Red Buttons passes on

[cec]

AP) - Red ButtonsLOS ANGELES (AP) - Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," has died. He was 87.
Buttons died Thursday of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s.
His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman ends in tragedy. Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies, including "The Longest Day," "Up From the Beach," and "The Poseidon Adventure."
In October 1952, "The Red Buttons Show" aired. He drew on his experience for monologues, songs, dances and sketches featuring such characters as a punch-drunk fighter. The hit of the show was a silly song in which he pranced about the stage singing, "Ho! Ho!... He! He!... Ha! Ha!... Strange things are happening!" It became a national craze.
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