Daws Butler

Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Lippy the Lion, Elroy Jetson, Lambsy, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom, and Hair Bear. While at Walter Lantz, he did the voices of: Chilly Willy, Smedley, Maxie the Polar Bear, Gooney, and Sam in the Maggie and Sam series.

• Name — Daws Butler • Birth Name — Charles Dawson Butler • Born — 16 November 1916 • Birthplace — Toledo, Ohio, U.S. • Died — 18 May 1988 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Other Names — Dawes Butler • Resting Place — Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City • Occupation — Voice actor • Years Active — 1935–1988 • Awards — Inkpot Award (1975) • Children — 4

Butler was born on November 16, 1916, in Toledo, Ohio, the only child of Charles Allen Butler (1890–1972) and Ruth Butler (1899–1960). The family later moved from Ohio to Oak Park, Illinois, where Butler became interested in impersonating people. In 1935, Butler began performing as an impressionist, entering multiple amateur contests and winning most of them—not with the intention of showing his talent, but as a personal challenge to overcome his shyness. He subsequently won professional engagements at vaudeville theaters. He then teamed up with fellow performers Jack Lavin and Willard Ovitz, forming the comedy trio The Three Short Waves. They played in theaters, on radio, and in nightclubs, with positive reviews from regional critics and audiences. They dissolved the act in 1941 when Butler joined the United States Navy as America entered World War II. He subsequently met his wife-to-be Myrtis at a wartime function near Washington, D.C. His first voice work for an animated character was in the animated short Short Snorts on Sports (1948), produced by Screen Gems. At the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, Tex Avery hired Butler to provide the voice of a British wolf on Little Rural Riding Hood (1949) and also to narrate several of his cartoons. Throughout the late 1940s and mid-1950s, Butler had roles in many Avery-directed cartoons: the Fox in Out-Foxed, the narrator/cat in The Cuckoo Clock, the Cobbler in The Peachy Cobbler, Mr. Theeves and Spike (one line) 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 Charlie in The Legend of Rockabye Point. Beginning with The Three Little Pups, Butler provided the voice for a nameless wolf that spoke in a Southern accent and whistled all the time (the tune was Henry C. Work's "Kingdom Coming"). The character also appeared in Sheep Wrecked, Billy Boy, and many other cartoons. At MGM, Avery wanted Butler to take on the voice of Droopy, at a time when Bill Thompson was unavailable due to radio engagements. Butler did a few lines, then recommended Don Messick, another actor and Butler's lifelong friend, who was better at imitating Thompson. Messick voiced Droopy in several shorts. In 1949, Butler landed a role in a televised puppet show created by former Warner Bros. Cartoons animation director Bob Clampett called Time for Beany. He was teamed with Stan Freberg, with whom he did all the puppets' voices: Butler voiced Beany Boy and Captain Huffenpuff, and Freberg voiced Cecil and Dishonest John. An entire stable of recurring characters were also 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. In 1952, Butler starred in the live-action short Nice Try, Virgil. He briefly turned his attention to writing and voicing television commercials. In the 1950s, Freberg asked him to help him write comedy skits for his Capitol Records albums. Their first collaboration, "St. George and the Dragonet" (based on Dragnet), was the first comedy record to sell over a 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. Butler teamed 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 showcases his career with 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). In Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" in 1958, a scathing indictment of the over-commercialization of the holiday, Butler soberly hoped instead that we'd remember "whose birthday we're celebrating". Butler provided the voices of many nameless Walter Lantz Productions' characters for theatrical shorts later seen on the Woody Woodpecker program. His characters included the penguin Chilly Willy and his best friend Smedley, a Southern-accented dog (the same voice used for Tex Avery's laid-back wolf character and for Hanna-Barbera's Huckleberry Hound). In 1957, when MGM had closed their animation unit, producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera quickly formed their own company, and 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 helmed until the mid-1960s. He played the title roles in The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, and The Yogi Bear Show, and portrayed a variety of other characters.

