as one of the writers on the Hee Haw television show for two episodes in 1969 and 1970. Buttram made the oft-quoted observation about the 1971 "rural purge", in which CBS canceled many programs with a rural theme or setting: "CBS canceled everything with a tree in it – including Lassie," referring to the cancellations of Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. Personal life In 1936, Buttram married Dorothy McFadden. The couple adopted a daughter but divorced in 1946. In 1952, he married actress Sheila Ryan; the marriage ended with her death in 1975. They had a daughter named Kathrine (nicknamed Kerry), born in 1954. Buttram retired from acting in 1980 and made his home in his native Winston County, Alabama. However, he returned to California, where he made frequent personal appearances. Buttram was a staunch Republican who helped Ronald Reagan spice up his speeches with political quips. In 1993, Buttram expressed surprise that with the inauguration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore as president of the United States and vice president of the United States, respectively, so many Hollywood actors were "taken with that whole country-boy image they tried to project". According to his niece Mary Buttram Young, "Uncle Pat would always say 'I'm from Alabama – I can see right through that'." Death Buttram died in 1994 at the age of 78 of kidney failure at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is interred at the cemetery at the Maxwell Chapel United Methodist Church in the Pebble community near Haleyville, Alabama. In 1988, Buttram was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one on the "Alabama Stars of Fame" in Birmingham, Alabama. Filmography Partial television credits See also References Notes Further reading Grabman, Sandra. Pat Buttram, the Rocking Chair Humorist. Boalsburg: BearManor Media, 2006. . External links Pat Buttram photos and links 1915 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American male actors American humorists American male film actors American male radio actors American male television actors American male voice actors American United Methodists Birmingham–Southern College alumni California Republicans Deaths from kidney failure Male actors from Alabama Male Western (genre) film actors People from Winston County, Alabama 20th-century Methodists