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.
Filmography
all 104
Movies 54
TV Shows 50
self 25
Odessa or Bust (2018)
Goodnight, We Love You (2004)
Presidio Med (2002)
Street Time (2002)
Philly (2001)
Backstory (2000)
Let Me In, I Hear Laughter: A Salute to the Friars Club (1999)
The Story of Us (1999)
Family Law (1999)
JOHN WAYNE - AMERICAN LEGEND (1998)
20th Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
Early Edition (1996)
Cosby (1996)
Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker (1995)
ER (1994)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
The Ambulance (1990)
Roseanne (1988)
Jackie Gleason: The Great One (1988)
18 Again! (1988)
It's Garry Shandling's Show (1986)
Alice in Wonderland (1985)
227 (1985)
Reunion at Fairborough (1985)
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
The Cosby Show (1984)
James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate (1984)
George Burns Celebrates 80 Years in Show Business (1983)
Off Your Rocker (1982)
Side Show (1981)
Leave 'Em Laughing (1981)
Aloha Paradise (1981)
The Dream Merchants (1980)
When Time Ran Out... (1980)
Pink Lady (1980)
Power (1980)
Knots Landing (1979)
C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)
The Muppets Go Hollywood (1979)
Movie Movie (1978)
The Users (1978)
Vega$ (1978)
Telethon (1977)
Pete's Dragon (1977)
The Love Boat (1977)
Viva Knievel! (1977)
Joys (1976)
Gable and Lombard (1976)
Flannery and Quilt (1976)
Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style (1976)
Wonder Woman (1975)
Little House on the Prairie (1974)
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts (1973)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername? (1971)
Great Performances (1971)
George M! (1970)
Breakout (1970)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
Love, American Style (1969)
The Danny Thomas Hour (1967)
The Jackie Gleason Show (1966)
Stagecoach (1966)
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe (1966)
The Dean Martin Show (1965)
Harlow (1965)
Up from the Beach (1965)
Your Cheatin' Heart (1964)
The Hollywood Palace (1964)
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1963)
A Ticklish Affair (1963)
Gay Purr-ee (1962)
The Eleventh Hour (1962)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
The Longest Day (1962)
Saints and Sinners (1962)
Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)
Hatari! (1962)
One, Two, Three (1961)
The Mike Douglas Show (1961)
Frontier Circus (1961)
Ben Casey (1961)
Password (1961)
Startime (1959)
The Big Circus (1959)
A Marriage of Strangers (1959)
The Bell Telephone Hour (1959)
Kraft Music Hall (1958)
Imitation General (1958)
Hansel and Gretel (1958)
Sayonara (1957)
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956)
The United States Steel Hour (1953)
The Oscars (1953)
General Electric Theater (1953)
The Red Buttons Show (1952)
Footlight Varieties (1951)
What's My Line? (1950)
Suspense (1949)
Studio One (1948)
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)
Winged Victory (1944)
Ratings
Gallery
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1919-02-05
Deathday2006-07-13 (87 years old)
Birth PlaceManhattan, United States of America
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsCpl. Red Buttons, Aaron Chwatt
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
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