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Red Buttons: Oscar
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Red Buttons, who died today at 87, was a serious comedian. Serious in that he was one of the first funnymen to show that comics could be Oscar-winning thespians as well, thanks to his Supporting Actor trophy for 1957's Sayonara, in which he co-starred with Marlon Brando as a U.S. airman who embarks on a tragic romance with a Japanese woman. And serious in that he was such a quick-witted master of his craft that he was a longtime fixture at Friar's Club roasts, where few could touch him.
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Red Buttons, the redheaded comic star of television and film, has died in Los Angeles at age 87. Mike O'Sullivan reports, the comedian got his start on the vaudeville stage, became a television sensation, and won an Oscar for his work in Hollywood.
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Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television then went dramatic to win the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in Sayonara, died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 87.
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When television became popular, Buttons moved into that field, first as a guest, then starring in The Red Buttons Show starting in 1952 and winning an Emmy the following year as Best Comedian. That variety show only lasted for three seasons, but his career picked up again when he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, both for Best Supporting Actor, for his dramatic role in Sayonara, which starred
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A few years later Buttons resurfaced -- and won an Oscar -- playing a straight role in Marlon Brando's dramatic Sayonara. Buttons's performance was a revelation, in a tough, tender role as the pal who learned more than he wanted to know about prejudice after marrying a Japanese woman. As a serious actor with a funny streak, he starred with Fabian and a chimpanzee in Five Weeks in A Balloon; played the funny old sailor in the dance competition in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? with Jane Fonda; and starred as the aging bachelor who fell for Carol Lynley in the original upside-down disaster The Poseidon Adventure.
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LOS ANGELES — Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then won a 1957 Oscar with a surprising dramatic turn in "Sayonara," died Thursday, July 13. He was 87.
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