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Quick Facts
- NAME: Red Buttons
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor, Comedian, Television Personality
- BIRTH DATE: February 05, 1919
- DEATH DATE: July 13, 2006
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: Century City, Los Angeles, California
- Originally: Aaron Chwatt
Best Known For
Actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop. He is best known as a comedian but he had a prolific film career as well.
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Play NowRed Buttons. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:46, Jun 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185.
Red Buttons. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 [Accessed 20 Jun 2013].
"Red Buttons." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 20 2013, 07:46 http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185.
"Red Buttons," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 [accessed Jun 20, 2013].
"Red Buttons," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 (accessed Jun 20, 2013).
Red Buttons [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185.
Red Buttons, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 (last visited Jun 20, 2013).
Red Buttons. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185. Accessed Jun 20, 2013.
Synopsis
American actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop early in his career. In addition to his comedy work he had a prolific film career as well with roles in Sayonara with Marlon Brando, When Time Ran Out with Paul Newman and 18 Again!
Contents
with George Burns. Buttons later joined Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast to poke fun at popular personalities.
Early Life
Actor and comedian Aaron Chwatt, better known as Red Buttons, was born on February 5, 1919, in New York City. At the age of 16, he got a job working as a bellhop and a singer at a bar on City Island in New York State. His uniform and his flame-colored hair served as inspiration for his stage name "Red Buttons" -- a name he would use for his entire career.
Early Career
He perfected his craft at nightclubs and the theaters of the Catskills where he worked as a singer and a comedian. He joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the entertainment unit. In 1952, he signed a deal to star in his own television program, "The Red Buttons Show". Audiences responded enthusiastically to the show's comedy sketches and the different characters Buttons played. The show also highlighted Buttons's talents as a songwriter. Two of his most well-known creations are the songs "Strange Things Are Happening" and "Ho-Ho Song". Lasting only three years, the show featured the works of many different comedy writers, such as Neil Simon, who later become famous in their own right.
Death
Buttons died on July 13, 2006 in Los Angeles at the age 87 of vascular disease. A widower, he had been married three times. His first marriage was to Roxanne Arlen in 1947. His union with Helayne McNorton lasted from 1949 to 1963. In 1964 Buttons married Alicia Prats, who died in 2001. They had two children, Amy and Adam.
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