- Buttons, Red
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▪ 2007Aaron ChwattAmerican actor (b. Feb. 5, 1919, New York, N.Y.—d. July 13, 2006, Los Angeles, Calif.), was a sprightly red-haired comedian who performed in burlesque before fronting his own television show (1952–55) and creating a cast of unforgettable characters—notably Rocky, a punch-drunk boxer—but it was for a dramatic role, in the film Sayonara (1957), that he won an Academy Award for best supporting actor. As an 18-year-old singing bellman, he wore a coat studded with 48 brass buttons and earned the nickname that would inspire the one he used as a professional actor. While serving during World War II in the army's entertainment division, Buttons appeared in the film Winged Victory (1944), but he returned to the nightclub circuit after the war. On his television show, Buttons was remembered for his singing of “Hey-hey, ho-ho, strange things are happening,” which became a national catchphrase. In 1966 he starred in a short-lived TV series, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe. Some of Buttons's other film credits included Imitation General (1958), Hatari! (1962), The Longest Day (1962), Stagecoach (1966), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and It Could Happen to You (1994). In later years he was a popular fixture on programs that featured celebrity roasts and appeared on such television shows as Knots Landing (in the role of Al Baker), Roseanne, and E.R.
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Universalium. 2010.
