Name Frank Butler | Role Annie Oakley's husband Resting place Greenville | |
 | ||
Born January 30, 1847 (baptism) ( 1847-01-30 ) County Longford, Ireland Occupation Sharpshooter, show business manager Children Edward F. Butler
(1869-1911)
Katherine E. "Katie" Butler
(1872-1955) Parent(s) Michael Butler
Catherine Whelan Died November 21, 1926, Ferndale, Michigan, United States Spouse Annie Oakley (m. 1876–1926) Similar People Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane | ||
Cause of death Suicide by starvation | ||
Elliott as frank e butler husband to annie oakley
Francis E. Butler (January 30, 1847 (baptized) – November 21, 1926) was an Irish American marksman, in Wild West variety shows. He was married to sharpshooter Annie Oakley. While his birth date is listed on his and Oakley's U.S. passport application as February 25, 1852, the obituary for Butler posted by the Associated Press in 1926 has his age as 76, which would mean he was born in 1850. According to baptism registers on file at the National Library of Ireland, Butler was baptized on January 30, 1847. His parents were Michael Butler and Catherine Whelan. He was the oldest of their five children.
Contents
- Elliott as frank e butler husband to annie oakley
- Early life
- Annie Oakley and Wild West show
- Retirement
- Death
- In popular culture
- References
Early life
Frank Butler was born in County Longford, Ireland, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 13. He initially worked a series of odd jobs, including one as a glass blower, while living near Camden, New Jersey. Butler married Henrietta Saunders around 1870; they had two children, Edward and Katie. The two divorced a few years later. Sources mentioning Butler's first wife as Elizabeth are inaccurate. Elizabeth is actually his granddaughter, her father being Edward F. Butler.
Annie Oakley and Wild West show
Frank Butler eventually developed a shooting act and toured with variety shows. After meeting at a shooting competition in Cincinnati, Ohio, Butler married Annie Oakley on August 23, 1876, although he would later claim the date was June 20, 1882. They developed their shooting act in 1882 when Oakley stood in for Butler's sick partner, John Graham. In 1884, the Butlers joined the Sells Brothers Circus. From 1885 to 1901, they were a fixture on Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. As Oakley became the star attraction, Butler became her manager and wrote articles and press releases. Oakley said that the financial part was always in her husband's hands. Oakley returned to performing between 1911–1913, this time with Vernon Seaver's "Young Buffalo Show", with Butler again as her manager. Butler also worked as a representative of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company and as a salesman for the Remington Arms Company.
Retirement
After they retired, Frank Butler and Annie Oakley Butler had brief residencies, in New York City and Nutley, New Jersey, as well as Cambridge, Maryland, and Pinehurst, North Carolina, before returning to Ohio.
Death
Annie died on November 3, 1926, in Greenville, Ohio. One biographer reported that Butler stopped eating after his wife's passing, leading to his own death from malnutrition and starvation eighteen days later, on November 21. According to another biographical source, the death certificate listed the cause of his death as senility. Butler was living with Oakley's younger sister, Hulda Haines, in Ferndale, Michigan, at the time of his death.
In popular culture
The musical Annie Get Your Gun is loosely based on the lives of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. Ray Middleton originated the role of Frank in the musical opposite Ethel Merman as Annie. Howard Keel starred in the film version opposite Betty Hutton. Bruce Yarnell played Butler in a 1966 Lincoln Center revival, with Ethel Merman again as Annie Oakley. Tom Wopat played the role of Butler in the 1999 Broadway revival. In 1957, a television production starring Mary Martin and John Raitt was broadcast on NBC.