Daws Butler

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Daws Butler
Daws Butler (1976).jpg
Butler in 1976
Born Charles Dawson Butler
(1916-11-16)November 16, 1916
Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Culver City, California, U.S.
Cause of death Heart attack
Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
California, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation Voice actor
Years active 1935–1988
Spouse(s) Myrtis Martin-Butler
(m. 1943–1988; his death)
Children David Butler, Don Butler, Paul Butler and Charles (Chas) Butler
Website http://www.dawsbutler.com

Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler (November 16, 1916 – May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor who specialized in voicing animated films and television series. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.

Early life and career

Daws Butler was born on November 16, 1916 in Toledo, Ohio, the only child of Ruth Butler and Charles Allen Butler.

The family later moved from Ohio to Oak Park, Illinois, where Butler got interested in impersonating people.[1]

In 1935, the future voice master started as an impressionist, entering multiple amateur contests and winning most of them. He had entered them, not with the intention of showing his talent but as a personal challenge to overcome his shyness, with success. Nonetheless, Butler won professional engagements at vaudeville theaters. Later he teamed up with fellow performers Jack Lavin and Willard Ovitz to form the comedy trio The Three Short Waves. The team played in theaters, radio and nightclubs, generating positive reviews from regional critics and audiences. They dissolved when in 1941, Daws Butler joined the U.S. Navy as America entered World War Two. Some time after, he met his wife Myrtis during a wartime function at North Carolina.

His first voice work for an animated character came in 1948 in the animated short Short Snorts on Sports, which was produced by Screen Gems. That same year at MGM, Tex Avery hired Butler to provide the voice of a British wolf on Little Rural Riding Hood and also to narrate several of his cartoons. Throughout the late 1940s and mid-1950s, he had roles in many Avery-directed cartoons; The Fox in Out-Foxed, The Narrator in The Cuckoo Clock, The Cobbler in The Peachy Cobbler, Mr. Theeves in Droopy's "Double Trouble", Mysto the Magician in Magical Maestro, John the Cab and John the B-29 Bomber in One Cab's Family and Little Johnny Jet and Maxie in The Legend of Rockabye Point.

Starting with The Three Little Pups, Butler provided the voice for a nameless wolf that spoke in a Southern accent and whistled all the time. This character also appeared in Sheep Wrecked, Billy Boy and many more cartoons. While at MGM, Avery wanted Butler to try to do the voice of Droopy, at a time when Bill Thompson had been unavailable due to radio engagements. Instead, Butler recommended Don Messick, another actor and Butler's lifelong friend, who could imitate Thompson. Thus Messick voiced Droopy in several shorts.[2]

In 1949, Butler landed a role in a televised puppet show created by former Warner Bros. cartoon director Bob Clampett called Time for Beany. Butler was teamed up with Stan Freberg, and together they did all the voices of the puppets. Butler voiced Beany Boy and Captain Huffenpuff. Freberg voiced Cecil and Dishonest John. An entire stable of recurring characters were seen. The show's writers were Charles Shows and Lloyd Turner, whose dependably funny dialog was still always at the mercy of Butler's and Freberg's ad libs. Time for Beany ran from 1949 to 1954 and won several Emmy Awards.

Butler briefly turned his attention to writing and voicing several TV commercials. In the 1950s, Stan Freberg asked him to help him write comedy skits for his Capitol Records albums. Their first collaboration, "St. George and the Dragon-Net" (based on Dragnet), was the first comedy record to sell over one million copies. Freberg was more of a satirist who did song parodies, but the bulk of his dialogue routines were co-written by and co-starred Butler. He teamed up again with Freberg and actress June Foray in a CBS radio series, The Stan Freberg Show, which ran from July to October 1957 as a summer replacement for Jack Benny's program. Freberg's box-set, Tip of the Freberg (Rhino Entertainment, 1999) chronicles every aspect of Freberg's career except the cartoon voice-over work, and it showcases his career with Daws Butler.

In Mr. Magoo, the UPA theatrical animated short series for Columbia Pictures, Butler played Magoo's nephew Waldo (also voiced by Jerry Hausner at various times).

He provided the voices of many nameless Walter Lantz characters for theatrical shorts later seen on the Woody Woodpecker program. His most notable characters were the penguin Chilly Willy and his sidekick Smedley, a southern-speaking dog (the same voice used for Tex Avery's laid-back wolf character).

In 1957, after MGM had closed down their animation division, producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera quickly formed their own company, and Daws Butler and Don Messick were on-hand to provide voices. The first, The Ruff and Reddy Show, with Butler voicing Reddy, set the formula for the rest of the series of cartoons that the two would helm until the mid-1960s. He played the title roles in The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show and The Yogi Bear Show, as well as a variety of other characters.

