Pat Buttram

Maxwell Emmett Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994), professionally known as Pat Buttram, was an American character actor, known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the television series Green Acres. He had a distinctive voice that, in his own words, "never quite made it through puberty."

Pat Buttram
Buttram as Mr. Haney in Green Acres
Born	Maxwell Emmett Buttram June 19, 1915 Addison, Alabama, U.S.
Died	January 8, 1994 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Maxwell Chapel, United Methodist Church, Haleyville, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Birmingham-Southern College
Occupation	Actor, writer
Years active	1944–1994
Political party	Republican[1]
Spouse(s)	Dorothy McFadden ​ ​ (m. 1936; div. 1946)​ Sheila Ryan ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 1975)​
Children	2

Early life

Buttram was born in Addison, Alabama, to Wilson McDaniel Buttram, a Methodist minister, and his wife Mary Emmett Maxwell. He had an older brother, Augustus McDaniel Buttram, and five other elder siblings. When "Pat" Buttram was a year old, his father was transferred to Nauvoo, Alabama. Buttram graduated from Mortimer Jordan High School, then located in Morris, Alabama, then entered Birmingham–Southern College to study for the Methodist ministry.[2]

Career

Buttram performed in college plays and on a local radio station, then became a regular on the National Barn Dance broadcast on WLS (AM) in Chicago. He also had his own program on CBS.[3]

Buttram in 1944

Buttram went to Hollywood in the 1940s and became a sidekick to Roy Rogers. However, because Rogers already had two regulars, Buttram was dropped.

He was then picked by Gene Autry, recently returned from his World War II service in the U.S. Army Air Force, to work with him. Buttram co-starred with Autry in more than 40 films and in over 100 episodes of Autry's television show. Buttram's first Autry film was The Strawberry Roan in 1948. In the late 1940s, Buttram joined Autry on his radio show Melody Ranch and then on television with The Gene Autry Show. During the first television season, Buttram went by Pat or Patrick, with a variety of last names. From the second season forward, he used his own name.

Buttram also played Mr. Eustace Haney in the 1965–1971 television comedy Green Acres. He did voice work for several Disney animated features, playing Napoleon (hound dog) in The Aristocats, the Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf) in Robin Hood, Luke (muskrat) in The Rescuers, Chief (hunting dog) in The Fox and the Hound, and one of the Toon bullets in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He had a recurring role as the voice of Cactus Jake on Garfield and Friends. One of his later roles was a cameo in Back to the Future Part III. His final voice-over was A Goofy Movie, released a year after his death. Buttram is credited as one of the writers on the Hee Haw television show for two episodes in 1969 and 1970.[4]

Buttram made the oft-quoted observation about the 1971 "rural purge", in which CBS canceled many programs with a rural-related theme or setting: "CBS canceled everything with a tree in it – including Lassie", referring to the cancellations of Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction.[5]

Personal life

In 1936, Buttram married Dorothy McFadden. The couple adopted a daughter but divorced in 1946. In 1952, he married actress Sheila Ryan; the marriage ended with her death in 1975. They had a daughter named Kathrine (nicknamed Kerry), born in 1954. Buttram retired from acting in 1980 and made his home in his native Winston County, Alabama. However, he returned to California, where he made frequent personal appearances.

Buttram was a staunch Republican who helped Ronald Reagan spice up his speeches with political quips.[1] In 1993, Buttram expressed surprise that with the inauguration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore as president of the United States and vice president of the United States, respectively, so many Hollywood actors were "taken with that whole country-boy image they tried to project".[1] According to his niece Mary Buttram Young, "Uncle Pat would always say 'I'm from Alabama – I can see right through that'."[1]

Death

Buttram died in 1994 at the age of 78 of kidney failure in Los Angeles. He is interred at the cemetery at the Maxwell Chapel United Methodist Church in the Pebble community near Haleyville, Alabama.

