Would you buy a cow from this man? Oliver Wendell Douglas did. He bought a tempermental cow, a run-down farm, a rattletrap of a tractor, you name it. Most of us Baby Boomers know and love Pat Buttram as the rascally Green Acres con-man, Mr. Haney. But wait! Think back to your childhood, when your family bought its first television set. Who do you suppose played Gene Autry's sidekick in the 1950s? Yep, that was indeed Pat. He looked much different back then. Check out this photo:
With Gale Davis and handsome Gene Autry is the bewhiskered Pat Buttram, sidekick extraordinaire.
"My voice never quite made it through puberty," he would be known to say with a sort of yodel. It was that very voice that was so unique that Walt Disney himself asked Pat to portray characters in several of his animated films. Thus, a new generation became aware of this very talented man.
Pat Buttram's biography is finally ready for its readers. His very large family and his even larger circle of friends have shared their memories and photos for this book. Co-stars, too, recall Pat with not only fondness, but also much admiration. His was one of the rare true success stories of Hollywood.
The publisher of Pat Buttram, the Rocking Chair Humorist is BearManor Media, which has a website at www.bearmanormedia.com. The book's author, Sandra Grabman, can be reached at srgrabman@cableone.net. We'd love to hear from you.
Latest update: 11/28/06
Pat's IMDb page
Pat's TV Tome page
His work on TV this month
His early radio work at WLS in Chicago
Pat's known works
Website of Pat's biographer