Above: Illustration by Robert Carter
Two-time Olympic champion Richard “Dick” Button, whose pioneering style and award-winning television commentary revolutionized the sport of figure skating, died Jan. 30 in North Salem, N.Y. He was 95 years old.
Born Richard Totten Button on July 18, 1929, in Englewood, New Jersey, Button was inducted into the inaugural classes of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1976), the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame (1976) and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (1983).
Well known as “The Voice of Figure Skating” from 1960 to 2010, Button was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015. While with ABC, his no-holds-barred analysis and caustic commentary earned him the first Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality (1981).
Button won consecutive Olympic gold medals (1948 and 1952), five-consecutive World titles (1948–52), three-consecutive North American titles (1947, ’49, ’51), seven-consecutive U.S. titles (1947–52) and a rare European Championships (1948), making him the only man to hold these titles at the same time. After he and Canadian Barbara Ann Scott won the European Championships in Prague, North Americans were no longer invited to the competition.
His only career defeat was at the 1947 World Championships, where he earned silver behind Switzerland’s Hans Gerschwiler. Button’s coach, Gustave Lussi, chastised the judges for not being able to properly score Button’s innovative and athletic jumps.
Button was the first to land a double Axel in competition (1948 Olympic Winter Games, St. Moritz), the first to land a triple jump (loop) in competition (1952 Olympic Winter Games, Oslo) and invented the “Button camel,” now known as the flying camel spin.
A serious student while competing internationally, he attended Harvard University from 1948–52, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1956. Button retired from amateur skating in 1952 and skated professionally with Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice.
In 1959, Button and Paul Feigay founded Candid Productions, which produced the popular made-for-TV broadcasts such as the World Professional Figure Skating Championships (1973–2002) and the World Challenge of Champions (1985–’98). Button also was the visionary behind ABC’s “The Superstars,” a popular TV series in the 1970s and ’80s that pitted top athletes against each other in a variety of sports.
In 1949, Button became the first figure skater to earn the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, which honors the best American amateur athlete.
Button is survived by his longtime partner and spouse Dennis Grimaldi, and his two children, Edward Button and Emily Button.
A look at Button’s remarkable career will appear in the Spring issue of SKATING magazine.
