Will Hutchins, the star of ABC’s Sugarfoot, thought to be a contender for TV’s first comedy western series, died Monday, April 21, at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York. He was 94.
His death was announced by Western film and TV historian Boyd Magers.
Running on ABC for 69 episodes from 1957 to 1961, Sugarfoot starred Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Wild West of the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. His lack of cowboy skills, which the show played for laughs, earned him the nickname Sugarfoot. The show’s lighthearted approach to the TV western genre preceded that of Maverick starring James Garner, which debuted five days after Sugarfoot.
Born Marshall Lowell Hutchason in Los Angeles on May 5, 1930, Hutchins served in the United States Army Signal Corps during the Korean War, and subsequently enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA to study cinema arts. His...
His death was announced by Western film and TV historian Boyd Magers.
Running on ABC for 69 episodes from 1957 to 1961, Sugarfoot starred Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Wild West of the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. His lack of cowboy skills, which the show played for laughs, earned him the nickname Sugarfoot. The show’s lighthearted approach to the TV western genre preceded that of Maverick starring James Garner, which debuted five days after Sugarfoot.
Born Marshall Lowell Hutchason in Los Angeles on May 5, 1930, Hutchins served in the United States Army Signal Corps during the Korean War, and subsequently enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA to study cinema arts. His...
- 4/22/2025
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Will Hutchins, the eccentric actor who portrayed the wholesome sharpshooter and frontier lawyer Tom Brewster on the 1957-61 ABC Western Sugarfoot, has died. He was 94.
Hutchins died Monday, his wife, Barbara, told Western film and TV historian Boyd Magers.
Hutchins also starred as Woody Banner, who inherits a Manhattan brownstone from his uncle, on the 1966-67 NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord, created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, fresh off their work on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Two years later, the blue-eyed Los Angeles native played Dagwood Bumstead opposite Patricia Harty on the 1968-69 CBS comedy Blondie. Based on the comic strip and following a set of films and a 1957 NBC series, it lasted just 16 episodes before being canceled.
On the big screen, Hutchins appeared opposite Elvis Presley in two movies: as the gourmet cop Tracy Richards (the name was a Dick Tracy pun) in Spinout (1966) and as buddy Tom Wilson...
Hutchins died Monday, his wife, Barbara, told Western film and TV historian Boyd Magers.
Hutchins also starred as Woody Banner, who inherits a Manhattan brownstone from his uncle, on the 1966-67 NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord, created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, fresh off their work on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Two years later, the blue-eyed Los Angeles native played Dagwood Bumstead opposite Patricia Harty on the 1968-69 CBS comedy Blondie. Based on the comic strip and following a set of films and a 1957 NBC series, it lasted just 16 episodes before being canceled.
On the big screen, Hutchins appeared opposite Elvis Presley in two movies: as the gourmet cop Tracy Richards (the name was a Dick Tracy pun) in Spinout (1966) and as buddy Tom Wilson...
- 4/22/2025
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.
Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.
A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.
On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes...
Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.
Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.
A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.
On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes...
- 10/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
1966: Dark Shadows' Matthew took Victoria hostage.
1985: Oltl's Tina tried to sell Viki's story to a tabloid.
1988: Brenda Epperson debuted as Ashley on Y&R.
1996: Hayden Panettiere debuted as Lizzie on Guiding Light."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Ellie Fitzgibbons reluctantly agreed to see Willy Bryan (Edward Holmes).
1966: On Dark Shadows, Matthew Morgan (Thayer David) took Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) hostage at the Old House, and hid her in a secret room behind the drawing room bookcase.
1972:...
1985: Oltl's Tina tried to sell Viki's story to a tabloid.
1988: Brenda Epperson debuted as Ashley on Y&R.
1996: Hayden Panettiere debuted as Lizzie on Guiding Light."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1957: On The Edge of Night, Ellie Fitzgibbons reluctantly agreed to see Willy Bryan (Edward Holmes).
