{{Short description|American wildwest marksman (1847–1926)}} {{Infobox person | name = Frank E. Butler | image = Frank E Butler c1882.png | alt = | caption = Butler {{circa}} 1882. | birth_name = Francis E. Butler | birth_place = County Longford, Ireland | baptized = January 30, 1847 | death_date = {{Death date and age|1926|11|21|1847|01|30}} | death_place = Ferndale, Michigan, US | resting_place = Brock Cemetery, Greenville, Ohio, US | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = sharpshooter, show business manager, glass blower | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Henrietta Saunders|1870|1876|reason=div}} * {{marriage|Annie Oakley|1876|1926|end=died}} }} | children = 2 | parents = }}

'''Francis E. Butler''' ({{abbrlink|bapt.|baptised}} January 30, 1847{{spaced ndash}}November 21, 1926) was an Irish-American marksman who performed in Wild West variety shows. He developed a shooting act with his performing partner John Graham, and when Graham fell ill the sharpshooter Annie Oakley stood in for him. Butler and Oakley began to perform together and later married, and they joined the Sells Brothers Circus. They became famous as a sharpshooting duo during their time in ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show'' from 1885 to 1901. Butler also worked as a representative and salesman for gun manufacturers.

==Early life== Frank Butler was born in County Longford, Ireland, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of 13.<ref name="ANC1860" /> While Butler's 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 meant he was born in 1850.<ref name="DDN">''Dayton Daily News'' (November 24, 1926), page 7. Retrieved Oct. 1, 2014.</ref> According to baptism registers on file at the National Library of Ireland, Butler was baptized on January 30, 1847.<ref name="NLI">[http://longford.rootsireland.ie/view_detail.php?recordid=1415961&type=bch&recordCentre=longford&page=1 RootsIreland.ie, National Library of Ireland - Church Baptism Record for Francis Butler], Retrieved Apr. 5, 2017.</ref><ref name="NLI2">[http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000632371#page/1/mode/1up National Library of Ireland - Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Diocese, Templemichael and Ballymacormack Parish, Baptisms from March 1, 1829 to June 11, 1862, page 134], Retrieved Apr. 5, 2017.</ref> His parents were Michael Butler and Catherine Whelan.<ref name="ANC1860">[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1860usfedcenancestry&indiv=try&h=46640025 Ancestry.com, 1860 U.S. Federal Census], Retrieved Oct. 8, 2014.</ref><ref name="ANCWJB">[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=william+j&gsln=butler&mswpn__ftp=Joliet%2c+Will%2c+Illinois%2c+USA&msbdy=1863&uidh=9rd&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=2689650&recoff=7+8+9+67&db=FSIllinoisDeath&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Ancestry.com, Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 (William J. Butler, brother of Frank E. Butler)], Retrieved Oct. 8, 2014.</ref><ref name="NLI" /> He was the oldest of their five children.<ref name="ANC1860" /><ref name="ANC1870">[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&gss=angs-g&gsfn=catherine&gsln=butler&mswpn__ftp=Joliet%2c+Will%2c+Illinois%2c+USA&mswpn=39046&mswpn_PInfo=8-|0|1652393|0|2|3247|16|0|3158|39046|0|&msbdy=1833&msbpn__ftp=ireland&uidh=9rd&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=16962830&db=1870usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Ancestry.com, 1870 U.S. Federal Census], Retrieved Oct. 8, 2014.</ref> He initially worked a series of odd jobs, including one as a glass blower, while living near Camden, New Jersey.<ref name="ANC1870" /> Butler married Henrietta Saunders around 1870; they had two children, Edward and Katie.<ref name="ANC1870" /><ref name="SK">[https://books.google.com/books?id=g1CqL48DUo0C&q=kattie&pg=PA287 Shirl Kasper, ''Annie Oakley: The Peerless Wing and Rifle Shot'', page 236], Retrieved Oct. 9, 2014.</ref> The two divorced a few years later.

==Annie Oakley and the Wild West Show== Frank Butler eventually developed a shooting act and toured with variety shows. After meeting her 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.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/oakley-butler/ "Frank Butler. Annie Oakley."] pbs.org, accessed June 22, 2012</ref> They developed their shooting act in 1882 when Oakley stood in for Butler's sick partner, John Graham.<ref name=american>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley/peopleevents/p_butler.html "Frank Butler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729070335/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley/peopleevents/p_butler.html |date=2009-07-29 }} pbs.org, accessed July 14, 2009</ref> In 1884, the Butlers joined the Sells Brothers Circus. From 1885 to 1901, they were a fixture on ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show''.<ref>[http://www.bbhc.org/bbm/biographyAO.cfm Buffalo Bill Historical Center] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216154027/http://www.bbhc.org/bbm/biographyAO.cfm |date=2008-12-16 }} bbhc.org, accessed July 14, 2009</ref> As Oakley became the star attraction, Butler became her manager and wrote articles and press releases. One of Butler's roles was to throw glass balls in the air for Annie Oakley to shoot, including in an 1894 Edison film of Oakley. Oakley said that the financial part was always in her husband's hands.<ref>Riley, p. 55, 62</ref> Oakley returned to performing between 1911 and 1913, this time with Vernon Seaver's Young Buffalo Show, with Butler again as her manager.<ref>Riley, p. 62</ref> Butler also worked as a representative of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company and as a salesman for the Remington Arms Company.<ref>Sayers, Isabelle S. ''Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West'' (1981), Courier Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-24120-3}}, p. 41</ref>

