Red Buttons 1919-2006
Red Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919 in New York City. At sixteen years old, Chwatt got a job as an entertaining bellhop at Ryan's Tavern in City Island, Bronx. The combination of his red hair and the large, shiny buttons on the bellhop uniforms inspired orchestra leader Charles "Dinty" Moore to call him "Red Buttons," the name under which he would later perform.
Buttons won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe award for the same category because of his role in the motion picture "Sayonara" in 1957. He was nominated for Golden Globe Awards in 1965 and 1969 for "Harlow" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" respectively. Buttons received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his television work.
He died on July 13, 2006, after complications stemming from high blood pressure.
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