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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.
Red Buttons. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 07:42, May 27, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185
Red Buttons [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185, May 27
" Red Buttons." 2012. Biography.com 27 May 2012, 07:42 http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185
' Red Buttons', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 [accessed May 27, 2012]
" Red Buttons," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 (accessed May 27, 2012).
Red Buttons [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 27]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185.
Red Buttons, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 (last visited May 27, 2012).
Red Buttons, http://www.biography.com/people/red-buttons-179185 (last visited May 27, 2012).
Synopsis
Profile
American actor, comedian. Born Aaron Chwatt 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.
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.
While possibly best known as a comedian, Buttons displayed his dramatic talents in the 1957 film Sayonara. Costarring with Marlon Brando, Buttons played an American soldier in love with a Japanese woman while stationed in Japan, grappling with issues of cultural and racial prejudice and discrimination. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work that same year. He went to perform in more than 25 films, including Hatari (1961) with John Wayne, The Longest Day (1962) with Eddie Albert, The Poseidon Adventure (1972) with Gene Hackman, They Shoot Horses, (1969) with Jane Fonda, and It Could Happen to You (1994) with Nicholas Cage.
Buttons was back on television as part of Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast, using his comedic skills to poke at popular personalities. In his later career, he also made numerous guest appearances on such shows as The Cosby Show, Knots Landing, The Love Boat, Rosanne, and many others. Most recently, he earned an Emmy nomination in 2005 for his recurring guest role on ER.
Besides his television and film work, Buttons returned to his theatrical roots at the age of 76 with his one-man show, Buttons on Broadway, in 1995. The show celebrated his 60 years in show business with songs, jokes, and impersonations.
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