Characters

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File:Dawsandstan.jpg
In 1950, Daws Butler (foreground) and Stan Freberg are backstage doing both voices and puppeteering on Bob Clampett's Time for Beany (1949–1954) at KTLA in Los Angeles. Freberg operates Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent and Dishonest John, while Butler handles Captain Huffenpuff and Beany.

The characters with voices by Butler from 1957 to 1978 included:

Butler would voice most of these characters for many decades, in both TV shows and in some commercials. The breakfast cereal mascot Cap'n Crunch became an icon of sorts on Saturday morning TV through many commercials produced by Jay Ward. Butler played Cap'n from the 1960s to the 1980s. He based the voice on that of character actor Charles Butterworth. In 1961, while Mel Blanc was recovering from a motor vehicle accident, Daws Butler replaced him to voice Barney Rubble in five episodes of The Flintstones (The Hit Songwriter, Droop-Along Flintstone, Fred Flintstone Woos Again, The Rock Quarry Story, The Little White Lie).

In Wacky Races, Butler provided the voices for a number of the racers, Rock Slag, Big Gruesome, the Red Max, Sgt. Blast, Peter Perfect, and Rufus Ruffcut. He voiced a penguin and a turtle in the movie Mary Poppins, his only known work for Disney. Along with Mel Blanc, Stan Freberg, Paul Frees and June Foray, Butler also provided voices for countless children's records featuring recreations of several successful Disney cartoons and films.

Inspirations

Butler based some of his voices on popular celebrities of the day. Yogi Bear began as an Art Carney impression; Butler had done a similar voice in several of Robert McKimson's films at Warner Brothers and Stan Freberg's comedy record "The Honey-Earthers." However, Butler soon changed Yogi's voice, making it much deeper and more sing-songy, thus making it a more original voice.

Hokey Wolf began as an impression of Phil Silvers, and Snagglepuss as Bert Lahr. In fact, when Snagglepuss began appearing in commercials for Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies in 1961, Lahr threatened to sue Butler for "stealing" his voice. As part of the settlement, the disclaimer "Snagglepuss voice by Daws Butler" was required to appear on each commercial, making him the only voice actor ever to receive one in an animated TV commercial. Butler redesigned these voices, making them his own inventions. Huckleberry Hound was inspired many years earlier, in 1945, by a North Carolina neighbor of Daws' wife's family, and he had in fact been using that voice for a long time, for Avery's laid-back wolf and Lantz' Smedley.

Later life

In the 1970s, he was the voice of "Hair Bear" on Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! and a few characters in minor cartoons such as C.B. Bears. On Laff-a-Lympics, Butler was virtually the entire "Yogi Yahooey" team. He also played the title character in The Funky Phantom, as well as Louie and Pug on The Pink Panther Show. In 1977, he guest starred as Captain Numo and his lackey Schultz on the What's New, Mr. Magoo? episode "Secret Agent Magoo".

Butler remained somewhat low-key in the 1970s and 1980s until a revival of The Jetsons and Hanna-Barbera's crossover series Yogi's Treasure Hunt, both in 1985. Also in 1983, he voiced the title character, Wacky WallWalker in Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls.

In 1975, Butler began an acting workshop which spawned such talents as Nancy Cartwright, Corey Burton, Joe Bevilacqua, Bill Farmer, Pat Parris, Tony Pope, Linda Gary, Bob Bergen, Mona Marshall, Sherry Lynn, Joey Camen, writer Earl Kress and many more.

In the year of his death, The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound was released, a tour-de-force featuring most of his classic early characters.

Personal life and death

He was married to Myrtis Martin from 1943 to 1988, whom he had met and married while he was in the United States Navy during World War II.[3] They had four sons, David, Don, Paul, and Charles. Butler died from a heart attack on May 18, 1988.[4][5] Many of his roles were assumed by Greg Burson, who had been personally trained by Butler.

Legacy

Daws Butler trained many voice actors including Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson), Corey Burton (the voice of Dale in Chip 'n' Dale), Bill Farmer (the current voice of Goofy, Pluto, and Horace Horsecollar), Bob Bergen (voice of Porky Pig), Joe Bevilacqua (whom Butler personally taught how to do all of his characters), Greg Burson (voice of Yogi Bear and Bugs Bunny), Mona Marshall (voices in South Park), Sherry Lynn and Joey Camen. Butler's voice and scripts were a frequent part of Bevilacqua's now-defunct XM show.[6] Bevilacqua also wrote Butler's official biography, published by Bear Manor Media.[7] A new book of cartoon scripts written by Daws Butler and Joe Bevilacqua, Uncle Dunkle and Donnie: Fractured Fables, was scheduled for publication in the fall of 2009. A four-volume, 4½-hour audio set of Uncle Dunkle and Donnie was to be released simultaneously with Bevilacqua performing all 97 characters in 35 stories. Butler also trained Hal Rayle, who ultimately determined that his best-known character of Doyle Cleverlobe from Galaxy High School should sound like Elroy Jetson after he finished puberty.[8]

