Bob Clampett is the gent at left in the above photo. Bob was one of the all-time great directors of animated cartoons, most notably for Warner Brothers during that studio's "golden age." He later went on to produce a couple of the first great TV programs for kids, starting with a witty puppet show called Time for Beany. Years later, he turned Time for Beany into a witty animated series called Beany and Cecil. Bob was a great guy…very generous with his time to the many young animators who flocked around him in the last decade or so of his life. You can read more about him in this article.
Daws Butler is the gent at right in the above photo. Daws was one of the all-time great voice actors in animated cartoons, most notably for Hanna-Barbera during that studio's formative years. He was also heard in (among other venues) Warner Brothers cartoons, Jay Ward cartoons, tons of great TV commercials, Stan Freberg records and on one of the first great TV programs for kids, a witty puppet show called Time for Beany. In fact, he was Beany and approximately 50% of the cast of that series, with Freberg playing almost all the other roles up until the time they both quit. Daws was a great guy…very generous with his time to the many young voice actors who flocked to his classes in the last decade or so of his life. You can read more about him in this article.
Some folks in the animation community will be shocked by the picture of them together. Butler and Freberg left Clampett's employ in 1954 in what was not a friendly parting. Having enormous respect and affection for all three men, I don't want to even think about any unpleasantness there. Suffice it to say that Daws and Bob had little or no contact for the next two decades, and that a lot of folks thought they never even spoke after '54. But they did, at least once.
In 1975, both were guests at the San Diego Comic Convention. It was a four-day con and for the first three days, they managed to avoid one another. It wasn't so much a matter of lingering grudges as that neither was sure what he wanted to say to the other guy. Also, of course, it can be awkward to have a casual, passing-in-the-hall encounter with someone when you have a lot of history dangling over your heads. You don't want to not acknowledge them because they'll take that the wrong way. But you also don't want to just say a fleeting hello when you have so much to say to the other guy, and the opportunity for a calm, unhurried face-to-face had not presented itself.
The last day of the con, I was sitting by the pool with Daws, and I noticed Clampett and his wife Sody stop about ten yards away to talk with some fans. I pointed them out and asked Daws, "When was the last time you two spoke?"
Daws wasn't sure. "Some time in the fifties, I think. I get the feeling we talked once since Stan and I quit him but I'm not positive."
I asked, "Would you like me to keep you apart, bring you together or keep my Jewish nose out of this?" Daws said, "I think it's about time. Would you do the honors?"
I went over to Bob, said howdy and then muttered, "Uh, there's a guy over here who thinks he can do cartoon voices. I was wondering if you'd mind giving him some advice." Bob said "Sure," and then I stepped aside and he saw Butler walking up to him, hand extended. "Hello, stranger," Daws said in the best of all his many voices, which was his own. Clampett did a brief double-take, then laughed. Then he grabbed Daws's hand and I whipped out my camera and took a couple of photos. (Sorry it isn't clearer but my old negatives are somewhere in storage. The above was scanned off a fading print.)
Bob brought Sody over to say hello and they all sat down at a poolside picnic table to catch up on their respective personal lives and mutual friends. There were a lot of sentences that began with, "Hey, whatever happened to —?" and a few that commenced with, "You remember the time —?" After a half-hour or so, I had to go off and moderate a panel so I excused myself. As I left the area, I saw a small group of animation buffs standing there, staring across the pool, amazed to see the two of them together. So was I…but as a big fan of both men, and of everyone putting their differences behind them, I thought it was a pretty lovely thing to see.
I posted this to share that sentiment and the photo with you, but also because I thought it would be a good way to segue into a plug for a new book. My pal Joe Bevilacqua — a former student of Daws and the proprietor of The Official Daws Butler Website — has collaborated with writer Ben Ohmart on the authorized biography, Daws Butler, Characters Actor. You can order it here, and you really ought to. I haven't gotten my copy yet but Joe and Ben are good, thorough writers with a passion for the subject and access to Daws' family and memorabilia. So I can't imagine this book not doing justice to my all-time favorite actor…and a wonderful human being. (Come to think of it, Daws was also a wonderful mouse, a wonderful cat, a wonderful horse, a wonderful hound dog, a wonderful smarter-than-the-average-bear, a wonderful lion…)