Some of the characters voiced by Butler from 1948 to 1988 included: • Aesop's Son (in the "Aesop and Son" segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show) • Alfy Gator (of Yakky Doodle) • Albert (Albert in Blunderland/To Be an Ant) • Ali Gator (in two Lantz theatrical shorts) • Augie Doggie • Baba Looey (from Quick Draw McGraw) • Barney Rubble (from The Flintstones) (1959–1961; The Flagstones pilot and season two episodes 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 only) • Big Gruesome • Bingo (of The Banana Splits) • "Bring 'Em Back Alive" Clive • Brutus the Lion (of The Roman Holidays) • Cap'n Crunch • Captain Skyhook (of The Space Kidettes) • Chilly Willy • Cogswell • Colonel Pot Shot • Dixie Mouse (of Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks) • Droopy (1955; Deputy Droopy) • Elroy Jetson • Fibber Fox (of Yakky Doodle) • Fred Flintstone (1959; The Flagstones pilot only) • Gabby Gator (of Woody Woodpecker) • Gooney the "Gooney Bird" Albatross • Hair Bear (of Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch) • Henry Orbit • Hokey Wolf • Huckleberry Hound • Hustle (of The CB Bears) • J. Wellington Wimpy in The All New Popeye Hour • Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore (of The Funky Phantom) • Karlos K. Krinkelbein (from the 1971 animated TV special version of The Cat in the Hat) • Lambsy (of "It's the Wolf" on Cattanooga Cats) • Lippy the Lion • Loopy De Loop • Louie the Labrador (from The Dogfather) • Maxie the Polar Bear • Mr. Jinks (of Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks) • Peter Perfect, Red Max, Rock Slag, Rufus Ruffcut, and Sgt. Blast (from Wacky Races) • Peter Potamus • Pug (from The Dogfather; first episode only) • Quick Draw McGraw • Quisp • Raggedy Andy (in The Great Santa Claus Caper (1978) and The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile (1979)) • Reddy the dog (from The Ruff & Reddy Show) • Scooby-Dum (The Scooby-Doo Show) • Smedley the Dog (from the Chilly Willy cartoons) • Snagglepuss • Snap, Crackle and Pop (of Rice Krispies) • Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse • Spike the Bulldog (of Spike and Tyke) (1949–1957) • Stick and Duke (of Posse Impossible) • The Weather Man, The Senses Taker, The Terrible Trivium, and the Gelatinous Giant from The Phantom Tollbooth • Undercover Elephant • Wally Gator • Wolf (from the Droopy cartoons) • Yahooey (from Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey) • Yogi Bear Butler voiced most of these characters for 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 road accident, Daws Butler substituted for 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). Butler had previously voiced the characters of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in the 90 second pilot for the series (when it was called The Flagstones). In 1964, Butler was featured as Huckleberry Hound on a 45 rpm record, "Bingo, Ringo", a comedic story combining The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr and Lorne Greene's hit record "Ringo". 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 Stan Freberg, Paul Frees and June Foray, Butler also provided voices for children's records featuring recreations of several successful Disney cartoons and films.

Yogi Bear began as an impression of Art Carney in the role of Ed Norton in The Honeymooners. Snagglepuss began as an impression of Bert Lahr as The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. 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. Huckleberry Hound was inspired by a North Carolina neighbor of Butler's wife's family.

In the 1970s, Butler 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, he was virtually the entire "Yogi Yahooey" team. He also played the title character in The Funky Phantom, and 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". Apart from specials and commercials, Butler was less prolific in the 1970s and 1980s until a revival of The Jetsons and Hanna-Barbera's crossover series Yogi's Treasure Hunt, both in 1985. 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, Greg Berg, Greg Burson, Mona Marshall, Brian Cummings, Sherry Lynn, Joey Camen, Keith Scott, Sonny Melendrez, Charles Howerton, Hal Rayle, Andre Stojka, and writer Earl Kress. In the year of his death, The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound was released, featuring most of his early characters.

