Dick Button Dies: U.S. Figure Skating Legend Was 95

Martin Holmes January 31, 2025, 7:10 am

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U.S. figure skating legend Dick Button, who won back-to-back Olympic gold medals before becoming the iconic voice of the sport on American television, has died. He was 95.

Button’s passing was first reported by The Associated Press, citing his son Edward. His daughter, actress Emily Button, later confirmed that he died in North Salem, New York, on Thursday, January 30. The official U.S. Figure Skating X account revealed the cause of death as natural causes.

“U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button,” it said in a statement. “The two-time Olympic champion’s pioneering style & award-winning television commentary revolutionized figure skating. His legacy will live on forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones.”

U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button. The two-time Olympic champion’s pioneering style & award-winning television commentary revolutionized figure skating. His legacy will live on forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones.

— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 31, 2025

Born on July 18, 1929, in Englewood, New Jersey, Button began skating from a young age but did not begin training seriously until the age of 12, after his father sent him to Lake Placid, New York, to train with coach Gus Lussi. Within six years, he’d made the U.S. Olympic team, winning the gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where he became the first skater to land a double axel in competition.

He repeated his success four years later at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, where he again won the gold by sticking the first-ever triple loop and inventing the flying camel spin. Button would hold the distinction of being the only man to hold back-to-back individual gold medals in the sport until 2018 when Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu repeated his 2014 success.

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Off the ice, Button graduated from Harvard University in 1952 and earned his law degree there in 1955. He then transitioned into commentary, becoming the voice of figure skating in the U.S., providing coverage for CBS for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. This would be the start of a decades-long career in broadcasting.

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In addition to his work for CBS, Button also worked as a figure skating analyst for ABC Sports after the network acquired the rights to the United States Figure Skating Championships and the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships. His coverage for ABC throughout the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, with his witty and honest appraisal of performances, made Button the iconic voice of the sport.

He won an Emmy Award in 1981 for Outstanding Sports Personality – Analyst and continued to provide commentary on skating events up until 2010.

In addition, Button appeared as a lead judge on CBC’s Battle of the Blades reality show and on the short-lived Dancing with the Stars spin-off, Skating with the Stars.

Button was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015. Former Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinksi said, “No other figure skater embodies the sport as much as Dick Button. He is, and always will be, the godfather of this sport.”

He is survived by his longtime partner and spouse, Dennis Grimaldi, and two children, Edward Button and Emily Button.