Red Buttons
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Feb 5, 1919
- Died
- Jul 13, 2006 (aged 87)
- Place of birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Credits
- 107
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.
Known for
The Poseidon Adventure
1972Movie
James Martin
The Longest Day
1962Movie
Pvt. John Steele
Little House on the Prairie
1974TV
William 'Willie' O'Hara
It Could Happen to You
1994Movie
Walter Zakuto
ER
1994TV
Ruby
Pete's Dragon
1977Movie
Hoagy
Filmography
Goodnight, We Love You
2004Movie
Self
Presidio Med
2002TV
Chick
Street Time
2002TV
Sam Kahan
Philly
2001TV
The Story of Us
1999Movie
Arnie Jordan
Family Law
1999TV
Carl Porter
Ghosts of Fear Street
1998Movie
Grandpa
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
1997Movie
Self
Early Edition
1996TV
Walter Stites
Cosby
1996TV
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
1995Movie
Self
ER
1994TV
Ruby
It Could Happen to You
1994Movie
Walter Zakuto
The Ambulance
1990Movie
Elias Zacharai
George Burns: His Wit and Wisdom
1989Movie
Self - Burns Card Play Partner (uncredited)
Roseanne
1988TV
Jackie Gleason: The Great One
1988Movie
Self
18 Again!
1988Movie
Charlie
It's Garry Shandling's Show
1986TV
Red Buttons
Alice in Wonderland
1985TV
White Rabbit
227
1985TV
Reunion at Fairborough
1985Movie
Jiggs Quealy
Night of 100 Stars II
1985Movie
Self
The Cosby Show
1984TV
Jake Bennett
George Burns Celebrates 80 Years in Show Business
1983Movie
Self
Off Your Rocker
1982Movie
Seymour Saltz
Side Show
1981Movie
Harry Hubbell
Leave 'Em Laughing
1981Movie
Roland Green
Aloha Paradise
1981TV
Nick
The Dream Merchants
1980TV
Bruce Benson
When Time Ran Out...
1980Movie
Francis Fendly
Pink Lady
1980TV
Red Buttons, Police Sergeant
Power
1980TV
Solly Weiss
Knots Landing
1979TV
Al Baker
C.H.O.M.P.S.
1979Movie
Bracken
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
1979Movie
Milton (voice)
The Muppets Go Hollywood
1979Movie
Self (uncredited)
Movie Movie
1978Movie
Peanuts / Jinks Murphy
The Users
1978Movie
Warren Ambrose
Vega$
1978TV
Fantasy Island
1978TV
Tony Emerson, Cornelius Kelly
Telethon
1977Movie
Marty Rand
Pete's Dragon
1977Movie
Hoagy
The Love Boat
1977TV
Cyrus Foster, Buddy Redmond, Jimmy Morrow
Playboy's Playmate Party
1977Movie
Viva Knievel!
1977Movie
Ben Andrews
Joys
1976Movie
Self
Gable and Lombard
1976Movie
Ivan Cooper
Flannery and Quilt
1976Movie
Luke Flannery
Louis Armstrong: Chicago Style
1976Movie
The New Original Wonder Woman
1975Movie
Ashley Norman
Wonder Woman
1975TV
Ashley Norman
Little House on the Prairie
1974TV
William 'Willie' O'Hara
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973TV
Self
The Poseidon Adventure
1972Movie
James Martin
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
1971Movie
Mickey Isadore
Great Performances
1971TV
Self
Breakout
1970Movie
Pipes
George M!
1970Movie
Sam Harris
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1969Movie
Sailor
Love, American Style
1969TV
Norman
The Danny Thomas Hour
1967TV
Murder at N.B.C.
1966Movie
Stagecoach
1966Movie
Peacock
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
1966TV
Henry Wadsworth Phyfe
The Dean Martin Show
1965TV
Harlow
1965Movie
Arthur Landau
Up from the Beach
1965Movie
PFC Harry Devine
Your Cheatin' Heart
1964Movie
Shorty Younger
The Hollywood Palace
1964TV
Self
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963TV
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963TV
A Ticklish Affair
1963Movie
Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley
Gay Purr-ee
1962Movie
Robespierre (voice)
The Eleventh Hour
1962TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962TV
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
1962TV
Self
The Longest Day
1962Movie
Pvt. John Steele
Saints and Sinners
1962TV
Joe Roganyan
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962Movie
Donald O'Shay
Hatari!
1962Movie
Pockets
One, Two, Three
1961Movie
MP Sergeant (uncredited)
The Mike Douglas Show
1961TV
Self - Host, Self - Co-Host
Frontier Circus
1961TV
Password
1961TV
Ben Casey
1961TV
Startime
1959TV
Joe Henders
The Big Circus
1959Movie
Randy Sherman
A Marriage of Strangers
1959Movie
Jerry
The All-Star Christmas Show
1958Movie
Self
Kraft Music Hall
1958TV
Self
Imitation General
1958Movie
Cpl. Chan Derby
Hansel and Gretel
1958Movie
Hansel
Sayonara
1957Movie
Joe Kelly
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957TV
Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956TV
Self
The United States Steel Hour
1953TV
The Oscars
1953TV
Self
General Electric Theater
1953TV
Lieutenant George Poole, Tippy-Top
The Red Buttons Show
1952TV
Host
The Jackie Gleason Show
1952TV
Footlight Varieties
1951Movie
Himself
What's My Line?
1950TV
Self
Suspense
1949TV
Studio One
1948TV
St. Emergency
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948TV
Self
Winged Victory
1944Movie
Whitey / Andrews Sister