In 1988, Buttram was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one on the "Alabama Stars of Fame" in Birmingham, Alabama.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1944	The National Barn Dance	Himself
1948	The Strawberry Roan	Hank
1949	Riders in the Sky	Chuckwalla
1950	Mule Train	Smokey Argyle
1950	Beyond the Purple Hills	Mike Rawley
1950	Indian Territory	Shadrach Jones
1950	The Blazing Sun	Mike
1951	Gene Autry and the Mounties	Scat Russell
1951	Texans Never Cry	Ranger Pecos Bates
1951	Silver Canyon	Pat
1951	The Hills of Utah	Dusty Cosgrove
1951	Valley of Fire	Breezie
1952	The Old West	Panhandle Gibbs
1952	Night Stage to Galveston	Himself
1952	Apache Country	Himself
1952	Barbed Wire	"Buckeye" Buttram
1952	Wagon Team	Deputy Pat Buttram
1952	Blue Canadian Rockies	Rawhide
1961	Wild in the Country	Mr Longstreet, the mechanic	uncredited
1963	Twilight of Honor	Cole Clinton
1964	Roustabout	Harry Carver
1964	The Hanged Man	Otis Honeywell	TV movie
1966	Sergeant Deadhead	The President
1968	The Sweet Ride	Texas Gambler
1968	I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew	Blodgett
1970	The Aristocats	Napoleon	voice animated film
1971	The Gatling Gun	Tin Pot
1972	Evil Roy Slade	Narrator	TV movie Uncredited
1973	Robin Hood	Sheriff of Nottingham	voice animated film
1976	Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch	Narrator
1977	The Rescuers	Luke - swamp inhabitant	voice animated film
1979	Angels Brigade	Used Car Salesman
1981	The Fox and the Hound	Chief - hunting dog	voice animated film
1981	Choices	Pops
1988	The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound	Red Eye the bartender	Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10, TV movie
	Who Framed Roger Rabbit	A toon bullet #3	voice Live action / animated film
1990	Back to the Future: Part III	Jeb, Saloon Old Timer #3
1995	A Goofy Movie	Possum Park Emcee	voice animated film dedicated to him (final film role)

Partial television credits

Year(s)	Series	Role	Episode(s)
1950–1955	The Gene Autry Show	Pat	83 episodes
1961–1963	The Real McCoys	Cousin Carl Cousin Carl Pat Clemens Pat Clemens	"Back to West Virginny" (1961) "Fly Away Home" (1961) "Luke the Reporter" (1962) "The Partners" (1963)
1962-1967	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	8 episodes
1963	Make Room for Daddy	Harvey Bullock	"Here's the $50 Back"
1964	The Tycoon	Brian	"The Shotgun Meyer"
1964	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Charlie Hill Emory	"The Jar" "Lonely Place"
1965-1971	Green Acres	Mr. Haney	143 episodes
1965	The Munsters	Pop Mallory	"All-Star Munster"
1965	The Cara Williams Show	Charlie Paradise	"Paradise Freezes Over" (1965) "Paradise Lost and Found" (1965)
1966	Petticoat Junction	Mr. Haney Mr. Haney Mr. Haney	"The County Fair" (1966) "The Other Woman" (1969) "A Most Momentous Occasion" (1969)
1967	The Hollywood Squares	Himself	5 episodes
1968–1973	The Dean Martin Comedy Hour	Himself	3 episodes
1970	The Merv Griffin Show	Himself	June 25, 1970
1971	The Jimmy Stewart Show	Oscar Pettywhistle	"Luther's Last Love"
1972	Alias Smith and Jones	First Sheriff	"Bad Night in Big Butte"
1972	The Mouse Factory	Himself	"Bullfighting to Bullfrogs"
1973	Adam-12	Drunk Man	"Keeping Tabs"
1974	Emergency!	Hermit	"Floor Brigade"
1979	The Sacketts	Tuthill the Bank Teller	Miniseries
1979	The Dukes of Hazzard	Sam	“Days of Shine and Roses”
1982	Simon and Simon	Jonathan Evans	"Rough Rider Rides Again"
1984	Family Feud	Himself	"Country & Western Singers vs. TV & Film Cowboys"
1986	Knight Rider	Buck	"Fright Knight"
1989-1991	Garfield and Friends	Cactus Jake (10 episodes), Cactus Josh (1), Cactus Jimmy (1), Cactus Joe (1) (voice)	10 episodes; animated series
1990–1991	Who's the Boss	Chappy Chappy Chappy	"Broadcast Blues" (1990) "The Road to Washington, Part 1" (1991) "The Road to Washington, Part 2" (1991)
1991	Tiny Toon Adventures	Bicycle Bob	"Son of the Wacko World of Sports"
1992	Rugrats	Eddie (voice)	"Graham Canyon" (1992); animated series

See also

•  Biography portal

References

Notes

1. "Terry Pace, "Pat Buttram: Homespun humorist, character actor, cowboy sidekick"". Times Daily (Florence, Ala.). March 1, 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
2. Wilson, Claire M. "Pat Buttram" on the Encyclopedia of Alabama website
3. "KFLW (radio listing)". Herald and News. January 11, 1959. p. 51. Retrieved April 27, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Hee Haw: Writers" on TV.com
5. Quotation taken from amazon.com preview of book, accessed March 23, 2009. Harkins, Anthony (2005). Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon. Oxford University Press US. p. 203. ISBN 0-19-518950-7.

Further reading

• Grabman, Sandra. Pat Buttram, the Rocking Chair Humorist. Boalsburg: BearManor Media, 2006. ISBN 1-59393-067-4.

External links

• Pat Buttram at IMDb
• Pat Buttram at AllMovie
• Pat Buttram photos and links