Dana James Hutton was born on May 31, 1934 in Binghamton, New York. He was a tall, affable leading man of Hollywood films of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He was first "discovered" by director Douglas Sirk, who saw him performing with a military troupe in Germany, where he was stationed during his Army service. Especially adept at comedy roles, Jim also played rugged types in action films. Although Jim Hutton will probably be best remembered forbeing Timothy Hutton's father, he was a great actor in his own right. He was first used by MGM in a string of light-hearted comedies in the early 60's; the most popular being Where the Boys Are.

The next big break for Jim Hutton was the 1966 film Walk, Don't Run. Cary Grant plays matchmaker for Jim and Samantha Eggar during the 1966 Olympics in Tokyo. After supporting John Wayne in a couple of late 60's films, Jim Hutton turned to TV, starring in nearly a dozen TV movies. After a lengthy stretch of made-for-television films, he snagged the television series we consider to be one of the greatest detective shows ever made.


(The Adventures of) Ellery Queen

This 1975 show ran only one season (22 episodes plus the pilot), but it was way ahead of its time. Set in the 1940's, mystery writer Ellery Queen would help his dad solve baffling murder cases. Jim played Ellery as a deep-thinking, thoughtful, respectful young man (even though he was 40 when the show started.) David Wayne played Richard Queen — Ellery's crusty police inspector dad. John Hillerman played Simon Brimmer, Ellery's competition. Simon was a radio show detective who would always attempt to solve the same case Ellery was working on. (Supporting cast members John Hillerman and Ken Swofford would later work on the detective show Magnum P.I.)

Early reports showed that the series episodes were too intellectual for the average viewer that did not want to work too hard to keep up with a plot or a string of clues, and prefered to passively watch shows for pure entertainment. For this reason, the show was not a success. But the show's writers; Peter Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link would create a nearly identical show nine years later exchanging the male lead for stage and screen legend Angela Lansbury. Murder, She Wrote has been called a carbon copy of Ellery Queen from the rotating field of guest stars, to the long list of red herrings, hidden clues, and wild convoluted plot turns that Jessica/Ellery would easily solve and explain by the end of the hour.

Jim Hutton's last film was a 1975 exploitation film called Psychic Killer. A good film with unnecesary gore scenes added for effect. Jim Hutton portrayed a man wrongly accused of killing his wife and subsequently sent to a psychiatric ward. After being released, he begins killing all those involved in sending him away by using voodoo (a little skill taught to him by a fellow inmate.) Jim Hutton's untimely death June 2, 1979 (of liver cancer) came just before his son Timothy would gain fame with a supporting role in Ordinary People.