Pat Buttram

Pat Buttram in Angels Revenge.

Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994) was an American actor known to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans for playing the automobile salesman full of barnyard analogies in the Greydon Clark movie Angels Revenge. In addition his name was mentioned in several other episodes of the series - including the episode Soultaker where TV's Frank said one of the reasons he left Second Banana Heaven was because Buttram had it in for him.

Buttram was well known for his distinctive voice, which he himself said, "...never quite made it through puberty. It has been described as sounding like a handful of gravel thrown in a Mix-Master." [1]

Buttram was born in Addison in Winston County, Alabama. As a young man he intended to follow in his father's footsteps and began studies to become a Methodist minister. In 1933 after an encounter with a Chicago radio personality turned into a job on WLS Buttram became a radio broadcaster. In 1940 he went to Hollywood where he eventually became Gene Autry's sidekick, starring in number of Autry films and television shows.

In the 1960s Buttram became famous for playing Mr. Haney in the television series Green Acres. Green Acres was one of the victims of the infamous CBS rural purge, Buttram later said the network canceled everything with a tree in it during the purge. Buttram also appeared in several Disney animated films, including the Sheriff of Nottingham in their version of Robin Hood, and Napoleon in The Aristocats.

Buttram retired from full time acting in 1980. He returned home to Alabama but would later return to California. One of his last roles was as one of the 1885 barflies on Back to the Future Part III. He died of renal failure in early 1994, and is buried in Haleyville, Alabama.

See Also

• Pat Buttram page on Wikipedia
• Pat Buttram entry on IMDb.com
• Pat Buttram entry on FindAGrave.com