1966: On Dark Shadows, Matthew Morgan (Thayer David) took Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) hostage at the Old House, and hid her in a secret room behind the drawing room bookcase.
1972:...
- 12/5/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1985: Santa Barbara's Eden broke off her engagement to Cruz.
1985: DJ agreed to do a favor for Ryan on Ryan's Hope.
1990: Maxie Jones was born on General Hospital.
1998: Bethany Joy Lenz debuted as Michelle on Guiding Light."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1945: On radio soap opera Doctor Paul, "radio's wonderful story of adult love," Victoria reflected on how she once knew Dr. Paul (Russell Thorson) after taking an old photograph Dr. Paul when he was a child.
1957: On The Edge of Night, Mike Karr (John Larkin) received a telephone call from an Arizona...
1985: DJ agreed to do a favor for Ryan on Ryan's Hope.
1990: Maxie Jones was born on General Hospital.
1998: Bethany Joy Lenz debuted as Michelle on Guiding Light."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1945: On radio soap opera Doctor Paul, "radio's wonderful story of adult love," Victoria reflected on how she once knew Dr. Paul (Russell Thorson) after taking an old photograph Dr. Paul when he was a child.
1957: On The Edge of Night, Mike Karr (John Larkin) received a telephone call from an Arizona...
- 11/5/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Herbie, The Love Bug
Written by Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson
Starring Dean Jones, Patricia Harty, Nicky Katt, Larry Linville, Claudia Wells
When people speak of the possibility of alternate dimensions, they leave out the one closest to us all. We like to imagine a universe so similar to our own, nearly identical to the world in which we live if not for one difference. Maybe in one dimension, Bill Clinton was ousted from office, not just thrown up for impeachment. Maybe in another dimension, HD-DVD won the high-definition home-media war instead of Blu-ray. Or maybe, in some beautiful reality, Scott Norwood didn’t miss that field goal in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. The possibilities are tantalizing because they are literally endless. In all the wonder and curiosity, however, most of us fail to recognize that there already exists another universe snuggled up tightly to ours,...
Written by Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson
Starring Dean Jones, Patricia Harty, Nicky Katt, Larry Linville, Claudia Wells
When people speak of the possibility of alternate dimensions, they leave out the one closest to us all. We like to imagine a universe so similar to our own, nearly identical to the world in which we live if not for one difference. Maybe in one dimension, Bill Clinton was ousted from office, not just thrown up for impeachment. Maybe in another dimension, HD-DVD won the high-definition home-media war instead of Blu-ray. Or maybe, in some beautiful reality, Scott Norwood didn’t miss that field goal in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. The possibilities are tantalizing because they are literally endless. In all the wonder and curiosity, however, most of us fail to recognize that there already exists another universe snuggled up tightly to ours,...
- 2/27/2013
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Chris Robinson (ex-Rick, General Hospital; ex-Jason, Another World; ex-Jack, The Bold And The Beautiful) - 72
Patricia Harty (ex-Patti, Search For Tomorrow; ex-Edie, The Doctors) - 69
Howard McGillin (ex-Greg, The Young And The Restless; ex-Dr. Cooper, Search For Tomorrow; ex-Colin, As The World Turns; ex-Roy, One Life To Live) - 57
Andrea McArdle (ex-Wendy, Search For Tomorrow) - 47
Sam Page (ex-Trey, All My Children) - 35
Craig Lawlor (ex-Adam, As The World Turns) - 28...
Patricia Harty (ex-Patti, Search For Tomorrow; ex-Edie, The Doctors) - 69
Howard McGillin (ex-Greg, The Young And The Restless; ex-Dr. Cooper, Search For Tomorrow; ex-Colin, As The World Turns; ex-Roy, One Life To Live) - 57
Andrea McArdle (ex-Wendy, Search For Tomorrow) - 47
Sam Page (ex-Trey, All My Children) - 35
Craig Lawlor (ex-Adam, As The World Turns) - 28...
- 11/5/2010
- by We Love Soaps TV
- We Love Soaps
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