Red Buttons

Not to be confused with red button, a term with various uses.

Red Buttons
Buttons in 1959
Born	Aaron Chwatt (1919-02-05)February 5, 1919 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 13, 2006(2006-07-13) (aged 87) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	1935–2006
Spouses	Roxanne Arlen ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1949)​ Helayne McNorton ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1963)​ Alicia Prats ​ ​ (m. 1964; died 2001)​
Children	2

Red Buttons (born Aaron Chwatt; February 5, 1919 – July 13, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the 1957 film Sayonara. He was nominated for awards for his acting work in films such as Harlow (1965), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), and Pete's Dragon (1977).

From the 1970s he was a familiar face on TV, with his "Never Got a Dinner" comedy monologues.

Early life

Red Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919, in Manhattan, New York, to Russo-Polish Jewish immigrants Sophie (née Baker) and Michael Chwatt. At 16 years old, Chwatt got a job as an entertaining bellhop at Ryan's Tavern in City Island, the Bronx, New York. The combination of his red hair and the large, shiny buttons on the bellhop uniforms inspired orchestra leader Charles "Dinty" Moore to call him "Red Buttons", the name under which he would later perform.

Later that same summer, Buttons worked on the Borscht Belt; his straight man was Robert Alda. Buttons was working at the Irvington Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York, when the master of ceremonies became incapacitated, and Buttons asked for the chance to replace him. In 1939, Buttons started working for Minsky's Burlesque; in 1941, José Ferrer chose Buttons to appear in a Broadway show The Admiral Had a Wife, a farce, set in Pearl Harbor at Oahu, Hawaii. It was due to open on December 8, 1941, but never did. It was deemed inappropriate after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In later years, Buttons would joke that the Japanese only attacked Pearl Harbor to keep him off Broadway.

Career

In September 1942, Buttons made his Broadway debut in Vickie with Ferrer and Uta Hagen. Later that year, he appeared in the Minsky's show Wine, Women and Song. This was the last classic burlesque show in New York City history; the Mayor La Guardia administration closed it down. Buttons was on stage when the show was raided.

Drafted into the United States Army Air Forces, Buttons in 1943 appeared in the Army Air Forces' Broadway show Winged Victory, along with several future stars, including Mario Lanza, John Forsythe, Karl Malden, and Lee J. Cobb. A year later, he appeared in Darryl F. Zanuck's movie version of the play, directed by George Cukor. Buttons also entertained troops in the European Theater in the same Jeep Show unit as Mickey Rooney.

After the war, Buttons continued to perform in Broadway shows. He also performed at Broadway movie houses with big bands. He appeared as himself, delivering a comic monologue, in the RKO Radio Pictures movie revue Footlight Varieties (1951).

The Red Buttons Show

In 1952, Buttons received his own television series, The Red Buttons Show, first seen on CBS and later on NBC. It was the number-11 show in prime time in 1952, and the comedian was extremely insistent on using fresh material. During the show's three-year-run, Buttons was notorious for his treatment of the writing staff, and comedy writers came and went regularly. As columnist Dorothy Kilgallen reported, "Three of Red Buttons' writers are ready to pack up and head for the booby hatch. The funnyman's temperament is just too exhausting to take. The trio of script writers have already announced they will not be part of the comedian's pending Hollywood movie assignment." TV Guide, noting the format changes of the show from variety to situation comedy, said his "status as a TV comedian has been going up-and-down like a yo-yo for the past two years... He reacted to the heady wine of success like a small boy locked inside a candy store. He went out and bought a powder-blue Cadillac. He picked up a mink coat for his wife. He moved his family into a terraced apartment on Manhattan's swank Sutton Place. Then he began to fool around with his scripts. 'That,' he says now in what may go down as one of the most remarkable understatements of our time, 'may well have been a mistake.' As a result of these misadventures, Buttons' sponsor General Foods disowned him at the end of his run and CBS let it be known that Red was welcome to look for work someplace else." The magazine article carried a melancholy postscript: "P. S. It was in Hollywood that Red found the writers he got along with so well. They were Harry Clork, Larry Markes, Sumner Long, and Lester Lee. We regret having to use the past tense, but it seems that between the time the foregoing story was written a few weeks ago and the time we went to press, all but Lester Lee went thataway." Buttons admitted to the revolving door of writers: "The critics have kidded a lot about all the writers I've had, and I have had quite a few. I quit counting at 87. Most of them were good writers but they just weren't right for me." TV Guide critic Dan Jenkins offered a jaundiced opinion about the comedian's variable TV fortunes: "Buttons has no comic traits of his own. He is not funny per se. A Jack Benny can be hilarious just standing with his arms folded, staring at an old lady in the front row, Buttons can't. He needs material. Buttons, to this reviewer, has always been a club-date man. He was fleetingly sensational when he first appeared on television, but of all the media, TV is the one that most demands staying power -- a basic talent which can rise above material and carry its own weight on off-weeks. Buttons, thus far this season, has displayed very little of it."

