Pat Buttram

In 2007 Pat's daughter Kerry Buttram-Galgano passed away from cancer at age 52.

They remained close friends until Pat's death in 1994.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6382 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 18, 1988.

Had two granddaughters named Natalie Galgano (born 1985) and Angie Galgano (born 1989).

His big television break came in 1965 with the role of "Mr.

Haney" in the long-running CBS comedy Green Acres (1965). 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 the early 1960s he revealed a flair for dramatic acting when Alfred Hitchcock tapped him for roles in two The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) episodes.

During the filming of The Rainmaker (1956), 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.

In 1952 Pat married actress Sheila Ryan, whom he had met on the set of Mule Train (1950).

Together Pat and Gene made many western films and a television series, The Gene Autry Show (1950), which aired from 1950 until 1956.

Over the next 40 years Pat prospered in radio, films and television, making stand-up appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show") and lending his vocal talents to many animated television shows and films, including several Walt Disney features.

Pat and his first wife Dorothy McFadden adopted a daughter together named Gayle. When Buttram and McFadden divorced in 1945 McFadden got custody of the child. Pat would see Gayle again when he was in the hospital, recovering from the accident that had nearly taken his life. Once she was an adult, she re-established contact with him.

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 don't belong to us!".

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, who took a liking to the young comic and later brought him to Hollywood to replace Smiley Burnette, who had found other work while Gene served in WWII.

Pat Buttram's 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.