David Yarnell, a respected television and film producer, passed away on January 28. He produced myriad cultural and news-related programs for television and later worked in film. In 2012, he and his wife, Toni Howard, established two major prizes for Cooper graduates, the Toni and David Yarnell Merit Award of Excellence in Architecture and Toni and David Yarnell Merit Award of Excellence in Art. The prize is presented to a graduating student who demonstrates exceptional ability and outstanding merit in the fields of architecture and art. To date, almost 40 students have received the prize.

Yarnell was a member of Cooper’s Sarah Amelia Hewitt Society, which recognizes the many individuals and families whose lifetime support of The Cooper Union has reached $100,000 or more.

After graduating from Brooklyn Law School, Yarnell attended Cooper’s School of Art in the early 1950s, an experience he described as “memorable and exhilarating. Being exposed to the creative work being done at The Cooper Union prompted me to pursue my dream of working in radio and television.”

He started his media career in radio before transitioning to television as program director at New York’s Channel 5. There he developed the influential talk show Firing Line hosted by William F. Buckley, which ran for 33 seasons. Another of Yarnell’s notable productions was In Concert, later known as Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, a popular late night program featuring performances by contemporary musicians. He eventually become the vice president of programming at Metromedia and RKO General and later an executive at Screen Gems.

He went on to establish a production company that, among many projects, produced documentaries related to film, including one about the director Billy Wilder, which was aired on PBS’s American Masters. His series AFI 100 Years, consisted of 10 one-hour specials celebrating American films for TNT. He earned an Emmy nomination for producing and directing TNT’s Joe Bob Briggs for 11 years.

A high point in Yarnell’s producing career came with Can You Ever Forgive Me (2018), the critically acclaimed film based on the memoirs of writer Lee Israel, which earned Oscar nominations for its two stars, Melissa McCarthy and Richard Grant. Yarnell had optioned Israel’s book 20 years earlier and according to Variety, his friendship with her was critical to the movie’s success.

He is survived by his wife Toni Howard, a talent agent with CAA.