Pat Buttram

The voice that sounded like gravel and Alabama

Maxwell Emmett Buttram was born in 1915 in a small town in Alabama, and he never bothered to polish his accent. His voice sounded like a handful of gravel in a metal mixer. That nasal, squeaky tone became his greatest asset in an industry that was looking for authentic characters for Westerns.

He arrived in Chicago intending to study theology but ended up in radio by pure accident. He was 1933, and the program National Barn Dance needed someone who could laugh at his own rural roots. There he discovered that his way of talking was not a flaw but a very profitable commercial asset.

And the gamble paid off.

The Sidekick of the Silver Spurs

Gene Autry saw him perform and decided he needed that comic counterpoint for his Western movies. Buttram replaced Smiley Burnette and made more than 40 feature films alongside the singing cowboy between 1948 and 1954. He wasn't looking for the spotlight, but his presence guaranteed comic relief in scripts that were often pretty flat.

In 1950, television came calling for him to appear in The Gene Autry Show. It was an easy transition because he already knew the genre's conventions and how to take a tumble off a horse for a laugh. But his real breakout in popular culture came with a character of distractingly questionable morals in a rural comedy.

He played Mr. Haney in the series Green Acres starting in 1965. He was a smooth-talking con man who was always trying to sell the star some useless junk. He filmed 145 episodes of the show until the network decided to cancel it in 1971 to clear its schedule of rural sitcoms.

But animated films gave him a second life.

Snake Oil Salesmen and Cartoons

Walt Disney noticed his voice for the film The Aristocats in 1970. He lent his vocal cords to Napoleon, the bloodhound, and from that moment on became a regular at the studio. His work as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, recorded in 1973, is his most recognized vocal performance with global audiences.

Because he knew how to give villains humanity through humor.

In 1977, he worked on The Rescuers, and in 1981 he voiced the hound Chief in The Fox and the Hound. His ability to work in voice-over booths allowed him to stay active when his body could no longer handle outdoor shoots under the California sun.

In 1988, he appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, voicing one of the cartoon bullets. In his later years, he ran his own fan club and made appearances at collector conventions in Los Angeles. He died on January 8, 1994 from kidney failure. He was 78 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in the Maxwell Chapel Cemetery in his native Alabama.