Buddy Butler's extensive professional credits span numerous affiliations coast to coast and internationally. An original member of the Negro Ensemble Company of NYC, Mr. Butler was also a founding member of the Black Theatre Alliance of New York City, and the Black Theatre Network. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Butler grew up in the famous Karamu House Theatre, where he directed and acted in many productions. Mr. Butler has directed productions for such diverse institutions as Black Arts/West in Seattle Washington (where he served as Artistic Director for five years); Seattle Repertorys Second Stage; Phoenix Black Theatre Troupe (Artistic Director); Stage 1 Theatre and New Arts Theatre, both in Dallas, Texas; The Wortham Theatre in Houston; the Houston Fine Arts Center; the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota; Florida; the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; and the New Jomandi Productions in Atlanta, Georgia, where he recently directed a production of Joe Louis Blues.

Mr. Butler is best known for his long association with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, where he was Associate Artistic Director of the Bonfils Theatre for ten years and directed over thirty-five productions. In California, he has directed at the Oakland Ensemble Theatre, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco, the Inner City Cultural Center and the Foxx Follies in Los Angeles, the San José Stage Company, City Lights Theatre, San José Repertory Theatre, and Tabia Theatre Ensemble, all in San José where he currently resides.

Mr. Butler's production of Play On at the Rondo Theatre in Bath, England was the first international production by the San José State Theatre Arts department. Mr. Butler recently directed the world premiere of Conversations on a Dirt Road by Samm Art-Williams and Othello (v.20) by David Charles for the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. Mr. Butler is a graduate of Howard University and the University of Washington. He was named the outstanding post secondary theatre professor in the state of California in 1999 and was recipient of the Multicultural Award from the California Educational Theatre Association in 2001. He is also the recipient of two Audelco Awards. Most recently, Mr. Butler was nominated as one of the ten most influential African Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001.