Charles Butterworth | |
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Charles Butterworth in Second Chorus (1940)
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Born |
South Bend, Indiana, U.S. |
July 26, 1896
Died | June 14, 1946 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 49)
Cause of death | automobile accident |
Resting place | St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger, Indiana |
Other names | Charlie Butterworth |
Occupation | Stage and film actor |
Years active | 1926-1944 |
Spouse(s) | Ethel Kenyon (February 1932-1939) |
Charles Edward Butterworth (July 26, 1896 – June 13, 1946) was an American actor specializing in comedy roles, often in musicals. 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.
Butterworth was born to a physician in South Bend, Indiana. He graduated from University of Notre Dame with a law degree.
After graduating, Butterworth became a newspaper reporter in South Bend and subsequently Chicago.
One of Butterworth's more memorable film roles was in the Irving Berlin musical This is the Army (1943) as the bugle-playing Private Eddie Dibble. He generally was a supporting actor, though 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). In his obituary, he is described as "characterizing the man who could not make up his mind".
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. 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. He died en route to the hospital.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd.