Charles Butterworth (actor)
Charles Edward Butterworth was an American actor specializing in comedic roles, often in musicals. His distinctive voice was the inspiration for the Cap'n Crunch commercials created by the Jay Ward studio: voice actor Daws Butler.
Butterworth was the son of a physician in South Bend, Indiana. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1924 with a law degree.
Career
After graduating, Butterworth became a newspaper reporter at the South Bend News-Times and subsequently Chicago.
One of Butterworth's more memorable film roles was in the Irving Berlin musical This Is the Army as bugle-playing Private Eddie Dibble. He was generally a supporting actor, though he had top billing in We Went to College and the title role in Baby Face Harrington, and shared top billing with Ann Corio in The Sultan's Daughter. In his obituary, he was 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?"
Death
Butterworth had a home in Palm Springs, California. He was killed in an automobile accident on June 13, 1946, when he lost control of his car on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. He died en route to the hospital.
Legacy
For his contributions to the film industry, Butterworth was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star at 7036 Hollywood Boulevard.
Partial filmography
Vital Subjects Ladies of Leisure – Party Guest The Life of the Party – Colonel JoyIllicit – Georgie EvansThe Bargain – GeoffreySide Show – SidneyThe Mad Genius – KarimskyManhattan Parade – Herbert T. HerbertBeauty and the Boss – Ludwig Pfeffer Jr.Love Me Tonight – Count de SavignacThe Nuisance – Floppy Phil MontaguePenthouse – LaytonMy Weakness – Gerald GregoryThe Cat and the Fiddle – CharlesHollywood Party – Harvey ClempBulldog Drummond Strikes Back – Algy 'Mousey' LongworthStudent Tour – Ethelred Lippincott – Professor of PhilosophyForsaking All Others – ShempThe Night Is Young – Willy FitchBaby Face Harrington – WillieOrchids to You – Teddy StuyvesantMagnificent Obsession – Tommy MastersonThe Moon's Our Home – Horace Van SteedanHalf Angel – Doc FelixWe Went to College – Glenn HarveyRainbow on the River – BarrettSwing High, Swing Low – HarryEvery Day's a Holiday – Larmadou GravesThanks for the Memory – BineyLet Freedom Ring – The MackerelThe Boys from Syracuse – Duke of EphesusSecond Chorus – Mr. ChisholmThere's Nothing to It Blonde Inspiration – 'Bittsy' ConwayRoad Show – Harry WhitmanSis Hopkins – Horace HopkinsWhat's Cookin'? – J. P. CourtneyNight in New Orleans – Edward WallaceGive Out, Sisters – Prof. WoofThis Is the Army – Eddie DibbleAlways a Bridesmaid – Col. Thaddeus WinchesterThe Sultan's Daughter – Sultan of ArabandFollow the Boys – Louie FairweatherBermuda Mystery – Dr. Randolph TilfordDixie Jamboree – Professor