Buttons had an extremely versatile career, conquering TV and film with the greatest of ease. He may have started out as a comedian on variety shows like "The Dean Martin Show" and "The Jackie Gleason Show" , but his film work proved he could be serious. He won an OSCAR for his performance as Sgt. Joe Kelly in 1957's Sayonara. Personally, I will never forget him as James Martin in the original Poseidon Adventure (1972), which I just watched again, a few days ago on Special Edition DVD. The bonus material included his recollections about the film. As a kid, I saw him in Disney's Pete's Dragon (1977) playing Hoagy. In 18 Again! (1988), he played Charlie, opposite his pal and fellow comedy legend, George Burns...
He also appeared on many TV series, like "Roseanne" , "Wonder Woman" and "The Cosby Show" His final series appearance was in 2005, playing Jules Ruby in "ER"-a role he played 4 times before--going back to 1995.
For more on his life and times, read the Reuters obituary
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