- Charles Butterworth (actor)
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Charles Butterworth 
Charles Butterworth in Second Chorus (1940)Born July 26, 1899
South Bend, IndianaDied June 14, 1946 (aged 46)
Los Angeles, CaliforniaOther names Charlie Butterworth Occupation Stage and film actor Years active 1926-1944 Spouse Ethel Kenyon (February 1932 - 1939) Charles Butterworth (July 26, 1899 – June 14, 1946) was an American actor specializing in comedy roles, often in musicals. In his obituary, he was described as "the man who could not make up his mind".[1] Butterworth's distinct voice was the inspiration for the Cap'n Crunch commercials from the Jay Ward studio. Voice actor Daws Butler based Cap'n Crunch on the voice of Butterworth.[2]
Contents
Career
He once worked on a newspaper but was fired and then rehired when it was found out that he was courting the daughter of a big local advertiser. He also worked in the legal profession before going on stage and becoming a comedian in vaudeville in 1924.
Butterworth's most memorable film role was in the Irving Berlin musical This is the Army (1943) as the bugle-playing Private Eddie Dibble. He generally was a supporting actor, e.g., to Mae West in Every Day's a Holiday; to the Andrews Sisters in What's Cookin'?, Give out, Sisters, and Always a Bridesmaid; to Jeanette MacDonald in The Cat and the Fiddle and Love Me Tonight; to Myrna Loy in Penthouse; to Lew Ayres in My Weakness; to Laurel and Hardy and Jimmy Durante in Hollywood Party; to Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery, and Joan Crawford in Forsaking All Others; to Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor in Magnificent Obsession; to Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray in Swing High, Swing Low; to Bob Hope in Thanks for the Memory; and to Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, and Burgess Meredith in Second Chorus. However, he had top billing in We Went to College (1936), played the title role in Baby Face Harrington (1935), and shared top billing (as the Sultan) with Ann Corio in The Sultan's Daughter (1944).
He is credited with the quip "Why don't you slip out of those wet clothes and into a dry martini?" from Every Day's a Holiday.[3] In Forsaking All Others, when Clark Gable, quoting Benjamin Franklin, said, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," Butterworth replied, "Ever take a good look at a milkman?"
Death
Butterworth was killed in an automobile accident on June 13, 1946, when he lost control of his car on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and crashed.[4] For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Charles Butterworth has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd.
Filmography
Year Title Role Other notes 1929 Vital Subjects Short subject 1930 Ladies of Leisure Party Guest Uncredited The Life of the Party Col. Joy 1931 Illicit George Evans The Bargain Geoffrey Side Show Sidney The Mad Genius Karimsky Manhattan Parade Herbert T. Herbert 1932 Beauty and the Boss Ludwig Pfeffer, Jr. Love Me Tonight Count de Savignac 1933 The Nuisance Floppy Phil Montague Penthouse Layton Alternative title: Crooks in Clover My Weakness Gerald Gregory 1934 The Cat and the Fiddle Charles Hollywood Party Harvey Clemp Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back Algy Longworth/Mousey Student Tour Professor Lippincott Forsaking All Others Shemp "Shempy" 1935 The Night Is Young Willy Fitch Baby Face Harrington Willie Harrington Orchids to You Teddy Stuyvesant Magnificent Obsession Tommy Masterson 1936 The Moon's Our Home Horace Van Steedan Half Angel Felix We Went to College Glenn Harvey Alternative title: The Old School Tie Rainbow on the River Barrett Alternative title: It Happened In New Orleans 1937 Swing High, Swing Low Harry Every Day's a Holiday Larmadou Graves 1938 Thanks for the Memory Biney 1939 Let Freedom Ring The Mackerel Alternative title: Song of the Plains 1940 The Boys from Syracuse Duke of Ephesus 1940 Second Chorus J. Lester Chisholm 1941 There's Nothing to It Blonde Inspiration "Bittsy" Conway Road Show Harry Whitman Sis Hopkins Horace Hopkins 1942 What's Cookin'? J. P. Courtney Alternative title: Wake Up and Dream Night in New Orleans Edward Wallace Give Out, Sisters Professor Woof 1943 This Is the Army Eddie Dibble Always a Bridesmaid Colonel Winchester 1944 The Sultan's Daughter Sultan Follow the Boys Louie Fairweather Bermuda Mystery Dr. Tilford Dixie Jamboree Professor References
- ^ Butterworth, Film Comedian, 49 Killed In Hollywood When Auto Hits Lamp Post, New York Times, June 14, 1946
- ^ Charles Butterworth biography, New York Times
- ^ Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier, p33 (Macmillian 2006), ISBN 978-0312340049
- ^ Brettell, Andrew; King, Noel; Kennedy, Damien; Imwold, Denise (2005). Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies. Leonard, Warren Hsu; von Rohr, Heather. Barrons Educational Series. pp. 262. ISBN 0-764-15858-9.
External links
Categories:- 1896 births
- 1946 deaths
- Actors from Indiana
- American film actors
- American musical theatre actors
- American stage actors
- Road accident deaths in California
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