# Drat. Red Buttons is dead. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374 "2006-07-13T20:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/1 "2006-07-13T20:27:06Z")
And I just recently watched _Sayonara_ for the first time. He was a versatile actor - he could do comedy or drama just as handily. One of the great scene-stealers. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/2 "2006-07-13T20:30:09Z")
Great Og, they’re dropping like flies out there. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/3 "2006-07-13T20:55:09Z")
His real name was Aaron Chwatt ? No wonder he went by Red Buttons. I never knew that. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/4 "2006-07-13T21:05:45Z")
It’d be nice if I’d remember to post a [link](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/13/entertainment/e123313D08.DTL) to an article. He was guest-starring on Roseanne as late as the mid-90s, and was still good. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/5 "2006-07-13T21:52:15Z")
And he never got a dinner! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/6 "2006-07-13T21:53:55Z")
Dead Buttons. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/7 "2006-07-13T23:19:33Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > And he never got a dinner! I loved all those roast monologues when I was a kid, and quite memorable in _Sayonara, The Longest Day_ and _They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?_. RIP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/8 "2006-07-13T23:53:39Z")
Coincidentally, he’s mentioned in the July 13 episode of _Jeopardy!_ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/9 "2006-07-14T01:45:45Z")
What? Whaaat? ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/10 "2006-07-14T03:28:21Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I loved all those roast monologues when I was a kid, and quite memorable in _Sayonara, The Longest Day_ and _They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?_. RIP. ☹ I just saw \*They Shoot Horses \* for the first time last night. Although I generally think that Red Buttons is way too hammy (think _Poseidon Adventure_), I was really impressed by his performance in _They Shoot Horses_. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/11 "2006-07-14T16:41:55Z")
“It’s all dem bells” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/12 "2006-07-14T16:54:25Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I just saw \*They Shoot Horses \* for the first time last night. Although I generally think that Red Buttons is way too hammy (think _Poseidon Adventure_), I was really impressed by his performance in _They Shoot Horses_. Yeah, he could be a bit hammy, which is why his dramatic performance in _Sayonara_ is so incredible. He was restrained and believable and was incidentally a good offset to Marlon Brando’s somewhat annoying portrayal of the officer. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/13 "2006-07-14T18:11:13Z")
Another one of those actors where, upon hearing that they have died, my first thought is “Didn’t he die, like, 20 years ago?” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/14 "2006-07-14T18:30:06Z")
Who will do the figure skating commentary next Olympics? ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/15 "2006-07-14T19:53:51Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I just saw \*They Shoot Horses \* for the first time last night. Although I generally think that Red Buttons is way too hammy (think _Poseidon Adventure_), I was really impressed by his performance in _They Shoot Horses_. How could you tell? **Everybody** in _Poseidon Adventure_ was way too hammy! ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/16 "2006-07-14T20:10:18Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > How could you tell? **Everybody** in _Poseidon Adventure_ was way too hammy! Including the boat! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/17 "2006-07-15T00:37:29Z")
My favorite performance was as the (real life) soldier whose chute catches on a church spire in France during D-Day in _The Longest Day_. (Today the church has a bronze statue of the actual man draped by chute chord from its spire.) The first time I saw that movie and didn’t know if he was going to live or die was great tension- you could easily have done an entire movie just around that guy. Also cool was seeing him on _Roseanne_ with his (on the show) girlfriend Estelle Parsons and her (on the show) mother Shelley Winters. What other show could boast three Oscar winners as supporting characters in an episode? Shalom Aaron. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/18 "2006-07-15T03:18:22Z")
Hammy? Hell, I just watched _Pete’s Dragon_ again with my kids! Now, _that’s_ hammy! Slight hijack- what a stellar cast that movie had- Red Buttons, Mickey Rooney, Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Shelly Winters… Loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thunder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drat-red-buttons-is-dead/364374/19 "2006-07-16T15:11:07Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Who will do the figure skating commentary next Olympics? Bwahahahahahahaha!