Filmography

Animated films and theatrical shorts

Year Title Roles Notes
1948 Short Snorts on Sports Screen Gems (Columbia) Theatrical short
Little Rural Riding Hood City Wolf MGM Theatrical short
1949 Out-Foxed Fox Droopy Theatrical short
Love That Pup Father (Spike) Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Jerry's Diary "Uncle Dudley" Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
1950 Punchy de Leon Crow UPA Theatrical short
The Chump Champ Master of Ceremonies Droopy Theatrical short
The Peachy Cobbler Narrator/The Cobbler MGM Theatrical short
The Cuckoo Clock Narrator (The Cat) MGM Theatrical short
The Framed Cat Spike and Tom Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
1951 Daredevil Droopy The Great Barko Droopy Theatrical short
Jerry and the Goldfish Chef Francois Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Sleepy-Time Tom Lightning Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Slicked-Up Pup Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Droopy's "Double Trouble" Mr. Theeves Droopy Theatrical short
1952 Gift Wrapped Narrator Sylvester and Tweety Theatrical short
Magical Maestro Mysto the Magician MGM Theatrical short
One Cab's Family John the Cab/Doctor MGM Theatrical short
A Case for Hypnosis Doctor Twiddle
Fit to Be Tied Spike Tom and Jerry short
The Dog House Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
1953 That's My Pup! Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Little Johnny Jet John the Bomber MGM Theatrical short
The Three Pups Wolf Droopy Theatrical short
Chilly Willy Chilly Willy Walter Lantz Theatrical short
1954 Crazy Mixed-Up Pup Samuel/The Dog/Milkman Theatrical short
Drag-A-Long Droopy Wolf Rancher/The Bull Droopy Theatrical short
Billy Boy Wolf MGM Theatrical short
Under the Counter Spy Hammerer Woody Woodpecker Theatrical short
Hic-cup Pup Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Pet Peeve Tom and Spike's Owner Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
The Flea Circus Pepito MGM Theatrical short
Convict Concerto Police Officer Woody Woodpecker Theatrical short
I'm Cold Smedley Chilly Willy Theatrical short
The Farm of Tomorrow MGM Theatrical short
1955 The Legend of Rockabye Point Maxie the Polar Bear Walter Lantz Theatrical short
Pecos Pest Announcer Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Deputy Droopy Sheriff/Thief Droopy Theatrical short
Hot and Cold Penguin Smedley Chilly Willy Theatrical short
Heir-Conditioned Cat Sylvester and Tweety Theatrical short
The Tree Medic Tree Surgeon Walter Lantz Theatrical short
Sh-h-h-h-h-h Mr. Twiddle/Doctor/Hotel Manager Walter Lantz Theatrical short
Pup on a Picnic Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Smarty Cat Butch Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
1956 Down Beat Bear Radio announcer Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Weasel Stop' Dog Looney Tunes Theatrical short
Barbary Coast Bunny Nasty Canasta Looney Tunes Theatrical short
Wideo Wabbit Bugs Bunny doing Groucho Marx/Bugs Bunny doing Ed Norton Looney Tunes Theatrical short
Yankee Dood It Shoemaker Looney Tunes Theatrical short
Rocket-bye Baby Narrator/Joe Wilbur/Capt. Schmideo/Lecturer Merrie Melodies Theatrical short
Barbecue Brawl Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Stupor Duck Narrator/Newspaper editor/Mountain climber 2 Daffy Duck Theatrical short
Magoo's Puddle Jumper Waldo Mr. Magoo Theatrical short
After the Ball Lumberjack Bear Woody Woodpecker short
Woody Meets Davy Crewcut Davy Crewcut Woody Woodpecker short
The Ostrich Egg and I Sam Walter Lantz short
Operation Cold Feet Smedley Chilly Willy short
Hold That Rock Smedley Chilly Willy short
Half-Fare Hare Ralph Kramden/Ed Norton Bugs Bunny short
The Honey-Mousers Ralph Krumden/Ned Morton Looney Tunes short
Raw! Raw! Rooster! Rhode Island Red Looney Tunes short
1957 Tops with Pops Spike Tom and Jerry Theatrical short
Tom's Photo Finish Tom's Owner/Spike Tom and Jerry short
Give and Tyke Spike/Stray Dog/Dog Catcher Spike and Tyke short
Scat Cats Spike/Spike and Tyke's Owner/Lightning Spike and Tyke short
Blackboard Jumble Wolf Droopy short
Drafty, Isn't? Narrator/Ralph Phillips
Mucho Mouse Tom Tom and Jerry short
Go Fly a Kit Counter Man Looney Tunes short
International Woodpecker George Washington Woody Woodpecker short
The Unbearable Salesman Bear Woody Woodpecker short
Cheese It, the Cat! Ralph Krumden/Ned Morton Looney Tunes short
Fodder and Son Windy and Breezy Walter Lantz short
1958 Mutts About Racing Announcer Droopy short
Sheep Wrecked Wolf Droopy short
Everglade Raid Al I. Gator Woody Woodpecker short
Watch the Birdie Birdwatcher Woody Woodpecker short
Tree's a Crowd Colonel Munch Woody Woodpecker short
A Bird in a Bonnet Sewer Worker Looney Tunes short
A Chilly Reception Chilly Willy Chilly Willy short
Polar Pest Chilly Willy Chilly Willy short
Little TeleVillain Smedley/Mr. Stoop/Car Salesman Chilly Willy short
A Waggily Tale Junior/Elvis/Dad/Johnny/Melvin Looney Tunes short
1959 Truant Student Windy/Breezy/Truant Officer Willoughby Walter Lantz short
The Alphabet Conspiracy Jabberwock TV movie
1001 Arabian Nights Omar the Rugmaker
Robinson Gruesome Narrator/Robinson Gruesome/Ape Walter Lantz short
Trick or Tweet Sam Sylvester and Tweety short
Yukon Have It Smedley/Caribou Lou Chilly Willy short
Merry Minstrel Magoo Waldo/Dentist UPA short
Here Today, Gone Tamale Mice Looney Tunes short
Romp in a Swamp Al I. Gator Woody Woodpecker short
1959–1964 Loopy De Loop Loopy De Loop 48 Theatrical shorts
1960 Mice Follies Ralph Crumden/Ned Morton Looney Tunes short
Southern Fried Hospitality Narrator/Gabby Gator Walter Lantz short
1964 Mary Poppins Turtle/Penguin His only work for Disney
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear Yogi Bear Hanna Barbera's first Animated feature film
1965 The Beary Family Charlie Beary/Junior Beary "Guess Who?" short
1970 The Phantom Tollbooth Whether Man, Senses Taker, The Terrible Trivium, The Gelatinous Giant Animated feature film
1971 The Cat in the Hat Mr. Krinklebein Animated TV special
1980 Yogi's First Christmas Yogi Bear/Snagglepuss/Huckleberry Hound/Augie Doggie Animated TV movie
1982 Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper Yogi Bear/Huckleberry Hound/Snagglepuss/Quick Draw McGraw/Mr. Jinks/Hokey Wolf/Augie Doggie/Snooper and Blabber/Dixie/Wally Gator Animated TV movie
1987 The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones Elroy Jetson/Henry Orbit/Cogswell Animated TV movie
Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw/ Snagglepuss / Augie Doggie Animated TV movie
Yogi's Great Escape Yogi Bear/Quick Draw McGraw/Wally Gator/Snagglepuss Animated TV movie
1988 Rockin' with Judy Jetson Elroy Jetson Animated TV movie
The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw/ Snagglepuss / Hokey Wolf / Peter Potamus / Baba Looey Animated TV movie
Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears Yogi Bear Animated TV movie

