Person Details

Birthday: 1919-02-05 20:25:55

Death: 2006-07-13 20:25:55

Aliases: Cpl. Red Buttons , Aaron Chwatt

Gender: Male

Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 29

TV Involvements: 10


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

What's My Line?
Average
7

What's My Line?

(1950) Self - Mystery Guest
ER
Average
8

ER

(1994) Jules 'Ruby' Rubadoux
Wonder Woman
Average
7

Wonder Woman

(1975) Ashley Norman
Kraft Music Hall
Average
3

Kraft Music Hall

(1958) Self
Studio One
Average
5

Studio One

(1948) St. Emergency
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Average
2
The Poseidon Adventure
Average
7

The Poseidon Adventure

(1972) James Martin
The Longest Day
Average
8

The Longest Day

(1962) Pvt. John Steele

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2004 Himself
2002 N/A
N/A
2001 N/A
1999 Arnie Jordan
N/A
1997 Self
1996 N/A
N/A
1995 Self
1994 Ruby
Walter Zakuto
1990 Elias Zacharai
1988 N/A
Self
Charlie
1986 N/A
1985 The White Rabbit
N/A
Jiggs Quealy
Self
1984 N/A
1982 Seymour Saltz
1981 Harry Hubbell
Roland Green
N/A
1980 Bruce Benson
Francis Fendly
Police Sergeant
Red Buttons
Solly Weiss
1979 N/A
Bracken
Milton (voice)
Self
1978 Peanuts / Jinks Murphy
Warren Ambrose
N/A
1977 Marty Rand
Hoagy
Buddy Redmond
Cyrus Foster
Ben Andrews
1976 Self
Ivan Cooper
N/A
1975 Ashley Norman
1974 N/A
1973 Self
1972 James Martin
1971 Mickey Isadore
Self
1970 Sam H. Harris
Pipes
1969 Sailor
N/A
1967 N/A
1966 N/A
Peacock
Henry Wadsworth Phyfe
1965 N/A
Arthur Landau
PFC Harry Devine
1964 Shorty Younger
Self - Singer / Sketch Actor
Self - Comedian
1963 N/A
N/A
Flight Officer Simon 'Uncle Cy' Shelley
1962 Robespierre (voice)
N/A
Self
Pvt. John Steele
Joe Roganyan
Donald O'Shay
Pockets
1961 MP Sergeant (uncredited)
Self - Co-Host
Self - Host
N/A
N/A
N/A
1959 N/A
Randy Sherman
Jerry
N/A
1958 Self
Cpl. Chan Derby
Hansel
1957 Joe Kelly
1956 Self
1953 N/A
Self
Lieutenant George Poole
Tippy-Top
1952 Host
1951 Himself
1950 Self - Mystery Guest
1949 N/A
1948 St. Emergency
Self
Self - Comedian
Self - Singer
Self - Guest
Self - Comedian / Singer
1944 Whitey / Andrews Sister
Year Character Movie/Tv

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