The son of a circuit-riding Methodist preacher in rural Alabama, Pat Buttram became one of America's best-known comic entertainers. He left Alabama a month before his 18th birthday to attend the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. An announcer from radio station WLS was on hand to interview members of the crowd and settled on Pat as a typical visitor from the South. The interview that followed was anything but typical. Pat made a hit with his hilarious observations on the fair and was immediately offered a job with the station. This led to a long and happy association with the popular "National Barn Dance" radio program. During those years Pat met 'Gene Autry . Throughout his career Pat was in constant demand as a toastmaster and after-dinner speaker, where his agile and sophisticated wit belied his "countrified" appearance. In 1982 Pat founded the Golden Boot Awards to honor actors, directors, stunt people and other industry professionals who have made significant contributions to the western film genre. Proceeds from the annual event are donated to the Motion Picture Health and Welfare Fund.
Interred at Maxwell Chapel, Haleyville, Alabama.
A popular, in-demand toastmaster and after-dinner speaker in the Hollywood movie colony for many years, his good-natured jibes at Hollywoods elite are still quoted, and laughed at, among performers to this day.
Has one biological daughter, Kerry, and one adopted daughter, Gayle.
Uncle of John Buttram.
Joined WLS and the National Barn Dance in 1934. His dry wit and humor would allow him to spin all sorts of stories about his kin folk from down south. One of his self-appointed duties was to step on stage, snap his suspenders and announce to the audience that "...you can dance in the aisles and tear up the place if you want to - it dont belong to us!".
Pat and his first wife Dorothy McFadden adopted a daughter together named Gayle. When Buttram and McFadden divorced in 1945 McFadden never allowed Gayle to see Buttram again.
He and his ex-wife Dorothy McFadden adopted a daughter together named Gayle.
In 2007 Pats daughter Kerry Buttram-Galgano passed away from cancer at the age of 52.
He has two granddaughters named Natalie Galgano (born in 1985) and Angie Galgano (born in 1989).
Was a guest at the 1980 Memphis Film Festival.
Pat Buttrams grandfather, Elijah Wilson Buttram (20 Jul 1843-3 Nov 1901) was a sergeant in Company H, 56th Georgia Infantry (Confederate) during the Civil War. The 56th fought throughout Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and North Carolina.
He was a staunch conservative Republican and personal friend of Ronald Reagan.
He claimed that he got some of his western sidekick roles because producers mistakenly thought they were hiring Pat Brady.
During the filming of The Rainmaker a prop cannon exploded nearly killing Buttram with a barrage of shrapnel. He suffered a 12-inch long gash in his chest, exposing a punctured lung, a severed artery in his leg, and his chin was nearly blown off. Gene Autry flew in a doctor on his private plane before an ambulance arrived. The doctor, William Ince, was the son of famed silent film director Thomas Ince who pioneered Western movie making.
My voice never quite made it through puberty. It has been described as,sounding like a handful of gravel thrown in a Mix-Master.
