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Red Buttons
Actor

Red Buttons

5 Feb 1919Born
13 Jul 2006Died
87Age at death
83Credits

Biography

Although Red Buttons is best known as a stand-up comic, he is also a successful songwriter, an Academy Award-winning actor (and has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards) and an accomplished singer. Born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919 (Aquarius) in New York City's Lower East Side, stood at a height of 5' 6" (1.68 m). Buttons (who got his name from a uniform he wore while working as a singing bellhop), also known as Cpl. Red Buttons, started his show-business career singing on street corners as a child. At 16 he got a job as part of a comedy act playing the famed Catskills resort area in upstate New York (his partner was future actor Robert Alda).

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Buttons worked the burlesque circuit as a comic and even landed a role in a Broadway play, "Vicki", in 1942. He soon joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and in 1943 was picked for a role in Moss Hart's service play "Winged Victory" on Broadway, and soon afterwards journeyed to Hollywood to make the film version. After his discharge from the service he returned to Broadway, both in plays and as a comic with several big-band orchestras. He was successful enough that he got his own TV series, The Red Buttons Show (1952), on CBS. It lasted three years and won Buttons an Emmy for Best Comedian. He worked steadily for the next several years, and in 1957 got his big film break in the drama Sayonara (1957) with Marlon Brando, in which he played an American soldier stationed in Japan who struggled against the societal and racist pressures of both American and Japanese cultures because of his love for a Japanese woman. His performance garnered him an Academy Award, and more film roles followed. He played a paratrooper in The Longest Day (1962), was nominated for a Golden Globe for Harlow (1965) and again for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). He had a part in the TV series The Double Life of Henry Phyfe (1966) and has done pretty much every kind of TV show there is, from variety to comedy to soap operas. He gained further renown in the 1970s for his appearances on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" where he performed his "Never Got a Dinner" act to great acclaim. He has played Las Vegas for years, has a star on Hollywood Boulevard (corner of Hollywood and Vine) and has appeared in numerous telethons and charitable events, for which he has been honored by such organizations as the Friars Club and the City of Hope Hospital. He died July 13, 2006 at the age of 87 in Century City, California, USA from vascular disease.

Known for

Filmography

The 80 most recent of 83 credits.

  1. 2002Presidio MedSeries: Chick (1 episode)
  2. 2002Street TimeSeries: Sam Kahan (4 episodes)
  3. 2001PhillySeries (1 episode)
  4. 1999The Story of UsFilm: Arnie Jordan
  5. 1999Family LawSeries: Carl Porter (1 episode)
  6. 1998Ghosts of Fear StreetFilm: Grandpa
  7. 1996Early EditionSeries: Walter Stites (1 episode)
  8. 1996CosbySeries (1 episode)
  9. 1994ERSeries: Ruby (5 episodes)
  10. 1994It Could Happen to YouFilm: Walter Zakuto
  11. 1990The AmbulanceFilm: Elias Zacharai
  12. 1988RoseanneSeries (1 episode)
  13. 198818 Again!Film: Charlie
  14. 1986It's Garry Shandling's ShowSeries: Red Buttons (1 episode)
  15. 1985Alice in WonderlandSeries: White Rabbit (2 episodes)
  16. 1985227Series (1 episode)
  17. 1985Reunion at FairboroughFilm: Jiggs Quealy
  18. 1984The Cosby ShowSeries: Jake Bennett (1 episode)
  19. 1982Off Your RockerFilm: Seymour Saltz
  20. 1981Side ShowFilm: Harry Hubbell
  21. 1981Leave 'Em LaughingFilm: Roland Green
  22. 1981Aloha ParadiseSeries: Nick (1 episode)
  23. 1980The Dream MerchantsSeries: Bruce Benson (3 episodes)
  24. 1980When Time Ran Out...Film: Francis Fendly
  25. 1980Pink LadySeries: Red Buttons, Police Sergeant (1 episode)
  26. 1980PowerSeries: Solly Weiss (2 episodes)
  27. 1979Knots LandingSeries: Al Baker (6 episodes)
  28. 1979C.H.O.M.P.S.Film: Bracken
  29. 1979Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in JulyFilm: Milton (voice)
  30. 1978Movie MovieFilm: Peanuts / Jinks Murphy
  31. 1978The UsersFilm: Warren Ambrose
  32. 1978Vega$Series (1 episode)
  33. 1978Fantasy IslandSeries: Tony Emerson, Cornelius Kelly (1 episode)
  34. 1977TelethonFilm: Marty Rand
  35. 1977Pete's DragonFilm: Hoagy
  36. 1977The Love BoatSeries: Cyrus Foster, Buddy Redmond, Jimmy Morrow (1 episode)
  37. 1977Playboy's Playmate PartyFilm
  38. 1977Viva Knievel!Film: Ben Andrews
  39. 1976Gable and LombardFilm: Ivan Cooper
  40. 1976Flannery and QuiltFilm: Luke Flannery
  41. 1976Louis Armstrong: Chicago StyleFilm
  42. 1975The New Original Wonder WomanFilm: Ashley Norman
  43. 1975Wonder WomanSeries: Ashley Norman (1 episode)
  44. 1974Little House on the PrairieSeries: William 'Willie' O'Hara (1 episode)
  45. 1972The Poseidon AdventureFilm: James Martin
  46. 1971Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?Film: Mickey Isadore
  47. 1970BreakoutFilm: Pipes
  48. 1970George M!Film: Sam Harris
  49. 1969They Shoot Horses, Don't They?Film: Sailor
  50. 1969Love, American StyleSeries: Norman (2 episodes)
  51. 1967The Danny Thomas HourSeries (1 episode)
  52. 1966Murder at N.B.C.Film
  53. 1966StagecoachFilm: Peacock
  54. 1966The Double Life of Henry PhyfeSeries: Henry Wadsworth Phyfe (17 episodes)
  55. 1965The Dean Martin ShowSeries (2 episodes)
  56. 1965HarlowFilm: Arthur Landau
  57. 1965Up from the BeachFilm: PFC Harry Devine
  58. 1964Your Cheatin' HeartFilm: Shorty Younger
  59. 1963The Greatest Show on EarthSeries (1 episode)
  60. 1963A Ticklish AffairFilm: Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley
  61. 1962Gay Purr-eeFilm: Robespierre (voice)
  62. 1962The Eleventh HourSeries (1 episode)
  63. 1962The Longest DayFilm: Pvt. John Steele
  64. 1962Saints and SinnersSeries: Joe Roganyan (1 episode)
  65. 1962Five Weeks in a BalloonFilm: Donald O'Shay
  66. 1962Hatari!Film: Pockets
  67. 1961One, Two, ThreeFilm: MP Sergeant (uncredited)
  68. 1961Frontier CircusSeries (1 episode)
  69. 1961PasswordSeries (1 episode)
  70. 1961Ben CaseySeries (1 episode)
  71. 1959StartimeSeries: Joe Henders (1 episode)
  72. 1959The Big CircusFilm: Randy Sherman
  73. 1959A Marriage of StrangersFilm: Jerry
  74. 1958Imitation GeneralFilm: Cpl. Chan Derby
  75. 1958Hansel and GretelFilm: Hansel
  76. 1957SayonaraFilm: Joe Kelly
  77. 1953The United States Steel HourSeries (1 episode)
  78. 1953General Electric TheaterSeries: Lieutenant George Poole, Tippy-Top (1 episode)
  79. 1952The Red Buttons ShowSeries: Host (1 episode)
  80. 1952The Jackie Gleason ShowSeries (2 episodes)

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.