Comedian Red Buttons dies at the age of 87 after struggling with a vascular disease. The comedian known for his carrot top burlesque comedy that won him an Oscar in 1957 died Thursday in his Los Angeles home. A performer since his teens, Buttons was the youngest comic on the circuit in burlesque theaters. He then graduated to small roles on Broadway before being drafted into the army in 1943.
The largest jump to fame was his television show "The Red Buttons Show" which was first broadcast on CBS Oct. 14, 1952. The show became a solid hit. Buttons drew on all his experience for monologues, songs, dances and sketches featuring such characters as a punch-drunk fighter, a scrappy street kid, a Sad Sack GI and a blundering German. The hit of the show was a silly song in which he pranced about the stage singing, "Ho! Ho!... He! He!... Ha! Ha!... Strange things are happening!" It became a national craze.
Vascular disease includes any condition that affects your circulatory system. A blockage in the coronary arteries can cause symptoms of chest pain known as angina or a heart attack. It also affects the legs and the renal arteries which are the arteries supplying the kidneys.
