Will Hutchins, perhaps best known as the star of Sugarfoot, considered a pioneer among TV’s early comedy westerns, has passed away.
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The veteran actor died on Monday at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, after a “long illness,” as confirmed by Western film and television historian Boyd Magers, per Deadline. Hutchins was 94.
Airing on ABC for 69 episodes between 1957 and 1961, Sugarfoot featured Hutchins as Tom Brewster, a Yankee navigating the untamed Wild West of the Oklahoma Territory with dreams of becoming a lawyer. Lacking traditional cowboy skills—a trait the show humorously embraced—Tom earned the nickname “Sugarfoot.”
Marshall Lowell Hutchason was born in Los Angeles on May 5, 1930. During the Korean War, he served in the United States Army Signal Corps. After his service, he became a graduate student at UCLA, studying cinema arts. Around this time, he began acting, caught the eye of a Warner Bros. talent scout, and earned a contract.
During the mid- to late-1950s, Hutchins made appearances in popular TV series such as Warner Brothers Presents, Conflict, Matinee Theatre, and 77 Sunset Strip. In 1960, he was featured in a special crossover episode of Maverick, which brought together iconic cowboy stars from various television westerns.
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According to IMDb, Hutchins popped up in several notable feature films, including a role in the 1958 Andy Griffith comedy No Time for Sergeants and Samuel Fuller’s 1962 World War II drama Merrill’s Marauders. He also earned the unique distinction of appearing in two Elvis Presley films: Spinout (1966) and Clambake (1967).
Throughout the 1970s, he appeared on shows like Gunsmoke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Perry Mason, and Love, American Style. In 1966, he starred in the sitcom Hey, Landlord as an Ohio native who inherits a New York City brownstone, alongside Sandy Baron and guest stars like Sally Field and Rob Reiner. Hutchins later returned to sitcoms in the 1968-69 CBS series Blondie, playing Dagwood Bumstead with Patricia Harty as Blondie.
Subsequent film credits also include The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973), Slumber Party ’57 (1976), and Roar (1981). In the 1980s, Hutchins performed as Patches the Clown with Australia’s Ashton Family Circus.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Jennifer, from his first marriage to Chrissie Burnett, the half-sister of Carol Burnett.