35 Facts About Daws Butler

Charles Dawson Butler, professionally known as Daws Butler, was an American voice actor.

Daws Butler worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company, where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Auggie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Snooper and Blabber, Hokey Wolf, Elroy Jetson, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear.

The family later moved from Ohio to Oak Park, Illinois, where Daws Butler became interested in impersonating people.

Daws Butler then teamed up with fellow performers Jack Lavin and Willard Ovitz, forming the comedy trio The Three Short Waves.

Daws Butler subsequently met his wife-to-be Myrtis at a wartime function near Washington, DC.

At MGM, Avery wanted Daws Butler to take on the voice of Droopy, at a time when Bill Thompson was unavailable due to radio engagements.

Daws Butler did a few lines, then recommended Don Messick, another actor and Daws Butler's lifelong friend, who was better at imitating Thompson.

In 1949, Daws Butler landed a role in a televised puppet show created by former Warner Bros.

Daws Butler 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.

In 1952, Daws Butler starred in the live-action short Nice Try, Virgil.

Daws Butler briefly turned his attention to writing and voicing TV commercials.

Daws 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.

In Mr Magoo, the UPA theatrical animated short series for Columbia Pictures, Daws Butler played Magoo's nephew Waldo.

In Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" in 1958, a scathing indictment of the over-commercialization of the holiday, Daws Butler soberly hoped instead that we'd remember "whose birthday we're celebrating".

Daws Butler provided the voices of many nameless Walter Lantz Productions' characters for theatrical shorts later seen on the Woody Woodpecker program.

Daws Butler's characters included the penguin Chilly Willy and his best friend Smedley, a southern-speaking dog.

The first, The Ruff and Reddy Show, with Daws Butler voicing Reddy, set the formula for the rest of the series of cartoons that the two helmed until the mid-1960s.

Daws Butler 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.

Daws Butler voiced most of these characters for decades, in both TV shows and in some commercials.

Daws Butler 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.

Daws Butler had previously voiced the characters of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in the 90 second pilot for the series.

In 1964, Daws Butler was featured as Huckleberry Hound on a 45rpm record, "Bingo, Ringo", a comedic story combining The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr and Lorne Greene's hit record "Ringo".

Daws Butler voiced a penguin and a turtle in the movie Mary Poppins, his only known work for Disney.

Daws Butler based some of his voices on popular celebrities of the day.

Yogi Bear began as an Art Carney impression; Daws Butler had done a similar voice in several of Robert McKimson's films at Warner Brothers, and on Stan Freberg's comedy record "The Honey-Earthers".

When Snagglepuss began appearing in commercials for Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies in 1961, Lahr threatened to sue Daws Butler for "stealing" his voice.

Daws Butler played the title character in The Funky Phantom, and Louie and Pug on The Pink Panther Show.

Daws 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.

In 1975, Daws 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, Sherry Lynn, Joey Camen, Keith Scott, Sonny Melendrez, Charles Howerton, Hal Rayle, and writer Earl Kress.

Daws Butler met and married Myrtis Martin in 1943 while he was in the United States Navy during World War II.

Daws Butler died of a heart attack on May 18,1988, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at age 71.

Many of his roles were assumed by Greg Burson, whom Daws Butler personally trained until his death.

Daws Butler was buried next to Daws in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

Daws Butler 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".