Editing Dick Button (section)

===Professional===
Button decided to enter [[Harvard Law School]] in the fall of 1952. Because of the time commitments, Button retired from amateur skating that year to focus on law school.<ref name="onskates" /> He completed a [[Bachelor of Laws]] (LL.B.) degree in 1956<ref name="abc" /> and was [[Bar association|admitted to the bar]] in the [[District of Columbia]].<ref name="usoc" />

Following his retirement from competition, Button had a short career performing in [[ice show]]s.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=49}} He signed on to skate with the [[Ice Capades]] during his law school vacations. He toured with [[Holiday on Ice]]. He co-produced "Dick Button's Ice-Travaganza" for the [[1964 New York World's Fair]], starring 1963 World Champion [[Donald McPherson (figure skater)|Donald McPherson]], but the ice show lost money and closed after a few months.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

As founder of '''Candid Productions''', he created a variety of made-for-television sports events, including the ''[[World Professional Figure Skating Championships]]'', ''[[Challenge of Champions]]'', and [[Dorothy Hamill]] specials for [[HBO]].<ref name="abc" /> As an actor, Button performed in such films as ''[[The Young Doctors]]'' and ''[[The Bad News Bears Go to Japan]]'' starring [[Tony Curtis]]. He appeared in television roles, including ''[[Hans Brinker]]'' and ''[[Mr. Broadway (TV series)|Mr. Broadway]]'', as well as appearing in a 1995 episode of ''[[Animaniacs]]'', voicing himself in the three-part segment "All the Words in the English Language".{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Figure skating historian James R. Hines said that it was in roles other than as a skater in which Button has had the greatest influence on the sport. As Hines states, "Perhaps no name is better known in figure skating, a result of his visibility for more than 40 years as a commentator. ...Through that forum, he had the opportunity to champion the sport more than any other person".{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=49}} Hines also says that Button's commentating career gave him a 40-year long historical perspective.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=49}} Button provided commentary for [[CBS]]'s broadcast of the [[Figure skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics|1960 Winter Olympics]], launching a decades-long career in television [[broadcast journalism]]. He did commentary for CBS's broadcast of the [[1961 United States Figure Skating Championships]]. Beginning in 1962, he worked as a figure skating analyst for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC Sports]], which had acquired the rights to the [[United States Figure Skating Championships]] as well as the [[1962 World Figure Skating Championships]]. During ABC's coverage of figure skating events in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Button became the sport's best-known analyst, well known for his frank and often caustic appraisal of skaters' performances. He won an [[Emmy Award]] in 1981 for Outstanding Sports Personality – Analyst.<ref name="abc" /> Although other U.S. television networks aired the Winter Olympics from the 1990s onward, Button still appeared on ABC's broadcasts of the [[United States Figure Skating Championships|U.S.]] and [[World Figure Skating Championships]] until ABC quit televising them in 2008.

According to writer and figure skating historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, for viewers who had never viewed the sport live before seeing it on television, Button "in effect educated [an] entire generation in how to watch skating".{{Sfn|Kestnbaum|2003|p=109}}

During the [[Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Winter Olympics]], Button appeared on [[NBC]] on loan from ABC to once again provide commentary on the Olympics. Also during the [[2006 Winter Olympics]], [[USA Network]] ran a show called ''[[Olympic Ice]]''. A recurring segment, called "Push Dick's Button," invited viewers to send in questions which Button answered on the air. The segment proved very popular so ABC and [[ESPN]] put it into various broadcasts, most notably the [[2006 Skate America]], the [[2007 United States Figure Skating Championships]], and the [[2007 World Figure Skating Championships]]. In late 2010, he was lead judge on ''[[Skating with the Stars]]'', produced by [[BBC]] Worldwide, producers of ''[[Dancing with the Stars]]''. In 2009, Button served as a judge on the CBC's ''[[Battle of the Blades]]'' reality show. He again appeared on NBC to do commentary for [[Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics|2010 Games]].<ref name = Goldstein />