Robert Butler, M.D., (August, 1784 to July 31, 1853) was a physician and was elected to serve as the State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, serving from 1846 until his death. From an old Virginia family based in nearby Surry County, he was a long-time resident of the incorporated town of Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
His daughter, Otelia Voinard (née Butler) Mahone, who married railroad builder, Confederate Major General, and U.S. Senator William Mahone, became a notable character in Virginia in her own right, and is credited with the naming at least four towns currently located along in southeastern Virginia from novels she was reading by Sir Walter Scott.
Robert Butler (born November 17, 1927) was a very influential and highly demanded film director from the mid 1960s all the way through the 1980s. He helped launch actor Kurt Russell's career through four Walt Disney movies (including The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Barefoot Executive), but his strongest and most fondly remembered contributions have been to the small screen.
Butler began his career as a stage manager and an assistant, before launching his directing career on such classic shows as The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Fugitive or The Twilight Zone.
For over three decades, Butler was then hired to shoot pilots for many popular TV series, thus helping create their specific identity. In this sense, he must be given some credit for the success and/or popularity of such diverse shows as the original Star Trek, the war parody sitcom Hogan's Heroes, the colorful and visually innovative Batman, the violent and forgotten The Blue Knight, the 1980s revolutionary cop show Hill Street Blues, the mysterious and humorous detective Remington Steele (a show which he also co-created), the deliciously delirious and romantic Moonlighting, the family drama Sisters and the highly popular character-driven Superman adaptation of the early 1990s, Lois & Clark.
In addition to the above, Butler has also directed episodes for many other shows, including I Spy, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Outcasts, Mission: Impossible, Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo and Midnight Caller.
Butler has won two Emmy Awards for outstanding directing, the first in 1973 for the The Blue Knight pilot, and the second in 1981 for his tight and intense Hill Street Blues premiere.
Robert Butler was born in the small timber and farming community of Baxley, Georgia in 1943. The first four years of his life were spent with his parents in a log cabin that he fondly remembers as an environment that perfectly reflects his African/Cherokee heritage.In 1947 events transpired that brought Robert to the community of Okeechobee, Florida. A move that must have been providential because it was here on the shores of Lake Okeechobee in the heart of Florida's backcountry, that he developed a familiarity with the woods and waters that are so honestly rendered in his paintings. Raised by his mother, Annie Talifer Butler, who always took time to instill the principles of faith and compassion in her family, Butler looks upon his beginnings as "classically American." The father of nine children, this self-taught artist is proud to have raised his family doing what he loves best — painting.
In the early days, that required selling his paintings door-to-door or roadside, but with his wife, Dorothy, supporting his efforts, Butler soon rose in notoriety. He is now one of the best-known naturalist painters in the country. Recent trips around the world have added exciting new perspectives to Butler’s creations as he continues his work as a "Historian with a brush." It is correct to say that Robert Butler was tutored by nature itself. His professional career began in 1968. Robert honed his skills by pushing the limits of his artistic talents, and accumulated a vast amount of knowledge by creating more than one hundred paintings a year. With no formal training to facilitate an inherent artistic spirit Robert developed a style now known world wide as the "Butler Style", and exemplified by a dramatically lit and romanticized portrayal of the landscape.
"For many years, I've lived close to nature and witnessed the beauty my privileged eye has been allowed to see. As an artist, it is important to me to share my experiences, and whenever I work, it is the larger view that I strive to maintain. I invite you to look at your experience in the same way. The textured tapestry we call reality is constantly changing. An artist is one of the few who will be privileged to add his or her special splash of color." -Robert Butler 1999