In 1953, during his TV popularity, he recorded and had a two-sided hit with "Strange Things Are Happening"/"The Ho Ho Song", with both sides/songs essentially being the same.

New departure

His role in the film Sayonara (1957) was a dramatic departure from his previous work. In this film, co-starring with Marlon Brando, he played Joe Kelly, an American airman stationed in Kobe, Japan, during the Korean War, who marries Katsumi, a Japanese woman (played by Miyoshi Umeki), but he is barred from taking her back to the US. His moving portrayal of Kelly's calm resolve not to abandon the relationship, and the touching reassurance of Katsumi, impressed audiences and critics alike. Buttons won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Umeki won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film.

After his Oscar-winning role, Buttons performed in numerous feature films, including the African adventure Hatari! with John Wayne and the adventure Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962) (where he received top billing). Buttons played the lead role of Private John Steele, the paratrooper hung up on the town steeple clock, in the 1962 international ensemble cast film The Longest Day. He was also prominent in the biopic Harlow, the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, the dance-marathon drama They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, the family comedy Pete's Dragon, the disaster film When Time Ran Out with Paul Newman, and the age-reversal comedy 18 Again! with George Burns.

Buttons as Henry Phyfe

In 1966, Buttons again starred in his own TV series, a spy spoof called The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, which ran for one season. Buttons also made guest appearances on several TV programs, including The Eleventh Hour, Little House on the Prairie, It's Garry Shandling's Show, Knots Landing, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne. His last TV role was in ER.

Buttons in 1978

"Never Got a Dinner"

Beginning in the 1970s Red Buttons enjoyed a new popularity with his "Never Got a Dinner" routine, a standard of the Friars Club and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast for many years. "Never got a dinner!" became a catchphrase, and formed the basis for elaborately eccentric lists of famous people (and their wives and mothers) who had not been honored with celebrity dinner roasts: "Why are we here honoring this man? Why is he getting a dinner? I can think of many famous people who never got a dinner. Mrs. Ponce De Leon, who said to her husband Ponce, 'You're going to Miami without me again this year?'... never got a dinner!"

Another of his catchphrases was "I did not come here to be made sport of," which was later taken up by radio talk-show host Howie Carr.

He made numerous appearances at Chabad telethons, where he was often brought on and off stage to the tune of "Hava Nagila". (He once told an interviewer, "I'm a Jew who is doing comedy, not a 'Jewish comic'.")Buttons received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television, located at 1651 Vine Street. He was number 71 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.

Personal life

Buttons married actress Roxanne Arlen in 1947, but the marriage soon ended in divorce. He married Helayne McNorton on December 8, 1949. They divorced in 1963. His last marriage was to Alicia Prats, which lasted from January 27, 1964, until her death in March 2001. With Prats he had two children. He was the advertising spokesman for Century Village, Florida, a retirement community.

Buttons was an early member of the Synagogue for the Performing Arts, and at the time Rabbi Jerome Cutler was the rabbi.