Daws met and married Myrtis Martin in 1943 while he was in the United States Navy during World War II. They had four sons, David, Don, Paul and Charles, and remained married until his death in 1988.

Butler died of a heart attack on May 18, 1988, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at age 71. A few months before he died, he contracted pneumonia, and had suffered a stroke a few months before that. The television special Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration was dedicated to him. Many of his roles were assumed by Greg Burson, whom Butler personally trained until his death. Myrtis Mayfield Martin Butler (born January 13, 1917, Stanly County, North Carolina) died on November 15, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 101. She was buried next to Daws in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

• The video Daws Butler: Voice Magician is a 1987 documentary of Butler's career, from his pre-MGM days through his teaming with Freberg in 1949 and teaming with Don Messick in 1957. It was originally seen as a PBS pledge-drive special. • Former Butler protégé Joe Bevilacqua hosted a radio series on XM Satellite Radio's Sonic Theater Channel called The Comedy-O-Rama Hour. It had a regular segment, What the Butler Wrote: Scenes from the Daws Butler Workshop, with rare scripts of Butler's performed by his students (including Nancy Cartwright) and rare recordings of Butler 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 Butler, both published by Bear Manor Media. • Butler was a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life in 1960. The studio audience did not recognize him until he began speaking like Huckleberry Hound. He and his partner Marie Gómez split the top prize of $10,000. • In 1985, Butler was interviewed about his career on Dr. Demento's radio show.