In popular culture

  • The video Daws Butler: Voice Magician is a 1987 documentary of Butler's career from his pre-MGM days on up through his teaming with Freberg in 1949 and the teaming with Don Messick in 1957. It was originally seen as a PBS pledge-drive special.
  • Former Butler protege Joe Bevilacqua used to host a radio series on XM Satellite Radio's Sonic Theater Channel called The Comedy-O-Rama Hour which features a regular segment called What the Butler Wrote: Scenes from the Daws Butler Workshop with rare scripts of Daws performed by his students, including Nancy Cartwright, and rare recordings of Daws himself. Bevilacqua has also co-authored (with Ben Ohmart) the authorized biography book Daws Butler, Characters Actor, and edited the book Scenes for Actors and Voices written by Daws Butler, both published by Bear Manor Media.
  • Butler once appeared as a contestant on Groucho Marx' You Bet Your Life. The studio audience did not recognize him until he began doing Huckleberry Hound's voice. Butler and his partner split the top prize of $10,000.
  • In 1985, Daws Butler was interviewed about his career on Dr. Demento's radio show.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Staff. "Charles 'Daws' Butler, Voice Of Yogi Bear, Many Others". Orlando Sentinel. (May 20, 1988)
  5. ↑ Folkart, Burt A. "Obituaries: Daws Butler; Voice of Well-Known Cartoon Characters" Los Angeles Times (May 20, 1988)
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Daws Butler - Characters Actor, BearManor Media
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links


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