RED BUTTONS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Red Buttons was born on February 5th, 1919 in New York City, New York with the birth name Aaron Chwatt.  As a child he would sing on street corners and as he turned sixteen he found work up in the Catskills in New York working as part of a comedy act.  This job followed with work in the burlesque circuit as a comic and then he even got a part on Broadway in 1942 in a production called, "Vickie".
 
He joined the US Marine Corps and in 1943 was cast in a service play, "Winged Victory" on Broadway which was made into a film in Hollywood in which he got cast to work on.  After he returned home from Hollywood and ended his military service he went back to working on Broadway as a comic and in big band orchestras.    
 
Throughout his career he became a composer, actor, comedian, author and even a song writer.  In 1952, he began his big success with getting his own television show, "The Red Buttons Show" which aired on CBS.  The show lasted a total of three years and he even won an Emmy for Best Comedian. 

He continued to work on stage and television and three years later got a big break when he was cast in the film, "Sayonara" (1957) for which he earned an Academy ward.  He was then later in his career cast in, "Harlow" (1965)  and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969) for which he was nominated for an Golden Globe Award for both of these films. 
 
Buttons was involved in so many different areas of the entertainment industry.  Some of his other known appearances were on the television series, "The Double Life of Henry Phyfe" (1966) and "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" (1970).  He has also made a number of live appearances in Las Vegas and wrote such popular songs as, "Strange Things Are Happening" and "The Ho-Ho Song" both of which he has performed live too.
 
Along with being a very successful performer, Buttons was also very involved in charity work.  He was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television.  Throughout his lifetime, he married a total of three times.  His first wife was, Roxanne Arlen whom he married in 1947.  They were not together very long before he divorced her and married his second wife, Helayne McNorton in 1949 through 1963.  He had no children with his first two wives, but in 1964 he married his third and final wife, Alicia Prats and they had two children, Adam and Alicia.  In 2001 she passed away. 
 
Five years after losing his wife, Red Buttons passed away on July 13th, 2006 in Century City, California from vascular disease.  

Filmography

1995-2005 ER
2002 Presidio Med
2002 Street Time 
2002 Philly
2001 Odessa or Bust 
2000 Family Law
1999 The Story of Us
1999 Early Edition
1997 Cosby
1994 It Could Happen to You 
1993-1994 Roseanne 
1991 The Cosby Show
1990 The Ambulance
1988 18 Again! 
1987 Knots Landing
1987 227
1985 Alice in Wonderland
1985 Reunion at Fairborough 
1978-1983 Fantasy Island
1978-1983 The Love Boat
1982 Off Your Rocker 
1981 Side Show 
1981 Leave 'em Laughing 
1981 Aloha Paradise
1980 The Dream Merchants 
1980 When Time Ran Out... 
1980 Power
1979 C.H.O.M.P.S
1979 Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July 
1979 Here It Is, Burlesque! 
1978 Vega$
1978 Movie Movie 
1978 The Users 
1977 Telethon 
1977 Pete's Dragon 
1977 Viva Knievel! 
1977 The Sunshine Boys 
1976 Gable and Lombard 
1976 Flannery and Quilt 
1976 Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style 
1975 The New Adventures of Wonder Woman
1975 Little House on the Prairie 
1973 ABC Afterschool Specials
1972 The Poseidon Adventure 
1971 Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
1970 Breakout 
1970 George M! 
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 
1969 Love, American Style 
1966-1969 The Bob Hope Show
1967 The Danny Thomas Hour
1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1966 The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
1966 Stagecoach 
1965 Harlow 
1965 Up from the Beach 
1965 Ben Casey
1964 Your Cheatin' Heart 
1964 The Greatest Show on Earth 
1964 The Eleventh Hour 
1963 The Jimmy Dean Show
1963 A Ticklish Affair 
1962 Gay Purr-ee
1962 The Longest Day
1962 Saints and Sinners
1962 Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962 Hatari! 
1962 Frontier Circus 
1959-1961 G.E. True Theater
1961 One, Two, Three
1960 The United States Steel Hour
1960 Death Valley Days
1959 Startime
1959 The Big Circus
1959 Playhouse 90
1958 Imitation General 
1958 Hansel and Gretel 
1957 Sayonara 
1956 Studio One in Hollywood 
1951 Suspense
1947 13 Rue Madeleine 
1944 Winged Victory