| Charles Butterworth | |
|---|---|
Charles Butterworth in Second Chorus (1940) |
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| Born | July 26, 1899 South Bend, Indiana |
| Died | June 14, 1946 (aged 46) Los Angeles, California |
| Other 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]
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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?"
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.
| 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 |