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Red Buttons dies @ 87....
LOS ANGELES, California (AP)
Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television then went dramatic to win the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 87.
Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s, in which he was forever the guy who "never got a dinner."
His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy.
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Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included "Imitation General," "The Big Circus," "Hatari!" "The Longest Day," "Up From the Beach," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "The Poseidon Adventure," "Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."
A performer since his teens, Buttons was noticed by burlesque-theater owners and he became the youngest comic on the circuit. He had graduated to small roles on Broadway before being drafted in 1943.
Buttons, born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919, on Manhattan's Lower East side of Manhattan, also had roles in such television shows as "227," "ER," "Vega$," "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island."
His best-known television role, however, was probably that of himself -- the jokester who participated in the "Dean Martin Roasts" as the guy who "never got a dinner," and pointed out others in the same predicament.
Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television then went dramatic to win the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 87.
Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s, in which he was forever the guy who "never got a dinner."
His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy.
>
Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included "Imitation General," "The Big Circus," "Hatari!" "The Longest Day," "Up From the Beach," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "The Poseidon Adventure," "Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."
A performer since his teens, Buttons was noticed by burlesque-theater owners and he became the youngest comic on the circuit. He had graduated to small roles on Broadway before being drafted in 1943.
Buttons, born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919, on Manhattan's Lower East side of Manhattan, also had roles in such television shows as "227," "ER," "Vega$," "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island."
His best-known television role, however, was probably that of himself -- the jokester who participated in the "Dean Martin Roasts" as the guy who "never got a dinner," and pointed out others in the same predicament.
Dr. Mordrid