Red Buttons (February 5, 1919 – July 13, 2006) was a staple on TV in the 1960s and 70s, a frequent guest on talkshows because of his ‘hit ‘em over the head’ style of comedy was undeniably funny. He especially shown on the Dean Martin Roasts with his ‘Never Got A Dinner’ routine where the rapid fire comic would reference famous people from the past or from pop culture who, as opposed to the man of the hour, “never got a dinner.”
Buttons was set to appear on Broadway in The Admiral Had a Wife, a farce set in Pearl Harbor that was in rehearsals and due to open on December 8, 1941 but the show was canceled after the Japanese attack. Buttons often joked that the Japanese only attacked Pearl Harbor to keep him off The Great White Way.
Buttons was on stage the night the legendary Burlesque palace Minskey’s was raided. He had roles in 15 major motion pictures, including the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, the war epic The Longest Day, the kiddie comedy Pete's Dragon, and delivered an Academy Award-winning performance in the 1957 Marlon Brando film, Sayonara.
Buttons starred his own TV variety series in 1952, The Red Buttons Show, which ran for three years on CBS. In 1966 Buttons starred in a mid-season television spy spoof called The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, which ran on ABC from January 13 to September 1, 1966.
Buttons appeared many times in Las Vegas including heading at the Sands hotel in the fifties.
In this mashup you’ll see Redd Buttons ‘roasting’ (this is actually the opposite of roasting whatev) Frank Sinatra, Betty White, Muhammad Ali, George Burns, Mr. T, and Dan Haggerty of all people.
Red Buttons "Never got a dinner" compilation:
WIKI: Buttons also made guest appearances on several TV programs including The Eleventh Hour, Little House on the Prairie, It's Garry Shandling's Show, Knots Landing and Roseanne. His last TV role was in ER.
Stuff you might not find at other web sites - Vegas Legends collects obscure stories about the greatest entertainers of all time! With rare performances from the casino showrooms and from the world of Television.