• Year — Title — Roles — Notes • 1949–1954 — Time for Beany — Beany Boy / Captain Huffenpuff — His television debut • 1957–1960 — The Ruff and Reddy Show — Reddy / Pinky / Olaf / Scary Harry / Safari / Killer / various • 1958–1961 — The Huckleberry Hound Show — Huckleberry Hound / Yogi Bear / Dixie / Mr. Jinks / Hokey Wolf / various • Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks — Dixie / Mr. Jinks / additional voices • 1959–1960 — Rocky and His Friends — Various "Fractured Fairy Tales" characters • 1959–1961 — The Quick Draw McGraw Show — Quick Draw McGraw / Baba Looey / Snuffles / various • Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy — Augie Doggie / Snagglepuss / various • Snooper and Blabber — Super Snooper / Blabber Mouse / various • 1960 — The Bugs Bunny Show — Various characters • 1960–1961 — Hokey Wolf — Hokey Wolf • 1960–1966 — The Flintstones — Barney Rubble / Yogi Bear / additional voices — Note: He appeared in 24 episodes, he played Barney Rubble in six of those episodes, and Yogi Bear in another episode. • 1961–1962 — The Yogi Bear Show — Yogi Bear / Snagglepuss / Fibber Fox / Alfy Gator / Hokey Wolf / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Augie Doggie / Super Snooper / Blabber Mouse / Baba Looey / Dixie / Mr. Jinks / additional voices • Snagglepuss — Snagglepuss • Yakky Doodle — Fibber Fox / The Cat / Alfy Gator • 1961 — Top Cat — A.T. Jazz (All That Jazz) — Episode: "All That Jazz" • The Bullwinkle Show — Aesop Jr. / Additional voices (voice, uncredited) • 1962 — Wally Gator — Wally Gator / additional voices • Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har — Lippy the Lion / additional voices • 1962–1963/1985–1987 — The Jetsons — Elroy Jetson / Cogswell Coggs / Henry Orbit • 1964 — The Woody Woodpecker Show — Chilly Willy / Andy Panda / Smedley • Jonny Quest — Maharaja / Corbin / Gunderson • 1964–1965 — The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo — various voices • 1964–1966 — The Peter Potamus Show — Peter Potamus • Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey — Yahooey • 1966 — Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid like You Doing in a Place like This? — The King of Hearts / The March Hare / Sportscaster — TV special • 1966–1967 — The Space Kidettes — Captain Skyhook • 1967 — George of the Jungle — "Tiger" Titheridge / Additional Voices • 1967–1968 — Off to See the Wizard — Scarecrow / Tin Man / Wizard of Oz • 1968 — The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour — Various Characters • 1968–1969 — Wacky Races — Rock Slag / Big Gruesome / Red Max / Sergeant Blast / Peter Perfect / Rufus Ruffcut • The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Various voices • 1969 — The Banana Splits Adventure Hour — Bingo • 1969–1971 — Cattanooga Cats — Lambsy / Crumden • 1970 — Harlem Globetrotters — Uncredited • 1971 — The Cat in the Hat — Karlos K. Krinklebein — Animated TV special • The Funky Phantom — Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore/Fingers • Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! — Hair Bear / Bumbo the Elephant / Bananas the Gorilla / Furface the Lion / Film director • 1972 — The New Scooby-Doo Movies — Larry Fine / Curly Joe / Various Characters • A Christmas Story — Gumdrop — TV special • The Roman Holidays — Brutus the Lion • Yogi's Ark Lark — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Snagglepuss / Wally Gator / Peter Potamus / Augie Doggie / Lippy the Lion / Dixie / Baba Looey / Lambsy / Top Cat — TV special • The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park — Bingo / Frog / Octopus • The Adventures of Robin Hoodnik — Scrounger / Richard • Wait Till Your Father Gets Home — various voices • 1972–1978 — Sesame Street — Warning Cartoon Man / J Train Commentator / various voices — 7 episodes • 1973 — Yogi's Gang — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Snagglepuss / Wally Gator / Peter Potamus / Augie Doggie / Hokey Wolf / Lippy the Lion / Baba Looey / Tantrum • 1974 — Hong Kong Phooey — Blubber / Stick / Big Duke — episode: Comedy Cowboys • 1976 — The Sylvester & Tweety Show — Various Characters • 1977 — CB Bears — Hustle / Stick / Duke • Laff-A-Lympics — Yogi Bear / Augie Doggie / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Wally Gator / Snagglepuss / Mr. Jinks / Dixie / Hokey Wolf / Super Snooper / Blabber / Scooby Dum / Dirty Dalton • Fred Flintstone and Friends • 1978 — The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour — TV special • Yogi's Space Race — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound /Quick Draw McGraw • Galaxy Goof-Ups — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound • The All New Popeye Hour — Wimpy • Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue — Yogi Bear / Hair Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Snagglepuss / Quick Draw McGraw / Bingo — TV special • 1979 — The Hanna-Barbera Hall of Fame: Yabba Dabba Doo II — Himself – Various Character Voices • Casper's First Christmas — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Snagglepuss / Augie Doggie • 1982 — Woody Woodpecker and His Friends — Various Voices • 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 — TV special • 1985–1988 — Yogi's Treasure Hunt — Yogi Bear / Snagglepuss / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw / Augie Doggie / Snooper and Blabber / Baba Looey / Undercover Elephant / Yippee Coyote / Hokey Wolf / Lippy the Lion / Mr. Jinks / Peter Potamus • 1986 — The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show — Various Characters • The Flintstones' 25th Anniversary Celebration — Yogi Bear / Huckleberry Hound / Quick Draw McGraw — TV special

• Year — Title — Roles — Notes • 1952 — Nice Try, Virgil — Virgil — Short film written by Larry Clemmons • 1960 — You Bet Your Life — Himself — TV Episode • 1965 or 1966 — Lapwing — Unknown — Silent workprint • 1975 — Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze — Habeas Corpus — Pig grunts; uncredited • 1978 — Barnaby and Me — Barnaby the Koala — TV film

Daws Butler was recorded at birth as Charles Dawson Butler. The authorities additionally record the heading Charles Dawson Butler. His recorded language was English.

Daws Butler is recorded as actor and screenwriter.