Champ Clark Butler (December 21, 1926 – March 8, 1992) was an American popular music singer who had several Billboard singles chart hits in the 1950s, and recorded primarily for Columbia Records.
Champ Clark Butler was born in St. Louis, Missouri,to Allen Monroe Butler and Pauline Acuff, but brought to California at a young age. An only child, he was named after his father's close friend, Champ Clark, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. By 1930, the family lived in Glendale, Los Angeles. Butler's parents later divorced, and by 1940, he was living with his mother, a former opera singer, in Los Angeles.
Butler attended Rosewood Grammar School, John Burroughs Junior High, Beverly Hills High School and Belmont High School. After three years of high school, he worked for barn bosses in the maintenance of stables and their horses. Following his 18th birthday in December 1944, Butler registered for the World War II draft in Beverly Hills. He enlisted for military service in the US Army in March 1945, and was in the paratroops for two years. He was discharged from the army in December 1946.
From a young age, Butler wanted to be a singer and formed a trio with two girls, The Holidays, and for a brief period, he worked as a comedy duo with a dancer. He took a job at the parking lot of the Mocambo nightclub in West Hollywood and parked cars for patrons such as Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. He made the rounds of radio studios during the day and sang where ever he could around town in the evenings. Agent Barbara Belle heard about Butler, and visited the parking lot, where, whilst leaning against Clark Gable's Jaguar car, he sang a few bars. This resulted in Belle signing Butler in July 1950, and he left the parking lot job.
An audition for Columbia Records led to a "rave wire" from Ben Selvin, the company's West Coast Artists and Repertoire director, going to Columbia's head of A&R Mitch Miller. Belle took him under her wing and sharpened up his act. Butler was introduced to Miller, who signed him to the label.
Eight months later, Butler was recommended to take ailing Fran Warren’s place at the Mocambo. He opened at the club in June 1951, which had a large banner outside saying 'Our Own Champ Butler'. Stars in the audience for his opening night, included Barbara Stanwyck, Gertrude Niesen, Frankie Laine, José Ferrer and Lex Barker. It was said that "the applause and cheers brought down the house."
From 1950 Butler recorded primarily for Columbia Records. The label's head of A & R, Mitch Miller, writing about Butler's singing in 1953, described him as "one of the most versatile lads in the business." Butler had six gold records, with his singles "Them There Eyes", "Down Yonder", "Oh, Looka There, Ain't She Pretty", "Be Anything (But Be Mine)", "Fit as a Fiddle" and "I Apologize". He also featured in a nightly CBS television show, Musical Nightcap, for over two years. After making over forty recordings for Columbia, Butler began recoding for other labels from 1955 starting with Coral, then Dot, Zephyr, Keen, Viscount, RRE and Five-Ten.
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| Champ in a 1951 publicity shot |
In April 1958, Butler filed for bankruptcy. He told a hearing that his earnings had fallen from $40,000 to $50,000 in 1953 and 1954 to between $4,000 and $5,000 in 1957. "I really lived it up," he told the Bankruptcy Referee. "You can't continue to live as high when the money is not coming in as you did when it was. I've discovered that." He claimed that his assets consisted of a bongo drum and $48 in a bank account. Butler's debts at the time totalled $18,000. But by the early 1960s, Butler owned a San Francisco nightclub, Opus One. He also recorded an album, Heartaches By the Dozen, for Gillette, which was issued in 1963.
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Butler moved into real estate in northern California. In 1981, it was reported that he had resumed performing, and was singing in small clubs in San Fernando Valley and Palm Springs.His career took a different path in May 1983, with his appointment as public relations director and spokesman for Circle of Health Inc., a clinic which specialized in natural treatments without drugs. He also worked as general sales manager for the Sky Meadows Ranch in Cle Elum, Washington, where he lived.
He struggled with alcohol addiction for 25 years, before committing to the Alcoholics Anonymous program. "I had it all. All the things success brings–name up in lights, fans, money, expensive clothes, cars, house with a swimming pool, kidney-shaped, of course–'n' I blew it. Blew it all on a bottomless bottle of booze," he later commented.
Champ Butler died of natural causes at his home in Sky Meadows in Upper Kittitas County, Washington State on March 8, 1992, aged 65.
(Edited from Wikipedia & Valley Times)