Death

Buttons died of complications from cardiovascular disease on July 13, 2006, at age 87 at his home in Century City, Los Angeles. He had been ill for a while and was with family members when he died. His ashes were given to his family after cremation.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1944	Winged Victory	Whitey/Andrews Sister	credited as Cpl. Red Buttons
1946	13 Rue Madeleine	Second Jump Master	uncredited
1951	Footlight Varieties	Red Buttons
1957	Sayonara	Joe Kelly
1958	Imitation General	Corporal Chan Derby
1959	The Big Circus	Randy Sherman
1961	One, Two, Three	Military Police Sergeant	uncredited
1962	Hatari!	Pockets
1962	Five Weeks in a Balloon	Donald O'Shay
1962	The Longest Day	Private John Steele
1962	Gay Purr-ee	Robespieree	Voice Role
1963	A Ticklish Affair	Flight Officer Simon "Uncle Cy" Shelley
1964	Your Cheatin' Heart	Shorty Younger
1965	Up from the Beach	Private first class Harry Devine
1965	Harlow	Arthur Landau
1966	Stagecoach	Peacock
1969	They Shoot Horses, Don't They?	Sailor
1971	Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?	Mickey Isador
1972	The Poseidon Adventure	James Martin
1976	Gable and Lombard	Ivan Cooper
1977	Viva Knievel!	Ben Andrews
1977	Pete's Dragon	Hoagy
1978	Movie Movie	Peanuts/Jinks Murphy	Both segments of film
1979	C.H.O.M.P.S.	Bracken
1980	When Time Ran Out...	Francis Fendly
1988	18 Again!	Charlie
1990	The Ambulance	Elias Zacharai
1994	It Could Happen to You	Walter Zakuto
1999	The Story of Us	Arnie Jordan
2001	Odessa or Bust	The Old Man	Short Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	The Milton Berle Show	Himself – Comedian	"Red Buttons/Judy Canova/The Crackerjacks/Ella Logan/Russell Swan"
1951	Suspense	unknown role	"Merryman's Murder"
1952–55	The Red Buttons Show	Himself (Host)	4 episodes
1952–66	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself (Comedian/Singer)	recurring role (10 episodes)
1956	Studio One	St. Emergency	"The Tale of St. Emergency"
1958	Hansel and Gretel	Hansel	TV movie
1958	The Eddie Fisher Show	Himself	2 episodes
1959	Playhouse 90	Jerry	"A Marriage of Strangers"
1959	Startime	Joe Henders	"Something Special"
1959–61	General Electric Theater	Tippy-Top/Lieutenant George Poole	2 episodes
1960	Death Valley Days	Levi Strauss	"The Million Dollar Pants"
1960	The United States Steel Hour	Inspector Plover	"The Case of the Missing Wife"
1962	Frontier Circus	Earl Youngblood	"Never Won Fair Lady"
1962	Saints and Sinners	Joe Roganyan	"All the Hard Young Men"
1962	Password	Himself (Celebrity Contestant)	"Jane Powell vs. Red Buttons"
1982–85	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Himself	recurring role (17 episodes)
1963	20th Annual Golden Globes	Himself (Host)	TV special
1964	The Eleventh Hour	Cody Evans	"Sunday Father"
1964	The Greatest Show on Earth	Walter Wallace	"The Last of the Strongmen"
1965	Ben Casey	Bill Jacoby	"Journeys End in Lovers Meeting"
1965–66	The Andy Williams Show	Himself	2 episodes
1966	The Double Life of Henry Phyfe	Henry Wadsworth Phyfe	series regular (17 episodes)
1966–73	The Bob Hope Show	Himself	3 episodes
1967	The Danny Thomas Hour	Al Risko	"The Zero Man"
1967–68	The Dean Martin Show	Himself	2 episodes
1967–74	The Merv Griffin Show	Himself	recurring role (16 episodes)
1968–69	The Jackie Gleason Show	Himself	2 episodes
1969–70	Love, American Style	Norman (segment "Love and the Geisha")	2 episodes
1970	George M!	Sam H. Harris	TV movie
1970–73	The Hollywood Squares	Himself (Panelist)	3 episodes
1970	Breakout	Pipes	TV movie
1973	ABC Afterschool Special	Alexander	"Alexander"
1975	Little House on the Prairie	William "Willie" O'Hara	"Circus Man"
1975	Wonder Woman	Ashley Norman	"The New Original Wonder Woman"
