Buttons' comeback was a triumph, and after his Oscar win he was flooded with Hollywood offers. Director Joshua Logan finally gambled on casting him in a dramatic role in "Sayonara", as an American soldier in post-World War II Japan whose forbidden romance with a Japanese woman leads to tragedy. Once the show ended he had trouble finding work. But along with success came a reputation for being difficult to work with, which in hindsight he attributed to his inexperience in the medium. It won him an Emmy in 1953 and the silly signature song he wrote for it, "Strange Things Are Happening", became a popular catchphrase. "The Red Buttons Show" aired from 1952 to 1955, and made him a household name. After the war Buttons rose to headliner status as a nightclub comic but was still relatively unknown when CBS gave him his own weekly television variety program. He made his big screen debut reprising this role in director George Cukor's 1944 film adaptation. troops in Europe and was cast in Moss Hart's wartime propaganda play "Winged Victory". Soon after arriving on Broadway in "Vickie" (1942) he was drafted into the Army Air Corps, where he entertained U. He honed his comedic skills in Catskills resorts and by 1939 he was the youngest act in the burlesque circuit.
Originally called "Irish" because of his red hair and puckish features ("They call me the only Yiddish leprechaun", he later quipped), he acquired the name Red Buttons while working as a singing bellboy at a Bronx tavern. Born Aaron Chwatt in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants, he got hooked on performing after winning an Amateur Night contest at age 12. Buttons won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for "Sayonara" (1957).
Best known as a feisty stand-up comedian with a rapid-fire delivery, he was also a fine character actor in Hollywood films. His show business career spanned nearly 70 years.
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