When the show's popularity abruptly faded, Buttons' career stalled, but like Frank Sinatra, another compact, multi-talented performer who was called a has-been, Buttons also revived his career with a very dramatic performance which copped him a supporting actor Oscar. His gallery of characters, meanwhile, including the Sad Sack the Kupke Kid, a child Rocky, a boxer and the bumbling Keeglefarven, played up the at-once argumentative and long-suffering aspects of his persona.
One of Buttons' oft-repeated gestures, placing his hands together in a desperate, somewhat prayerful manner, was on regular display in the show, and children everywhere mimicked the "Ho Ho! He He! Ha Ha! Strange things are happening!" theme song. Part variety show, part sitcom, the program gave full vent to Buttons' manic, fast-talking, knockabout style. He played on Broadway after WWII and enjoyed tremendous popularity during the first season of TV's "The Red Buttons Show" (1952-55). A veteran of New York burlesque and the Catskills comedy circuit, Buttons appeared as a pilot in training in the moral-boosting stage drama "Winged Victory," and recreated the role soon thereafter in the 1944 film version. Feisty, diminutive, red-haired comedian who regularly played very serious dramatic roles in features.
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