Comedian Red Buttons dead at 87
Won Oscar for 'Sayonara,' known for participation in roasts
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque
comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic
role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday. He
was 87.
Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los
Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was
with family members when he died, Cowan said.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of
show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the
1990s. He was well known at the latter for his "never got a dinner" routine.
His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly,
the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose
romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award)
ends in tragedy.
Josh Logan, who directed the James Michener story that starred Marlon
Brando, was at first hesitant to cast a well-known comedian in such a somber
role.
"The tests were so extensive that they could just put scenery around them
and release the footage as a feature film," Buttons remarked.
Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They
included "Imitation General," "The Big Circus," "Hatari!" "The Longest Day,"
"Up From the Beach," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "The Poseidon
Adventure," "Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."
A performer since his teens, Buttons was noticed by burlesque theater owners
and he became the youngest comic on the circuit. He had graduated to small
roles on Broadway before being drafted in 1943.
Along with dozens of other future stars, including Mario Lanza, John
Forsythe, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb, Buttons was enlisted for "Winged
Victory," the play that famed director-playwright Moss Hart created for the
Air Force. Buttons also appeared in the 1944 film version, directed by
George Cukor.
Discharged in 1946, Buttons returned to nightclub and theater work. In 1952,
CBS signed him for a weekly show as the network's answer to NBC's Milton
Berle.
"The Red Buttons Show" was first broadcast on CBS October 14, 1952, without
a sponsor since the star was virtually unknown. Within a month, the show
became a solid hit and advertisers were clamoring.
Buttons drew on all his past experience for monologues, songs, dances and
sketches featuring such characters as a punch-drunk fighter, a scrappy
street kid, a Sad Sack GI and a blundering German. The hit of the show was a
silly song in which he pranced about the stage singing, "Ho! Ho! ... He! He!
... Ha! Ha! ... Strange things are happening!" It became a national craze.
After a sensational first season, "The Red Buttons Show" began to slide.
Reports circulated that the star had fits of temper and frequently fired
writers, and the show ended after three seasons.
"Certainly I made mistakes, and mistakes were made for me," he said in 1960.
"When you go into TV cold, as I did, it's murder."
'The only Yiddish leprechaun'
While the failure was a severe blow to the normally optimistic comedian, he
soon recovered and resumed his career as a guest star on TV shows. A
straight role on "Suspense" brought him to the attention of Logan, who cast
him for the career-making "Sayonara."
In 1966, Buttons starred in another series, "The Double Life of Henry
Phyfe," as a humble accountant enlisted as a government spy. The show lasted
only six months.
Over the years Buttons remained a steady performer on television, appearing
on such series as "Knots Landing," "Roseanne" and "ER." He also took his act
on the road, appearing at Las Vegas, Atlantic City, conventions, and
returning to his beginnings in the Catskills.
Still in good health at 76 ("They call me the only Yiddish leprechaun"), he
appeared in New York in 1995 with an autobiographical one-man show, "Buttons
on Broadway."
It was his first Broadway show since 1948, when he appeared in a play with
the unfortunate title of "Hold It." One critic, Buttons recalled, began his
review: " 'Hold It?' Fold it."
Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on February 15, 1919, son of an immigrant
milliner, in a tough Manhattan neighborhood where, he once said, "you either
grew up to be a judge or you went to the electric chair."
He struggled through schools in Manhattan and the Bronx -- "Mom and Pop went
to school as often as I did; they should have graduated with me." He started
performing at the age of 12, winning an amateur contest singing "Sweet Jenny
Brown" in a sailor's suit.
At 16 he was working as a singer and bellhop in a gin mill on New York's
City Island. Since all bellhops were called Buttons and Chwatt had red hair,
he got his new name.
During his summer vacation, he worked as a singer on the Borscht Circuit --
the string of Catskills resorts catering to a largely Jewish clientele where
Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Hart and others trained for stardom.
In later years, Buttons became a favorite at testimonial/roast dinners with
his roaringly funny "Never got a dinner" routine. He cited famous figures
who had never been so honored.
Examples: "Abe Lincoln, who said 'A house divided is a condominium,' never
got a dinner"; "(Perennial presidential candidate) Jerry Brown, whose theme
song is `California, Here I Go,' never got a dinner." (When he did "Buttons
on Broadway," he altered the routine and named people who never did one-man
shows.)
In 1982, Red Buttons finally got a dinner. The Friars Club honored him with
a star-filled roast and a life-achievement award.
"When I was a kid in the Bronx and watching and dreaming from the second
balcony," the guest of honor said, "in my wildest imagination I couldn't
have written this scenario tonight."
Buttons was married and divorced twice in his early career. He is survived
by his third wife, Alicia, their children, Amy and Adam, and a sister.
Gregory S. Williams
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