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Red Buttons
Born · February 5, 1919
Died · July 13, 2006 (87 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, USA
Bio
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.
Goodnight, We Love You
Self
6.5
2004
Presidio Med
Chick · (1 episode)
8.0
2002
Street Time
Sam Kahan · (4 episodes)
2.5
2002
Philly
(1 episode)
6.7
2001
The Story of Us
Arnie Jordan
6.1
1999
Family Law
Carl Porter · (1 episode)
8.2
1999
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Self
7.2
1997
Early Edition
(1 episode)
7.3
1996
Cosby
(1 episode)
5.9
1996
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker
Self
4.0
1995
ER
Ruby · (5 episodes)
7.8
1994
It Could Happen to You
Walter Zakuto
6.7
1994
The Ambulance
Elias Zacharai
5.9
1990
Roseanne
(1 episode)
6.8
1988
Jackie Gleason: The Great One
Self
8.0
1988
18 Again!
Charlie
5.7
1988
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Red Buttons · (1 episode)
7.2
1986
Alice in Wonderland
White Rabbit · (2 episodes)
6.8
1985
227
(1 episode)
6.8
1985
Reunion at Fairborough
Jiggs Quealy
4.8
1985
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
8.0
1985
The Cosby Show
Jake Bennett · (1 episode)
7.0
1984
George Burns Celebrates 80 Years in Show Business
Self
8.0
1983
Off Your Rocker
Seymour Saltz
0.0
1982
Side Show
Harry Hubbell
7.0
1981
Leave 'Em Laughing
Roland Green
8.0
1981
Aloha Paradise
(1 episode)
5.0
1981
The Dream Merchants
Bruce Benson · (3 episodes)
4.5
1980
When Time Ran Out...
Francis Fendly
5.3
1980
Pink Lady
Red Buttons · (1 episode)
5.0
1980
Pink Lady
Police Sergeant · (1 episode)
5.0
1980
Power
Solly Weiss
2.0
1980
Knots Landing
Al Baker · (6 episodes)
6.7
1979
C.H.O.M.P.S.
Bracken
5.0
1979
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Milton (voice)
6.5
1979
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Self
6.3
1979
Movie Movie
Peanuts / Jinks Murphy
5.8
1978
The Users
Warren Ambrose
1.0
1978
Vega$
(1 episode)
7.0
1978
Telethon
Marty Rand
5.0
1977
Pete's Dragon
Hoagy
6.3
1977
The Love Boat
Cyrus Foster · (2 episodes)
6.3
1977
The Love Boat
Buddy Redmond · (1 episode)
6.3
1977
Viva Knievel!
Ben Andrews
3.6
1977
Joys
Self
4.0
1976
Gable and Lombard
Ivan Cooper
5.2
1976
Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style
0.0
1976
Wonder Woman
Ashley Norman · (1 episode)
7.0
1975
Little House on the Prairie
(1 episode)
7.9
1974
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self · (2 episodes)
5.4
1973
The Poseidon Adventure
James Martin
7.1
1972
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
Mickey Isadore
4.6
1971
Great Performances
Self · (1 episode)
5.6
1971
Breakout
Pipes
0.0
1970
George M!
Sam Harris
10.0
1970
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Sailor
7.6
1969
Love, American Style
Norman · (1 episode)
6.0
1969
The Danny Thomas Hour
(1 episode)
5.0
1967
Murder at N.B.C.
0.0
1966
The Jackie Gleason Show
(2 episodes)
8.2
1966
Stagecoach
Peacock
6.1
1966
Best of The Dean Martin Variety Show
(1 episode)
0.0
1966
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
Henry Wadsworth Phyfe · (17 episodes)
5.5
1966
The Dean Martin Show
(2 episodes)
7.3
1965
Harlow
Arthur Landau
5.4
1965
Up from the Beach
PFC Harry Devine
8.0
1965
Your Cheatin' Heart
Shorty Younger
6.3
1964
The Hollywood Palace
Self - Comedian · (1 episode)
4.5
1964
The Hollywood Palace
Self - Singer / Sketch Actor · (1 episode)
4.5
1964
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
(1 episode)
5.7
1963
The Greatest Show on Earth
(1 episode)
5.0
1963
A Ticklish Affair
Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley
5.7
1963
Gay Purr-ee
Robespierre (voice)
6.6
1962
The Eleventh Hour
(1 episode)
6.0
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (6 episodes)
7.5
1962
The Longest Day
Pvt. John Steele
7.6
1962
Saints and Sinners
Joe Roganyan · (1 episode)
6.0
1962
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Donald O'Shay
5.4
1962
Hatari!
Pockets
6.7
1962
One, Two, Three
MP Sergeant (uncredited)
7.5
1961
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Host · (1 episode)
5.4
1961
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host · (2 episodes)
5.4
1961
Frontier Circus
(1 episode)
4.7
1961
Password
(1 episode)
7.4
1961
Ben Casey
(1 episode)
5.6
1961
Startime
(1 episode)
6.0
1959
The Big Circus
Randy Sherman
6.5
1959
A Marriage of Strangers
Jerry
0.0
1959
Kraft Music Hall
Self · (1 episode)
4.7
1958
Imitation General
Cpl. Chan Derby
5.7
1958
Hansel and Gretel
Hansel
0.0
1958
Sayonara
Joe Kelly
6.7
1957
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
1957
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self · (2 episodes)
6.0
1956
The United States Steel Hour
(1 episode)
6.2
1953
The Oscars
Self · (4 episodes)
7.0
1953
General Electric Theater
Lieutenant George Poole · (1 episode)
6.3
1953
General Electric Theater
Tippy-Top · (1 episode)
6.3
1953
The Red Buttons Show
Host · (1 episode)
0.0
1952
Footlight Varieties
Himself
1.0
1951
What's My Line?
Self · (3 episodes)
6.9
1950
Suspense
(1 episode)
4.9
1949
Studio One
St. Emergency · (1 episode)
5.0
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (10 episodes)
6.8
1948
Winged Victory
Whitey / Andrews Sister
5.5
1944