Dick Button

Button as a commentator during the 1980 Winter Olympics

Richard Totten Button (July 18, 1929 – January 30, 2025) was an American figure skater, actor, dancer and skating analyst who worked for CBS. He won two Olympic gold medals in 1948 and in 1952. He won five world champions between 1948 to 1952. He won an Emmy Award in 1981 for his television commentary with CBS.[1]

Button was also the only American man to win the European Figure Skating Championships.[1] Button is said to be the first skater to successfully land the double Axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind in 1952. He also invented the flying camel spin.[2]

Button was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Button decided to enter Harvard Law School in 1952. He retired from amateur skating that year to focus on law school.[1]

Button was also an actor and had roles in the movies The Young Doctors and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan. He appeared in television roles, including Hans Brinker and Mr. Broadway.

In 1975, Button married figure skating coach Slavka Kohout. They had two children. He was honored into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976, the same year it was founded.

Button suffered a serious head injury on July 5, 1978, when he was one of several men assaulted in Central Park by a gang of young men armed with baseball bats.[3]

Button died on January 30, 2025 in North Salem, New York at the age of 95.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Dick Button, 95, Figure Skating Champion and TV Commentator, Dies". The New York Times. January 30, 2025. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ Kestnbaum, Ellyn (2003). Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. Middleton, Connecticut: Wesleyan Publishing Press. p. 108. ISBN 0-8195-6641-1.
  3. ↑ McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (July 13, 1978). "5 Are Arrested in Club Attack in Central Park". The New York Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2021.

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