Trivia

A popular, in-demand toastmaster and after-dinner speaker in the Hollywood movie colony for many years, his good-natured jibes at Hollywood's elite are still quoted, and laughed at, among performers to this day.

On September 12, 1950, Buttram, Gene Autry's longtime sidekick, was seriously injured while filming an upcoming half-hour program of "The Gene Autry Show," called "The Peacemaker." A small prop antique cannon blew up when a powder charge prematurely exploded in the cabin where the scene was being shot on location in the high desert town of Pioneertown, California, where the program filmed. The explosion nearly killed Buttram. 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. Autry was blown out of the cabin, which was destroyed from the blast. He emerged stunned from the explosion but without injury. Two others, sound boom-man Johnny Loomis and Johnny Brousseau, Autry's driver for years, both suffered injuries. Loomis was cut in the abdomen and Brousseau suffered a deep laceration on his kneecap. 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. Buttram was rushed in the back of a station wagon to a hospital in nearby 29 Palms, with Autry at his side, where he was given four blood transfusions, with more scheduled and plasma being flown in for him, due to the severity of his injuries. Two days later, he was removed from the critical list and doctors expected him to recover from his severe injuries. Buttram remained hospitalized for 10 weeks before he was discharged. As a result, during the first season, other actors filled in as Autry's sidekick--Alan Hale, Jr., who played a bad guy in several shows of Seasons 1 and 2, twice as Tiny Jensen; Chill Wills twice as Sheriff Chill Wills; and Fuzzy Knight four times as Sagebrush--in the last eight programs of the season while Buttram recovered.

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!".

He claimed that he got some of his western sidekick roles because producers mistakenly thought they were hiring Pat Brady.

He was a staunch conservative Republican and personal friend of Ronald Reagan.

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.

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.

Has one biological daughter, Kerry, and one adopted daughter, Gayle.

Following his death, he was interred at the Maxwell Chapel United Methodist Church in Haleyville, Alabama.

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

He and his ex-wife Dorothy McFadden adopted a daughter together named Gayle.

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

Was a guest at the 1980 Memphis Film Festival.

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

Had exotropic strabismus.

Uncle of John Buttram.

Published biography: Pat Buttram: The Rocking-Chair Humorist, by Sandra Grabman. 2006. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593934262.