Ben Yost

American tenor singer and Broadway-radio-theatre chorus leader and Hollywood stuntman. Born c.1932 Chicago, Illinois. Both of his parents were musicians. His family moved to California in his youth, which led him to become a stuntman. Breaking into music was accidental--while waiting to do a stunt, he was mistaken for a singer and filled in. Noticing a need in vaudeville for good singing groups, he began to organize them. It began with the Yostians, followed by the Varsity Eight, the Varsity Co-Eds, the Hollywood Eight, the Vikings, the Mimic-men, and the Ben Yost Singers. He sang with them as well as managed them via his company Yost Enterprises. His choral groups were well-known on Broadway and in New York night spots, as well as in most of the nation's armed camps. His vocals groups were part of Ziegfeld Follies, St. Louis Municipal Operat Company, Radio City Music Hall, and the Waldorf-Astoria. Yost seemed to have a hundred singing groups all at once, performing at circus, carnivals, nightclubs, and on Broadway.