Charles Butterworth (actor)

Charles Butterworth
Butterworth in Second Chorus (1940)
Born	(1896-07-26)July 26, 1896 South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Died	June 14, 1946(1946-06-14) (aged 49) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger, Indiana
Other names	Charlie Butterworth
Occupation(s)	Stage and film actor
Years active	1926–1944
Spouse	Ethel Kenyon (m. 1932; div. 1939)

Charles Edward Butterworth (July 26, 1896 – June 14, 1946)^[1] was an American actor specializing in comedic roles, often in musicals.^[1] His distinctive voice was the inspiration for the Cap'n Crunch commercials created by the Jay Ward studio: Voice actor Daws Butler based Cap'n Crunch on Butterworth's voice.^[2]

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Early life

Butterworth was the son of a physician in South Bend, Indiana.^[1] He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1924 with a law degree.^[1]

Career

After graduating, Butterworth became a newspaper reporter at the South Bend News-Times and subsequently Chicago.^[1]

One of Butterworth's more memorable film roles was in the Irving Berlin musical This Is the Army (1943) as bugle-playing Private Eddie Dibble. He was generally a supporting actor, though he had top billing in We Went to College (1936) and the title role in Baby Face Harrington (1935), and shared top billing (as the Sultan) with Ann Corio in The Sultan's Daughter (1944). In his obituary, he was described as "characterizing the man who could not make up his mind".^[1]

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 had a home in Palm Springs, California.^[4] He was killed in an automobile accident on June 13, 1946, when he lost control of his car on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.^[5]^[6] He died en route to the hospital.^[1]

Legacy

For his contributions to the film industry, Butterworth was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star at 7036 Hollywood Boulevard.^[7]

Partial filmography

Vital Subjects (1929, Short)
Ladies of Leisure (1930) – Party Guest (uncredited)
The Life of the Party (1930) – Colonel Joy
Illicit (1931) – Georgie Evans
The Bargain (1931) – Geoffrey
Side Show (1931) – Sidney
The Mad Genius (1931) – Karimsky
Manhattan Parade (1931) – Herbert T. Herbert
Beauty and the Boss (1932) – Ludwig Pfeffer Jr.
Love Me Tonight (1932) – Count de Savignac
The Nuisance (1933) – Floppy Phil Montague
Penthouse (1933) – Layton
My Weakness (1933) – Gerald Gregory
The Cat and the Fiddle (1934) – Charles
Hollywood Party (1934) – Harvey Clemp
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934) – Algy 'Mousey' Longworth
Student Tour (1934) – Ethelred Lippincott – Professor of Philosophy
Forsaking All Others (1934) – Shemp
The Night Is Young (1935) – Willy Fitch
Baby Face Harrington (1935) – Willie
Orchids to You (1935) – Teddy Stuyvesant
Magnificent Obsession (1935) – Tommy Masterson
The Moon's Our Home (1936) – Horace Van Steedan
Half Angel (1936) – Doc Felix
We Went to College (1936) – Glenn Harvey
Rainbow on the River (1936) – Barrett
Swing High, Swing Low (1937) – Harry
Every Day's a Holiday (1937) – Larmadou Graves
Thanks for the Memory (1938) – Biney
Let Freedom Ring (1939) – The Mackerel
The Boys from Syracuse (1940) – Duke of Ephesus
Second Chorus (1940) – Mr. Chisholm
There's Nothing to It (1941)
Blonde Inspiration (1941) – 'Bittsy' Conway
Road Show (1941) – Harry Whitman
Sis Hopkins (1941) – Horace Hopkins
What's Cookin'? (1942) – J. P. Courtney
Night in New Orleans (1942) – Edward Wallace
Give Out, Sisters (1942) – Prof. Woof
This Is the Army (1943) – Eddie Dibble
Always a Bridesmaid (1943) – Col. Thaddeus Winchester
The Sultan's Daughter (1944) – Sultan of Araband
Follow the Boys (1944) – Louie Fairweather
Bermuda Mystery (1944) – Dr. Randolph Tilford
Dixie Jamboree (1944) – Professor (final film role)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Butterworth, Film Comedian, 49 Killed In Hollywood When Auto Hits Lamp Post". The New York Times. June 14, 1946. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
^ Hal Erickson (2014). "Charles Butterworth". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
^ Keyes, Ralph (2006). The Quote Verifier. Macmillan. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-312-34004-9.
^ Meeks, Eric G. (2014) [2012]. The Best Guide Ever to Palm Springs Celebrity Homes. Horatio Limburger Oglethorpe. p. 33. ISBN 978-1479328598.
^ "Charles Butterworth Killed in Car's Crash – Comedian's Auto Skids into Lamp Post as He Returns from Party in Night Club", p. 11, The Los Angeles Times, Fri, June 14, 1946.
^ Brettell, Andrew; King, Noel; Kennedy, Damien; Imwold, Denise; Leonard, Warren Hsu; von Rohr, Heather (2005). Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies. Barrons Educational Series. p. 262. ISBN 0-7641-5858-9.
^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame – Charles Butterworth". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved December 28, 2017.