

| children = 1

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

Celeste Jeanne Yarnall (July 26, 1944 – October 7, 2018) was an American actress primarily of the 1960s and 1970s. She started her career on television before moving to feature film roles.

Career

A native of Long Beach, California, Yarnall was discovered by Ozzie Nelson and his son Ricky{{cite news |title=Celeste Yarnall parlayed 'photogenic beauty' into career as 1960s love interest and cult star |url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/celebrity/celeste-yarnall-parlayed-photogenic-beauty-into-career-as-1960s-love-interest-and-cult-star |access-date=24 December 2018 |work=National Post |date=October 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181224205615/https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/celebrity/celeste-yarnall-parlayed-photogenic-beauty-into-career-as-1960s-love-interest-and-cult-star |archive-date=December 24, 2018 |url-status=live }} and appeared on their show The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. She was named Miss Rheingold 1964{{cite news |title=Tapped |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26485012/celeste_yarnall/ |access-date=24 December 2018 |work=Daily News |date=December 20, 1963 |location=New York, New York City |page=14}} (the last person to hold that title) while modeling and appearing in TV commercials. She made her film debut in The Nutty Professor (1963) and, after appearing at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival, was spotted by producer Harry Alan Towers, who scouted her to appear as the central character in his film Eve. She also appeared as a "Scream Queen" who is terrorized by a headless monster in the horror film Beast of Blood (1971).

Yarnall was known for her role as Yeoman Martha Landon in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Apple" (1967), a character she would return to in the fan-made film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2006). She was cast in a small role opposite Elvis Presley in Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), as a party-goer wearing a glittery silver mini-dress and briefly a white fur coat, who captures Presley's attention and prompts him to sing "A Little Less Conversation". After she attended the Cannes Film Festival in 1968, the National Association of Theatre Owners named her "Most Promising New Star" for 1968, and the Foreign Press Corps named her "Most Photogenic Beauty of the Year". In 1971, she starred as the titular vampire in Stephanie Rothman's low-budget film The Velvet Vampire, of which Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader said, "Given the genre (horror) and the budget (extremely low), it may seem perverse to say that Stephanie Rothman's 1971 film is among the best women's films ever made, but so it is."{{cite web |last1=Kehr |first1=Dave |title=The Velvet Vampire |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-velvet-vampire/Film?oid=1049111 |website=Chicago Reader|date=October 26, 1985 }}

Personal life

From 1964 until 1970, Yarnall was married to Sheldon Silverstein,{{cite web |url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/553/Celeste+Yarnall/index.html |title=Celeste Yarnall |website=glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com}} with whom she had her only child, a daughter, Camilla Yarnall, born in 1970. She was married from 1979 until 1990 to Robert ColmanArmstrong, Alice Catt; Vitale, Sarah Alice (1986). [https://books.google.com/books?id=RdwjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22celeste+yarnall%22+%22robert+colman%22 Who's Who in California, Volume 16]. San Clemente, CA: Who's Who Historical Society. p. 488. {{ISBN|0-9603166-5-5}}. and, from 2010 until her death, to British artist Nazim Nazim.{{Cite news|title=Celeste Yarnall: Actress; BORN JULY 26, 1944 - DIED OCTOBER 7, 2018, AGED 74|author=Blake, Elly|date=October 27, 2018|work=Daily Express|pages=39|quote=She died from ovarian cancer and is survived by second husband, Nazim Nazim, whom she married in 2010.|id={{ProQuest|2125565017}}}}

Later years and death

When her acting career diminished, Yarnall began to work in real estate. Despite warnings about limited opportunities for success, she earned a six-figure income in her first year with a real-estate firm. By 1982, she owned Celeste Yarnall & Associates, which a syndicated columnist described as "one of L.A.'s top office real-estate firms."{{cite news |last1=Kleiner |first1=Dick |title=Starlet Finds Niche |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26484663/celeste_yarnall/ |access-date=24 December 2018 |work=Journal Gazette |agency=Newspaper Enterprise Association |date=October 1, 1982 |location=Illinois, Mattoon |page=24|via = Newspapers.com}}

In 1998, Yarnall achieved a doctorate in nutrition, following which she taught nutrition at Pacific Western University. She also became a breeder of Tonkinese cats and wrote two books: Natural Dog Care: A Complete Guide to Holistic Care for Dogs and Natural Cat Care: A Complete Guide to Holistic Care for Cats.{{cite journal |title=Celeste Yarnall, 74 |journal=Classic Images |date=December 2018 |issue=522 |page=48}} Yarnall attended Star Trek conventions where she signed autographs for fans.{{Cite news |last=Vinciguerra |first=Thomas |date=2006-10-08 |title=There Are No Small Parts, Only Long Memories |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/arts/television/08vinc.html |access-date=2022-06-20 |issn=0362-4331}}

