Red Buttons
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.
The Poseidon Adventure
(James Martin)
Jackie Gleason: The Great One
(Self)
Pete's Dragon
(Hoagy)
Hatari!
(Pockets)
Harlow
(Arthur Landau)
The Story of Us
(Arnie Jordan)
Gay Purr-ee
(Robespierre (voice))
The Longest Day
(Pvt. John Steele)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
(Sailor)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
(Milton (voice))
Sayonara
(Joe Kelly)
Five Weeks in a Balloon
(Donald O'Shay)
18 Again!
(Charlie)
Stagecoach
(Peacock)
When Time Ran Out...
(Francis Fendly)
Viva Knievel!
(Ben Andrews)
Hansel and Gretel
(Hansel)
Movie Movie
(Peanuts / Jinks Murphy)
Your Cheatin' Heart
(Shorty Younger)
C.H.O.M.P.S.
(Bracken)
The Ambulance
(Elias Zacharai)
A Ticklish Affair
(Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley)
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
(Self)
Goodnight, We Love You
(Himself)
The Big Circus
(Randy Sherman)
Winged Victory
(Whitey / Andrews Sister)
Imitation General
(Cpl. Chan Derby)
The Users
(Warren Ambrose)
Leave 'Em Laughing
(Roland Green)
A Marriage of Strangers
(Jerry)
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
(Mickey Isadore)
Gable and Lombard
(Ivan Cooper)
Off Your Rocker
(Seymour Saltz)
Telethon
(Marty Rand)
Reunion at Fairborough
(Jiggs Quealy)
Night of 100 Stars II
(Self)
Power
(Solly Weiss)
One, Two, Three
(MP Sergeant (uncredited))
Breakout
(Pipes)
Up from the Beach
(PFC Harry Devine)
George Burns Celebrates 80 Years in Show Business
(Self)
Footlight Varieties
(Himself)
It Could Happen to You
(Walter Zakuto)
Joys
(Self)
Side Show
(Harry Hubbell)
George M!
(Sam Harris)
Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style
The Muppets Go Hollywood
(Self)
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
(Self)
Presidio Med
(Chick)
The Jackie Gleason Show
Little House on the Prairie
The Love Boat
(Cyrus Foster)
Early Edition
The Cosby Show
(Jake Bennett)
227
Roseanne
Knots Landing
(Al Baker)
Studio One
(St. Emergency)
General Electric Theater
(Lieutenant George Poole)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self)
Cosby
Password
ER
(Ruby)
The Greatest Show on Earth
Saints and Sinners
(Joe Roganyan)
The Eleventh Hour
Vega$
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Family Law
(Carl Porter)
Philly
The Hollywood Palace
(Self - Comedian)
The United States Steel Hour
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Pink Lady
(Red Buttons)
The Dean Martin Show
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
(Self)
Ben Casey
The Danny Thomas Hour
Frontier Circus
Suspense
The Red Buttons Show
(Host)
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
(Henry Wadsworth Phyfe)
Aloha Paradise
Street Time
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self - Host)
The Oscars
(Self)
Startime
Alice in Wonderland
(The White Rabbit)
The Dream Merchants
(Bruce Benson)
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
(Self)
Pink Lady
(Police Sergeant)
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self - Co-Host)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(Self)
General Electric Theater
(Tippy-Top)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self - Comedian)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self - Singer)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self - Guest)
The Ed Sullivan Show
(Self - Comedian / Singer)
The Hollywood Palace
(Self - Singer / Sketch Actor)
The Love Boat
(Buddy Redmond)
Love, American Style
(Norman)
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
(Self)
What's My Line?
(Self - Mystery Guest)
Great Performances
(Self)
Kraft Music Hall
(Self)
Wonder Woman
(Ashley Norman)
Alice in Wonderland
(White Rabbit)