Late Dick Button Divorced His First Wife, Slavka Kohout Button, And Shared The Remaining Of His Life With His Long-Time Partner, Dennis Grimaldi!

Dick Button previously married fellow skater and coach Slavka Kohout Button. However, following his divorce, he dated Dennis Grimaldi until his death.

Dick Button, a two-time Olympic champion, died on January 30, 2025, at the age of 95.

Button died less than a day after other Skating Club of Boston members passed away in a mid-air disaster over the Potomac River.

Dick And Slavka Had Two Children Together!

Late Slavka Kohout Button was the ex-wife of legendary ice skater Dick Button.

The couple married in 1975 and eventually welcomed two children: a son, Edward, and a daughter, Emily.

While there is scarce information about Dick’s marital life, Slavka was a figure skating coach.

This explains why they first fell in love, as their similar love of ice skating drew them closer.

However, Dick’s then-closed homosexuality led to the couple’s 1984 divorce. Slavka had made significant sacrifices when she married Dick.

She left the Wagon Wheel Ice Palace, where she was manager and head coach for her marriage with Dick.

Unfortunately, their divorce may have made her sacrifice feel regrettable and unpleasant.

Nonetheless, Slavka was very successful in her own right. She was born on December 14, 1932, to Czech parents.

While her father was a successful florist, her mother was an artist. Moreover, her father learned to skate from a book. Therefore, Slavka inherited his father’s love and skating ability.

Alongside Dick’s enormous contributions to the sport, Slavka established a legacy as a formidable force in the figure skating world.

Moreover, she was the first Chicagoan to pass the Gold Figure Test when she was 13.

She eventually decided to become a coach, a vocation that lasted more than 70 years, to pay for her college.  

Janet Lynn, Gordon McKellen, The Shibutanis, and Cindy Geltz were among the notable names she coached.

Therefore, she became a skating icon and was honored in the U.S., World, and PSA Coaches Halls of Fame.

Slavka Kohout Button took her last breath on March 17, 2024. And after nearly a year, her ex-husband, Dick Button, passed away on January 30, 2025.

After their divorce, Dick dated Dennis Grimaldi, who remained his partner until his death.

Hailing from Melrose Park, Illinois, Grimaldi is an American theatrical producer, director, and choreographer.

Moreover, he has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and London’s West End.

Grimaldi has won the Carbonell Award, the NY Film and Television Gold Medal Awards, the Outer Critics Awards, and the Robert Whitehead Award for Excellence in Theatre Production.

While there is scarce information on how Button and Grimaldi met, they had mutual love, respect, and admiration for one another.

In Case You Didn’t Know

• Dick Button’s daughter, Emily, is a voiceover actress and has also played a variety of minor roles in live-action works.
• His son, Edward, is a cinematographer and photographer who has worked on camera crews for directors like Terence Malick and the Coen brothers.
• On December 31, 2000, Button suffered a skull fracture and brain injury while skating at a public rink in Westchester County, New York.
• After recovery, he became a national spokesman for the Brain Injury Association of America.