Jim Hutton

Early in his career, Jim Hutton was being groomed as a romantic lead before transitioning to supporting roles. Starting in 1960, he appeared in a spate of romantic comedies opposite actress Paula Prentiss; both actors were under contract with MGM at the time and, perhaps not incidentally, were among the tallest actors at the studio, with Hutton measured in at a steep six-foot five-inches. In all they made four films together: "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "The Honeymoon Machine" (1961), "Bachelor in Paradise" (1961), and "The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962). During this time, Hutton was often compared to Jimmy Stewart, with whom he shared a penchant for offhand line-readings and a dawdling manner. Into the late 1960s, Hutton began to appear in more dramatic films, showing up as a cavalry lieutenant in Sam Peckinpah's "Major Dundee" (1965) and as comic relief in John Wayne's Vietnam fable, "The Green Berets" (1968). Into the 1970s, the actor gained exposure on TV -- especially as the title character of the mystery hour "Ellery Queen." In the role of the amateur sleuth, Hutton memorably turned to face the camera at the show's end and ask the audience if they could solve the episode's crime. Hutton's son is actor Timothy Hutton.