David Yarnell, Veteran Producer on ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ and Early TV and Radio Shows, Dies at 96

David Yarnell, producer of the Melissa McCarthy– and Richard E. Grant-starring Can You Ever Forgive Me? movie and a slew of early radio and TV series, has died. He was 96.

Yarnell died on Jan. 28 at his home in Los Angeles, with his wife Toni Howard at his side, the talent agency CAA confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. Born on March 14, 1929 in Brooklyn, Yarnell graduated from Brooklyn Law School and also attended Cooper Union School of Art in Manhattan. That led him to pursue early work in radio, film and television.

While in radio, Yarnell became the program director for Channel 5 in New York. He created the weekly radio show Firing Line, with host William F. Buckley, worked with David Frost and produced the radio broadcast of early Muhammed Ali boxing matches.

In a January 2019 profile in The Hollywood Reporter, Yarnell recalled his early career breaks: “I reached out to William F.