==Retirement== After they retired, Frank Butler and Annie Oakley Butler had brief residencies in New York City, East Orange, and Nutley, New Jersey, as well as Cambridge, Maryland, and Pinehurst, North Carolina, and then returned to Ohio.<ref>{{ cite book | last = Kasper | first = Shirl | title = Annie Oakley | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press | date = 2000 | isbn = 0-8061-3244-2 | pages = 196, 205–206 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g1CqL48DUo0C }}</ref><ref name="ANC1910">[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?new=1&gsfn=frank&gsln=butler&rank=1&gss=angs-g&mswpn__ftp=Manhattan%2c+New+York%2c+New+York%2c+USA&mswpn=11127&mswpn_PInfo=8-|0|1652393|0|2|3244|35|1652382|2162|11127|0|&msbdy=1850&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=18901108&db=1910USCenIndex&indiv=1&ml_rpos=3 Ancestry.com, 1910 U.S. Federal Census], Retrieved Oct. 9, 2014.</ref> Their house in Cambridge, Maryland, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="mht_ihp">{{cite web|url=https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-1155.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Annie Oakley House|date=June 1995|access-date=2016-03-01 |author=Stephen G. Del Sordo |publisher=Maryland Historical Trust}}</ref>

==Death== Annie died on November 3, 1926, in Greenville, Ohio. One biographer reported that Butler stopped eating after his wife's death, leading to his own death from malnutrition and starvation 18 days later, on November 21.<ref>Haugen, B., ''Annie Oakley: American Sharpshooter'', Capstone, 2006, p. 88.</ref> According to another biographical source, the death certificate listed the cause of his death as senility.<ref>{{ cite book | last = Kasper | first = Shirl | title = Annie Oakley | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press | date = 1992 | isbn = 0-8061-2418-0 | page = 243 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g1CqL48DUo0C&pg=PA3 }}</ref> Butler was living with Hulda Haines, Oakley's younger sister, in Ferndale, Michigan at the time of his death.<ref name="DDN" />

==In popular culture== The musical ''Annie Get Your Gun'' is based loosely on the lives of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. Ray Middleton originated the role of Frank in the musical with Ethel Merman as Annie. Howard Keel starred in the film version with 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.

John Considine portrayed Butler in ''Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson'' (1976).

==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Note |- | 1894 | Annie Oakley | Self | Uncredited |- |}

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * [http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/s150/legends/annie.html Frank E. Butler: Credits]. Shooting Star Annie Oakley. Alzheimer's Outreach. Retrieved Oct. 1, 2014. * Ancestry.com, 1870 United States Federal Census. [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?new=1&gsfn=henrietta&gsln=saunders&rank=1&gss=angs-g&mswpn__ftp=Camden%2c+Camden%2c+New+Jersey%2c+USA&mswpn=7420&mswpn_PInfo=8-|0|1652393|0|2|3244|33|0|468|7420|0|&msbdy=1854&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=27592741&db=1870usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Frank E. Butler: Credits] Retrieved Oct. 7, 2014. * Riley, Glenda. ''The Life and Legacy of Annie Oakley'' (2002), University of Oklahoma Press, {{ISBN|0-8061-3506-9}}. * ''Dayton Daily News'' (November 24, 1926), page 7. Retrieved Oct. 1, 2014.

==External links== * {{IMDb name|9491632}} * [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=90921227&lds=2&region=-1&regionfriendly=&frompage=99 Records for Butler and Oakley at familysearch.org]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205172926/http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=90921227&lds=2&region=-1&regionfriendly=&frompage=99 |date=2008-12-05 }} * [http://www.historynet.com/annie-oakley.htm Annie Oakley biography at historynet.com] * {{Find a Grave|2420}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler}} Category:1847 births Category:1926 deaths Category:1926 suicides Category:Gunslingers of the American Old West Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:People from County Longford Category:Sharpshooters Category:Sports trick shot artists Category:Suicides by starvation Category:Suicides in Michigan Category:Wild West show performers