James Walter Butler MBE RA (25 July 1931 – 26 March 2022) was a British sculptor most famous for his 1980 statue of Richard III in Leicester. Butler was educated at Maidstone Grammar School and studied art at Saint Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art. For ten years he was a professional stone carver. He taught sculpture and drawing at the City and Guilds of London Art School and was visiting professor to the Royal Academy Schools. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1964 and was a member of the Royal West of England Academy and fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.