Skating With the Stars

JUDGE BIO
A two-time Olympic champion and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, Dick Button is widely considered one of the premier male figure skaters and figure skating TV commentators of all time. As a skater he dominated the sport like no other, in one seven-year period (1946-52) winning two Olympic gold medals (1948, 1952), five straight World Championships (1948-52), seven U.S. National titles and six North American titles. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Dick is the only skater to ever have captured the United States, North American, European, World and Olympic championships all in the same year—1948. He won the Sullivan Award as America’s outstanding amateur athlete for 1949.

Long regarded as the “Voice” of figure skating, Dick made his TV debut during CBS’s coverage of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley. In 1962, he moved over to ABC Sports where he served for more than 40 years as a figure skating analyst on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, ABC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics as well as a commentator at many other events.

Dick’s work as a correspondent for NBC at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics continued an unbroken streak of 17 Olympic Winter Games that he has been involved in during his long and illustrious career. In 1981, he became the first winner of an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Sports Personality—Analyst.”

Following his victory at the 1952 Olympics, Dick turned to pro skating. He toured the U.S. in “Ice Capades” and appeared in “Holiday on Ice” in Moscow, one of the most successful shows ever sent to the former Soviet Union. He also graduated from Harvard, went on to earn a degree from Harvard Law School, and later became a member of the Bar of Washington, D.C.

A “man for all seasons,” Dick has enjoyed a great career outside of skating. He’s appeared in TV specials, including Omnibus and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates for Hallmark. His acting credits at City Center in New York City include Mr. Roberts and South Pacific and he has appeared in the movies The Young Doctors and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan.

As founder/president of Candid Productions, Inc., Dick proved to be a TV visionary, creating a number of successful television series including The Superstars, The Superteams and Battle of the Network Stars. These shows were the forerunners of today’s popular ‘reality show’ format.

Dick also created the World Professional Figure Skating Championships and the World Challenge of Champions. He has also been an investor in and producer of Broadway Theater. His last plays were Sweet Sue starring Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave and Tom Stoppard's Artist Descending a Staircase.

Dick is the author of two books, Dick Button on Skates and Instant Skating, and has also written articles for magazines and other publications. He’s a national spokesperson for the Brain Injury Association of America and a recognized enthusiast of horticulture. He’s also an authority on American furniture and decorative arts. In June of 1988, Dick received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Buena Vista College. Whew! That’s a lot of accomplishments!

Dick is a member of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and Olympic Hall of Fame. He has two children, Edward and Emily. And we’re thrilled he’s added Skating with the Stars to his long, impressive resume.