Red Buttons
Acting
Born: February 5, 1919 · New York City, New York, USA
Died: July 13, 2006 (aged 87)
Highest Rated
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). 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
The Longest Day
1962
The Poseidon Adventure
1972
Little House on the Prairie
1974
It Could Happen to You
1994
ER
1994
Pete's Dragon
1977
The Cosby Show
1984
Wonder Woman
1975
One, Two, Three
1961
Roseanne
1988
The Story of Us
1999
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1969
Photos (2)
Movies (41)
The Longest Day
Pvt. John Steele
It Could Happen to You
Walter Zakuto
The Poseidon Adventure
James Martin
Pete's Dragon
Hoagy
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Sailor
18 Again!
Charlie
The Story of Us
Arnie Jordan
Hatari!
Pockets
One, Two, Three
MP Sergeant (uncredited)
The Ambulance
Elias Zacharai
Sayonara
Joe Kelly
Stagecoach
Peacock
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Milton (voice)
Movie Movie
Peanuts / Jinks Murphy
Winged Victory
Whitey / Andrews Sister
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Donald O'Shay
When Time Ran Out...
Francis Fendly
The Big Circus
Randy Sherman
Gay Purr-ee
Robespierre (voice)
Playboy's Playmate Party
1977
A Ticklish Affair
Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley
Harlow
Arthur Landau
C.H.O.M.P.S.
Bracken
Viva Knievel!
Ben Andrews
Gable and Lombard
Ivan Cooper
Up from the Beach
PFC Harry Devine
Your Cheatin' Heart
Shorty Younger
Telethon
Marty Rand
Leave 'Em Laughing
Roland Green
Reunion at Fairborough
Jiggs Quealy
Imitation General
Cpl. Chan Derby
A Marriage of Strangers
Jerry
George M!
Sam Harris
The New Original Wonder Woman
Ashley Norman
The Users
Warren Ambrose
Side Show
Harry Hubbell
Off Your Rocker
Seymour Saltz
Breakout
Pipes
Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style
1976
Flannery and Quilt
Luke Flannery
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
Mickey Isadore
TV Shows (41)
The Love Boat
Cyrus Foster · 2 eps
The Love Boat
Buddy Redmond · 1 eps
ER
Ruby · 5 eps
Little House on the Prairie
William 'Willie' O'Hara · 1 eps
Knots Landing
Al Baker · 6 eps
Fantasy Island
Tony Emerson · 1 eps
Fantasy Island
Cornelius Kelly · 1 eps
Love, American Style
Norman · 2 eps
The Cosby Show
Jake Bennett · 1 eps
Studio One
St. Emergency · 1 eps
Early Edition
Walter Stites · 1 eps
Ben Casey
1 eps
Family Law
Carl Porter · 1 eps
Suspense
1 eps
The Dean Martin Show
2 eps
Vega$
1 eps
227
1 eps
Wonder Woman
Ashley Norman · 1 eps
The United States Steel Hour
1 eps
Startime
Joe Henders · 1 eps
Street Time
Sam Kahan · 4 eps
Cosby
1 eps
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Red Buttons · 1 eps
Password
1 eps
Roseanne
1 eps
The Jackie Gleason Show
2 eps
The Eleventh Hour
1 eps
Alice in Wonderland
White Rabbit · 2 eps
Presidio Med
Chick · 1 eps
Philly
1 eps
The Danny Thomas Hour
1 eps
Saints and Sinners
Joe Roganyan · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Lieutenant George Poole · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Tippy-Top · 1 eps
Aloha Paradise
Nick · 1 eps
Frontier Circus
1 eps
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
Henry Wadsworth Phyfe · 17 eps
The Dream Merchants
Bruce Benson · 3 eps
Power
Solly Weiss · 2 eps
Pink Lady
Red Buttons · 1 eps
Pink Lady
Police Sergeant · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (22)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 6 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Host · 1 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host · 2 eps
Great Performances
Self · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 4 eps
What's My Line?
Self · 3 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · 10 eps
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self · 2 eps
Kraft Music Hall
Self · 1 eps
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self · 2 eps
The Hollywood Palace
Self · 2 eps
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Self (uncredited)
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Self
Joys
Self
Goodnight, We Love You
Self
The All-Star Christmas Show
Self
George Burns Celebrates 80 Years in Show Business
Self
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
Self
George Burns: His Wit and Wisdom
Self - Burns Card Play Partner (uncredited)
Footlight Varieties
Himself