Yarnall died at her home in Westlake Village, California on October 7, 2018, aged 74, from ovarian cancer, which she had been diagnosed with in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/10/celeste-yarnall-dead-star-trek-actress-elvis-presley-little-less-conversation-1202479296|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009201222/https://deadline.com/2018/10/celeste-yarnall-dead-star-trek-actress-elvis-presley-little-less-conversation-1202479296/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 9, 2018|title=Celeste Yarnall Dies: 'Star Trek' Actress & Elvis Co-Star Was 74|last=Evans|first=Greg|date=October 9, 2018|website=Deadline|access-date=October 9, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.startrek.com/article/celeste-yarnalls-cancer-battle-in-her-own-words|title=Celeste Yarnall's Cancer Battle -- In Her Own Words|work=StarTrek.com|access-date=October 9, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010011053/http://www.startrek.com/article/celeste-yarnalls-cancer-battle-in-her-own-words|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/article/remembering-tos-guest-star-celeste-yarnall-1944-2018|title=Remembering TOS Guest Star, Celeste Yarnall, 1944-2018|website=Startrek.com|access-date=October 10, 2018|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009211657/http://www.startrek.com/article/remembering-tos-guest-star-celeste-yarnall-1944-2018|url-status=dead}} She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.{{cite magazine |title=Celeste Yarnall, Alluring Actress of the 1960s, Dies at 74 |first=Mike |last=Barnes |date=October 9, 2018 |magazine=Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/celeste-yarnall-dead-star-trek-885728/ |access-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308200214/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/celeste-yarnall-dead-star-trek-885728/ |archive-date=2023-03-08 |url-status=live}}

Filmography

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"

! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film

Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1963The Nutty ProfessorCollege StudentUncredited
1963A New Kind of LoveUncredited
1963Under the Yum Yum TreeCollege GirlUncredited
1966Around the World Under the SeaSecretary
1968EveEve
1968Live a Little, Love a LittleEllen
1969Bob & Carol & Ted & AliceSusan
1970Beast of BloodMyra J. Russell
1971The Velvet VampireDiane LeFanu
1972The MechanicThe Mark's Girl
1973ScorpioHelen Thomas
1987Fatal BeautyLaura
1990Shattered DreamsMadge
1990Funny About LoveMadge
1991Driving Me CrazyVolvo Boss
1991Driving Me CrazyBeverly Hills Shopper
1993Born YesterdayMrs. Hedges
1993Midnight KissSheila
2003Shrink RapGloria
2005Skinwalker: Curse of the ShamanGwynn StevensVideo
2007The Two SistersNurse Louise Brennan
2007Star Trek: Of Gods and MenSpecial Wedding GuestVideo
2012Elvis Found Aliverowspan="2"|Celeste Yarnall
2018Unbelievable!!!!!
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1962The Adventures of Ozzie & HarrietGirlEpisode: "Rick and the Maid of Honor"
1962-1963My Three SonsGinny Stewart2 episodes
1966The Man from U.N.C.L.E.Andrea FouchetEpisode: "The Monks of St. Thomas Affair"
1966BewitchedStudent NurseEpisode: "And Then There Were Three"
1967Star Trek: The Original SeriesYeoman Martha LandonEpisode: "The Apple"
1968It Takes a ThiefIlsaEpisode: "Locked in the Cradle of the Keep"
1968The F.B.I.JulieEpisode: "The Mercenary"
1968Hogan's HeroesNanny / Wilhelmina2 episodes
1968Land of the GiantsMarna WhelanEpisode: "The Golden Cage"
1968BonanzaKatie KellyEpisode: "Queen High"
1969MannixTawnyEpisode: "Eagles Sometimes Can’t Fly"
1969The SurvivorsEpisode: "Chapter One"
1969In Name OnlyAnneTelevision film
1969The Bold Ones: The ProtectorsEthel MillerEpisode: "Draw a Straight Man"
1971Ransom for a Dead ManGloriaColumbo Television film Ransom for a Dead Man
1971InsightViola (as Celeste Yarnell)Episode: "Bird on the Mast"
1972The Judge and Jake WylerBallerinaTelevision film
1972McMillan & WifeMiss JonesEpisode: "Terror Times Two"
|1973Love, American StyleFlorence (segment "Love and the Postal Meeter"Episode: "Love and the End of the Line / Love and the Growing Romance / Love and the Postal Meeter"
1990Knots LandingCaroline CraigEpisode: "My First Born"
1991Daughters of PrivilegeBeautiful WomanTelevision film
1993Civil WarsGwendolynEpispde "Split Ends"
1994SistersRita ZaylorEpisode: "Chemical Reactions"
1995Melrose PlaceMrs. PembertonEpisode: "Oy! to the World"
1998Melrose Place''Mrs. HuntingtonEpisode: "Amanda's Back"

References

{{Reflist}}