Victor Buono facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Victor Buono
Buono in 1972
Born	Victor Charles Buono (1938-02-03)February 3, 1938 San Diego, California, U.S.
Died	January 1, 1982(1982-01-01) (aged 43) Apple Valley, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor comic recording artist
Years active	1956–1981

Victor Charles Buono (born February 3, 1938 – died January 1, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was famous for playing the villain King Tut in the TV show Batman (1966–1968). He also played Edwin Flagg in the movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). This role earned him nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Victor Buono was a very busy actor from his late teenage years until he passed away at age 43. He was known for his large size and deep, powerful voice. These qualities often led him to play characters who were much older than he was.

Early Life and Acting Start

Victor Buono began his acting career on local radio and TV shows. When he was 18, he joined the Globe Theater Players in San Diego. The director trusted Buono's talent and gave him roles in plays like Volpone and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He received great reviews for his performances in these classic plays and in modern ones too.

In 1959, a talent scout from Warner Bros. saw Victor Buono playing Falstaff at the Globe Theater. They invited him to Hollywood for a screen test. Soon after, Buono made his first TV appearance on 77 Sunset Strip. For the next few years, he often played tough or scary characters in TV series like The Untouchables.

After a few small movie roles, director Robert Aldrich cast him in the movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). This film starred famous actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Buono played Edwin Flagg, a kind but unlucky musician. His performance was so good that he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes.

Notable Movie Roles

After What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Victor Buono appeared in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). In this movie, he played Big Sam Hollis, the father of Bette Davis's character. He also played the High Priest Sorak in the big Biblical movie The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In The Strangler, he took on the role of Leo Kroll.

Buono also appeared in many other films. These included 4 for Texas (1963), Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), The Silencers (1966), and Who's Minding the Mint? (1967). Later, he was in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and even played the Devil in The Evil (1978).

Television Appearances

Robert Conrad as special agent Jim West and Victor Buono guest-starring as a Chinese merchant from the premiere of the television series The Wild Wild West.

Besides his many movie roles, Victor Buono was also a familiar face on television. He had a recurring role as Count Manzeppi in The Wild Wild West. He also played different characters in other episodes of that series.

Between 1960 and 1970, Buono often played villains from different backgrounds on TV. He appeared twice in the western series The Rebel in 1960. In 1962, he played Melanthos Moon in an episode of The Untouchables. He played a San Francisco art dealer who stole special paper used for printing money.

Buono appeared in four episodes of Perry Mason. He played different characters, including a sculptor and a man named Ben Huggins.

One of Victor Buono's most famous TV roles was playing the villain King Tut on the Batman TV show. King Tut was a Jekyll-and-Hyde type character. He was normally William McElroy, a shy professor. But if he got hit on the head, he would turn into the powerful and crazy Egyptian King Tut! Another bump on the head would turn him back into the quiet professor. This role was one of Buono's favorites because he loved being able to act in a very over-the-top way.

He also played other interesting characters on TV. He was "Mr. Memory" in an unsold TV pilot for Dick Tracy. He played a scientist who wanted to take over the world in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Buono also made guest appearances on shows like Get Smart, Hawaii Five-O, and The Odd Couple. In the 1977 series Man from Atlantis, he played the main bad guy, Mr. Schubert.

Comedy Albums and Poetry

In the 1970s, Victor Buono released several comedy albums. He often made jokes about his large size in these albums. His first album was called Heavy!. He also wrote a book of funny poems called It Could Be Verse. He started calling himself "the fat man from Batman."

When he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, he often read his poems. The most popular of his poems was "Fat Man's Prayer." It included many lines that people still quote, like:

We are what we eat, said a wise old man,
And Lord, if that's true, I'm a garbage can!

At oleomargarine I'll never mutter,
For the road to hell is spread with butter.

And cake is cursed, and cream is awful,
And Satan is hiding in every waffle.

Give me this day my daily slice—
But cut it thin and toast it twice.

Later Career Roles

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Victor Buono played the rich father of Reverend Jim Ignatowski on the TV show Taxi. Interestingly, the actor who played his son was the same age as Buono.

In 1980, Buono appeared in the TV movie Murder Can Hurt You. He played Chief Ironbottom, a funny version of the character from the show Ironside. Later in his career, he often played smart but sometimes tricky characters. He also took on serious roles. In the miniseries Backstairs at the White House (1979), he played President William Howard Taft. Buono also appeared in four episodes of the ABC series Vega$, playing a wise high roller named 'Diamond Jim'.

Death

Victor Buono was found dead at his home in Apple Valley, California on January 1, 1982. He died from a heart attack. He is buried with his mother, Myrtle, in Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.

Personal Life

Victor Buono studied at the University of San Diego. He enjoyed reading and writing. One of his favorite subjects was Shakespeare. He once said, "The more you study him, the greater he grows." He was also known for being a very good chef.

Filmography

Award Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Victor Buono para niños