Charles Butterworth (actor)


Charles Edward Butterworth was an American actor specializing in comedic roles, often in musicals. Butterworth's distinctive voice was the inspiration for the Cap'n Crunch commercials from the Jay Ward studio: voice actor Daws Butler based Cap'n Crunch on the voice of Butterworth.

Early life

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 the bugle-playing Private Eddie Dibble. He generally was a supporting actor, though he had top billing in We Went to College, played the title role in Baby Face Harrington, and shared top billing with Ann Corio in The Sultan's Daughter. In his obituary, he is 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 inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star located at 7036 Hollywood Boulevard.

Partial filmography