1975	Let's Make a Deal	Himself (Special Guest)	"#5.1"
1975–84	Dean Martin Celebrity Roast	Himself	14 episodes — "Valerie Harper" (1975) — "Muhammad Ali" (1976) — "Dennis Weaver" (1976) — "Joe Gargaiola" (1976) — "Danny Thomas" (1976) — "Angie Dickinson" (1977) — "Gabe Kaplan" (1977) — "Ted Knight" (1977) — "Peter Marshall" (1977) — "Dan Haggerty" (1977) — "Frank Sinatra" (1978) — "Jack Klugman" (1978) — "Jimmy Stewart" (1978) — "George Burns" (1978) — "Betty White" (1978) — "Suzanne Somers" (1978) — "Joe Namath" (1979) — Joan Collins" (1984) — "Mr. T." (1984)
1976	Louis Armstrong — Chicago Style	Red Cleveland	TV movie
1976	Flannery and Quilt	Luke Flannery	TV movie
1977	The Sunshine Boys	Willie Clark	TV movie
1977	Telethon	Marty Rand	TV movie
1978	The Users	Warren Ambrose	TV movie
1978	Vega$	Tommy Cirko	2 episodes
1979	Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July	Milton (Voice Role)	TV movie
1980	Power	Solly Weiss	TV movie
1980	Pink Lady	Police Sergeant / Himself	2 episodes
1980	The Dream Merchant	Bruce Benson	Miniseries (2 episodes)
1981	Aloha Paradise	Nick	"Letter from Broadway/Letter from Cyrano/Letter from a Secret Admirer"
1981	Leave 'em Laughing	Roland	TV movie
1981	Side Show	Harry	TV movie
1982	Off Your Rocker	Seymour Slatz	TV movie
1978–83	The Love Boat	Jimmy Morrow/Buddy Redmond/Uncle Cyrus Foster	3 episodes
1978–83	Fantasy Island	Marty Howard/Cornelius Kelly/Tony Emerson	3 episodes
1985	Reunion at Fairborough	Jiggs Quealy	TV movie
1985	Alice in Wonderland	The White Rabbit	Miniseries
1987	227	Toots	"The Audit"
1987	Knots Landing	Al Baker	recurring role (6 episodes)
1987–89	It's Garry Shandling's Show.	Himself	2 episodes
1991	The Cosby Show	Jake Bennett	"Cliff and Jake"
1993–94	Roseanne	Jake	2 episodes
1997	Cosby	Mr. Tibbles	"My Dinner with Methuseleh"
1988	Ghosts of Fear Street	Grandpa	TV movie
1995–98	Biography	Himself (Interviewee)	5 episodes — "Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker" (1995) — "Gypsy Rose Lee: Naked Ambition" (1996) — "Alan Alda: More That Mr. Nice Guy" (1997) — "Phil Silvers: Top Banana" (1997) — "John Wayne: American Legend" (1998)
1995–2005	ER	Jules "Ruby" Rubadoux	recurring role (5 episodes)
1999	Early Edition	Walter Stites	"Pinch Hitters"
2000	Family Law	Carl Porter	"Second Chance"
2002	Philly	Murray Klopman	"The Curse of the Klopman Diamonds"
2002	Street Time	Sam Kahan	recurring role (4 episodes)
2002	Presidio Med	Chick	"Milagros"

Accolades and honors

Throughout his career, Buttons received several awards and nominations for his work in both film and television.

Accolade	Year	Category	Nominated Work	Result	Ref
Academy Awards	1958	Best Supporting Actor	Sayonara	Won
BAFTA Awards	1959	Most Promising Newcomer to Film		Nominated
Golden Boot Awards	1984	Honoree	—	Won
Golden Globes	1958	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Sayonara	Won
	1966		Harlow	Nominated
	1970		They Shoot Horses, Don't They?	Nominated
Laurel Awards	1958	Top New Male Personality	—	Nominated
	1958	Top Male Supporting Performance	Sayonara	Won
	1959		Imitation General	Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards	2005	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (for playing "Mr. Rubadoux. for episode "Ruby Redux")	ER	Nominated
Saturn Awards	1977	Best Supporting Actor	Pete's Dragon	Nominated
Walk of Fame	1960	Star on the Walk of Fame — Television (February 8, 1960. At 1651 Vine Street.)	—	Won

External links

• Interview with Red Buttons' Television Writer, August 2012
• Red Buttons at IMDb
• Red Buttons at the Internet Broadway Database
• Red Buttons at AllMovie
• "Red Buttons on Dean Martin Roast" on YouTube, video, 4 minutes