A trombonist who initially studied tuba and then played trombone. He played briefly with the Boyd Raeburn orchestra as a 16-year-old, then moved to Hollywood in 1943. He was among Stan Kenton's trombone soloists in the late '40s and early '50s. Bernhart reunited with Raeburn in 1947 and played with Benny Goodman in 1948 and 1949. He was a busy session player through the '50s, doing sessions with Maynard Ferguson, Howard Rumsey and Shorty Rogers. Bernhart was also in the Columbia Pictures staff orchestra in the mid-'50s, and later did film, television and recording sessions and club dates. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi