Will Hutchins, TV's 'Sugarfoot' who lived in Glen Head, dies at 94

Will Hutchins was a man who wore many hats, most notably the cowboy one that he donned for four seasons in the TV Western "Sugarfoot." In a career going back seven decades, he also appeared with Elvis Presley in two movies, starred on Broadway and worked as a circus clown.

But even after leaving Hollywood behind in the 1990s and becoming a full-fledged Long Islander, he still could be seen on his porch in Glen Head with a cowboy hat perched proudly on his head.

Now one of the last cowboys from the golden age of TV Westerns is gone. Hutchins died on Monday at the age of 94 at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset due to respiratory failure, his wife of 36 years, Barbara Hutchins, said.

"He was the love of my life," said his wife, whom he always called Babs. "Even with everything, he kept his sense of humor, all of his hair and most of his marbles."

Hutchins, who was born Marshall Lowell Hutchason on May 5, 1930 and grew up in the Atwater district of Los Angeles, was destined to be an actor. As a kid he loved movies, and made his inauspicious film debut at age 10 as an extra in the W.C. Fields’ 1941 comedy, “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break,” which was shot on Glendale Boulevard in L.A.

After an Army stint during the Korean War, Hutchins attended UCLA’s film school on the GI bill. He landed roles on some locally produced TV shows, including one for which his sandy-colored hair was bleached blond. When Hutchins was signed by Warner Bros. in 1956, they asked him to keep the color.

His big break came in 1957 when Warner gave him the lead in "Sugarfoot," as Tom Brewster, a correspondence school law student from the East who heads West to find his fortune. Unlike most TV Western heroes, Hutchins' Brewster stood out because didn't like using a gun and was a teetotaler who drank sarsaparilla "with a dash of cherry." The series still airs in reruns at 3 p.m. Sundays on MeTV+ (Optimum Ch. 84).

He made a few more films for Warner Bros., appeared on Broadway in the hit comedy "Never Too Late" in 1964 and starred in two short-lived sitcoms — "Hey, Landlord" (1966-67) and as Dagwood in "Blondie" (1968-69). 

In 1965, he married Chris Burnett, actor Carol Burnett's younger sister. The union lasted three years and produced a daughter, Jennifer.

Hutchins also became friends with Elvis Presley, whom he worked with in the movies "Spinout" (1966) and "Clambake" (1967). In the latter, they performed a duet, though Hutchins' voiced was dubbed. “Elvis was the best person I ever worked with," Hutchins told Newsday in 2008. "It was just laughs, laughs, laughs."

It was anything but laughs after that for Hutchins. By the early 1970s, he was in financial straits after a business manager embezzled his savings and put Hutchins' home in arrears. A new manager helped Hutchins recover a small portion of the money.

He then got a job with a traveling circus and for a couple seasons got big laughs as Patches the Clown. He clowned around all over the globe with other troupes, and also spent two seasons as a ringmaster with the Great American Circus.

When he came home, Hutchins’ life went from the Big Top to rock bottom. His then-girlfriend, who had been living in his home, took out a second mortgage, then failed to make the payments, and his business manager drove off with his Porsche.

In 1983, he reconnected with Babs, then still Barbara Torres, whom he had first met backstage after a performance of "Never Too Late." With her help, Hutchins was able to rebuild his life. She encouraged him to take a job as a shipping/receiving clerk at NBC, a job he held for 12 years.

"I owe my success to three ladies in my life — my mother, Jane, my daughter, Jenny, and my wife, Babs,” Hutchins told Newsday. “The smartest thing I ever did was when I met up with Babs again."

After retiring from NBC, the couple settled in Glen Head in 1996 to care for Torres' mother. From their home, Hutchins then hosted an internet radio program “Will Hutchins’ Golden Melody Saloon,” in which he introduced and played classic songs from the 1930s and '40s. He also wrote a column for nostalgia publication Western Clippings.

No service is planned. In addition to his wife, Hutchins is survived by his daughter.