“It was Exhilarating”: Exclusive Interview with Figure Skater Dick Button
Button practices for competing in the 1948 Winter Olympics. As the last-living male winner of that event, he feels “old and proud”.
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It has been said that he is perhaps “second only to Sonja Henie”. Truly an innovative in the world of ice, figure skater Richard “Dick” Button transformed and impacted his sport in many ways.
Button was born in the summer of 1929 in New Jersey. At the age of six, he began skating with school friends. He was told he had no ability, but before long, he traded in a Christmas gift of hockey skates for a pair of figure skates. The elder Button was a successful businessman and could well afford lessons for the budding skater, hiring Swiss-born Gustave Lussi to instruct his son.
In 1946, sixteen-year-old Button competed in a U.S. Figure Skating Association event. He emerged that day as the youngest men’s champion in our nation’s history of figure skating. From that time on, he was beaten only once (in 1947 because of a technicality).
The youthful skater won the U.S. men’s title, 1946-1952. But he topped even that by holding the world title, 1948-1952. Button was awarded two Olympic gold medals (1948, 1952). Still, he maintained, with his trademark bluntness, that “records are meant to be broken”.
Being photographed for Life magazine, 1947, at age 17.
Skating after World War II received more attention, specifically because of Button’s introducing a different brand of figure skating. He broke out of the usual mold, experimenting with bold jumps and spins. He took risks. Yet, at 5’10”, he was smaller and stockier than many of the other skaters he competed with.
Button is proud of inventing the Flying Camel Spin, which, he admits, was conceived out of necessity. Button was practicing the Camel Spin in the usual roped off area. The ropes were required because of the danger that during these spins, a skater could easily slice a fellow skater by accident. On this occasion, Button skated too near the rope. “I knew that I would probably spin around and twist the rope in my legs and kill myself, so I just jumped over it.” Thus, the Flying Camel was born.
Button (center), poses with the confident U.S. Olympic skating team in Switzerland, 1948.
In 1956, Button graduated from Harvard with a law degree. Three years later, he formed Candid Productions, a sports-affiliated production company. He went on to be a figure-skating commentator (ABC sports), the first winner of an Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality (1981), and made appearances in seven TV series. He married skating coach and choreographer Slavka Kahout in 1973. They had two children, Edward and Emily. The couple divorced in 1983.
During a skating rehearsal in 2000, Button, age 72, fell and suffered a serious head injury. He was able to make a comeback in weeks, although today he still has no recollection of his fall.
Today, Richard Button resides on his 50-acre farm in New York. He relishes painting, the theater, and collecting skating memorabilia. He remains interested in the sport and in the people who do it.
We were able to obtain the following exclusive interview with Richard Button.
Q: Talk about your childhood. Did any other members of your family figure skate?
BUTTON: My brother George introduced me to figure skating on Coffin Pond in Englewood, New Jersey.
Q: Talk about winning your first event.
BUTTON: I don’t remember much. It was a blur, but the skating outdoors was exhilarating. I flourished. One vivid memory was the sun in my eyes on jumps, and avoiding puddles caused by the sun melting ice.
Q: How did you feel competing against Jean-Pierre Brunet in 1943?
BUTTON: We were friends.
Q: How did World War II effect your career?
BUTTON: We emerged as the youth of the sport.
Q: For those not familiar with it, can you describe the Axel Jump?
BUTTON: An Axel Jump starts on your forward take-off leg and tranfers the axis of rotation to the landing side in the air, before landing backwards on the other skating foot after 1.5 rotations.
Q: Were you nervous competing in the 1947 World Championships?
BUTTON: No.
Q: Was it hard to both keep up with your grades in school and figure skate?
BUTTON: No—I was, and still am, competitive.
Q: You are credited with the first triple jump—a triple loop. Is this one of your proudest achievements?
BUTTON: Yes, and the Flying Sit Spin, then the Button Camel.
Q: How does it feel to be the last-living male winner of the 1948 Winter Olympics?
BUTTON: Old and proud.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you received which helped you as a figure skater?
BUTTON: Don’t over-train and enjoy the experience fully.
Q: What is life like for you now?
BUTTON: I spend time on my farm gardening and landscaping, and tending to my animals.
Q: Do you miss life in the 1940s?
BUTTON: No—if I could have done what the skating federation allows now, I would have been more inventive. My study in ballet helped greatly.
Photograph credits—antiquesandthearts, alchetron, reddit, holfigureskating
With exclusive interview—
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